Introduction
WhatsApp integration enables AI agents to interact directly with users through one of the world’s most popular messaging platforms. This guide will walk you through the process of connecting your SipPulse AI agents with WhatsApp Business API, opening up new possibilities for automated customer engagement.
Prerequisites
- A SipPulse AI account with at least one configured agent
- A Meta Business Account
- A WhatsApp Business API account
- A verified business phone number
- SSL-enabled webhook URL for receiving messages
Step-by-Step Integration Process
1. Setting Up WhatsApp Business API
- Navigate to the Meta Developer Portal (developers.facebook.com)
- Create a new app or select an existing one
- Add the WhatsApp Business API product to your app
- Complete the business verification process
- Configure your WhatsApp Business profile
2. Select a phone number
- Once you finish this step, you can now configure your required phone numbers in the WhatsApp section of your Facebook developer app. If you complete the steps successfully, you should be able to obtain the Phone Number Id and Whatsapp Bussiness Account ID
Once you have a phone number ID and WhatsAPP business account ID, you can configure a webhook at SipPulse.AI. In the same page you can create tokens for temporary access 24h. To obtain a permanent token you need to go to system access and create a token with proper rights (more info at https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2022/12/05/auth-tokens/).
Configure your data on SipPulse AI and arbitrate a token verification word. On SipPulse AI go in the integrations page and create a new WhatsAPP Integration.
3 - Generating a system token
Acesse o Meta Business Manager – Vá para “Configurações do Negócio” > “Usuários” > “Usuários do Sistema” – Clique em “Adicionar” e crie um novo Usuário do Sistema
Defina a função (Administrador recomendado para acesso total) – Gere um token para este Usuário do Sistema – Selecione “Nunca” para expiração do token
Selecione as permissões necessárias:
whatsapp_business_management
whatsapp_business_messaging
4 - Create the integration in the SIpPulse AI
5 - Complete the integration
In the advanced options you should set the agent inactivity timeout. After some time without messages, the thread will be removed. You can also set the message to be sent of the integration is disabled. Finally you can set the thread shutdown message when the thread is closed due to the inactivity.
Once you have finished this integration let’s create a webhook. Once you save the integration page you are going to receive a webhook identification. Copy the URL to the webhook definition on Meta.
6 - Configure the callback
Now in the whatsapp configuration configure the callback_url and verification token.
Now that you have your token configured on the SipPulse AI, it is ready to send messages. With the configuration of the callback_url it is also ready to receive messages. The next step is to talk with the agent. Use your mobile phone to send a message to the phone associated with the agent and see if you can receive an answer. If anything goes wrong please contact us on the slack channel for technical support.
7 - Test the system
To test send a message to the phone number and wait for the answers.
