Stop bouncing between WhatsApp Business and your support tools. Smartsupp's WhatsApp integration delivers every WhatsApp message into the same inbox as your live chat and Messenger threads — and you reply right from there. This article walks you through the setup, the WhatsApp Business prerequisites, and the 24-hour reply rule that comes from WhatsApp itself.
We've broken the article into a few sections:
WhatsApp integration overview
When a customer sends a message to your WhatsApp Business number, Smartsupp picks it up and shows the conversation alongside your live chat and Facebook threads — marked with a small green WhatsApp icon so you always know the source.
Key things to know before you start:
You'll find the integration in your Dashboard under Settings → Channels.
Available in all Smartsupp packages — setup takes just a few minutes.
Conversations from WhatsApp count toward your overall conversation volume (visible at the top of the Dashboard or in the Usage center).
Each WhatsApp thread is marked with a green icon so it's easy to spot among other channels.
You must reply within 24 hours — that's a WhatsApp policy, not a Smartsupp limit.
Tip: WhatsApp is one of three multichannel options in Smartsupp. You can also connect Email and Facebook Messenger in the same way.
Requirements
To connect WhatsApp, you sign in with a Facebook account — the connection runs through Facebook Login for Business. Use an existing account: Meta doesn’t approve brand-new Facebook accounts for Business Manager.
You also need a WhatsApp Business account. Don’t have one yet? You can create it — including the business profile — directly during the connection flow below. A personal WhatsApp account can’t be connected, and a phone number can be tied to only one WhatsApp account at a time, so a number currently used in the personal WhatsApp (or WhatsApp Business) app has to be released first.
Required: a Facebook account and a WhatsApp Business account (existing, or created during setup). Your WhatsApp display name should match your business name and follow WhatsApp’s display-name guidelines.
Connect WhatsApp to Smartsupp
Make sure you're signed in to your Smartsupp dashboard, then follow the four steps below. The connection runs through Meta's secure OAuth flow, so you don't enter your WhatsApp credentials into Smartsupp.
Step 1. Open Settings → Channels, find WhatsApp in the list, and click Connect.
Step 2. Sign in to Facebook and confirm Continue as… — the connection uses your existing Facebook login. Newly created Facebook accounts aren’t approved for Meta Business Manager.
Step 3. On the Connect your account to Smartsupp screen, review the permissions you’ll share and click Get Started.
Step 4. Choose an existing WhatsApp Business account or create a new one, and select or create a WhatsApp Business profile, then click Next.
Step 5. If you’re creating a new profile, fill in the account name and the display name — it should match your business name and follow WhatsApp’s display-name guidelines — and pick a category.
Step 6. Add your WhatsApp phone number: either use a display name only, or add a new number and verify it by text message or phone call (for a landline number, choose the phone call).
Step 7. Review the access Smartsupp is requesting and click Confirm.
Step 8. Back in Smartsupp you’ll see the connected account details — the WhatsApp Business Account ID, the account and display name, and the phone number — with a green confirmation that the integration is connected and active. Send a test message to the number and watch it land in your inbox.
Note: Authorization runs entirely on Meta's side — your WhatsApp credentials are never visible to or stored by Smartsupp.
Reply to WhatsApp conversations
WhatsApp conversations behave just like regular Smartsupp chats — type your reply, hit send, done. The only visual difference is the green WhatsApp icon next to each conversation and message.
A few WhatsApp-side restrictions to keep in mind:
24-hour reply window — after the customer's last message, you have 24 hours to reply from Smartsupp. Once that window passes, the reply field is disabled and the conversation can only continue when the customer messages you again, which opens a fresh 24-hour window. Because your number runs through the WhatsApp Business Platform (API), you cannot fall back to the WhatsApp Business app to reply.
Conversation volume — every WhatsApp thread counts toward your usage cap, just like website chat.
Limited visitor info — WhatsApp only exposes the customer's display name; we can't pull email, location, or browsing data like with website chat.
Tip: To avoid losing questions that arrive outside your working hours, Smartsupp has a built-in reminder: if nobody has replied to the visitor, it automatically asks them for their email shortly before the 24-hour window closes, so you can continue the conversation by email even after the WhatsApp window has closed. You can turn it on in Settings → Channels → WhatsApp — on numbers connected before this option was introduced, it’s off by default. This is a separate feature from Automatic messages, which work only in the website chat.
What's next?
Facebook integration — connect Facebook Messenger so Page DMs land in your Smartsupp inbox.
Email integration — connect any Gmail, Seznam, or IMAP inbox to your Smartsupp dashboard.
Inbox categories — keep WhatsApp, Facebook, email, and chat organized as conversations grow.
Agent personal settings — set up your display name and signature for replies across all channels.
💡 Need more help? Contact our support team — we're happy to assist!