Meta WhatsApp Business: connecting, inbox, templates and automation

Meta WhatsApp Business integration brings the messages your customers send on WhatsApp into a shared inbox inside Piyzi. Your team replies from there and matches the conversation with a customer record; your automations send approved template messages from the same number.

Prerequisites

• A Piyzi account with an active subscription.

• Pi Store edit permission, or being the workspace owner.

• A Facebook (Meta) Business account and a WhatsApp Business number attached to it.

• You can keep using the number in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone; the connection flow allows it.

• The staff who will use the inbox need the can view messages and can send messages permissions.

Connecting the integration

1. In the left menu, open My Business → Pi Store.

2. Under the Messaging heading, click the Meta WhatsApp Business card.

3. In the dialog that opens, click “Connect with Facebook”.

4. In the window Meta opens, sign in to your Facebook account, choose your business and the WhatsApp number you want to connect, and approve the requested permissions.

5. When you return to Piyzi the card shows “WhatsApp Connected”, together with the connected number and the verified business name.

Requested permissions

• Sending and receiving messages: so the inbox works and your replies reach the customer.

• Reading number and account info: to resolve which number the message is sent from and to show the verified business name.

• Template management: to list, create, edit and delete your templates.

• Reading and updating the business profile: so you can edit the profile card the customer sees on WhatsApp.

• Notification subscription: so customer messages reach Piyzi immediately.

Conversations, message content and the files sent are stored in Piyzi so they can be displayed in the inbox, and they are only visible to staff who have permission to view messages.

The inbox

1. In the left menu, open Messaging → Inbox.

2. Select a conversation from the list on the left.

3. Write and send your reply from the conversation area on the right.

• The inbox shows all messaging channels together; WhatsApp and Instagram messages are separated by channel tabs.

• Conversations only start when a customer writes to you — you cannot start a new conversation from Piyzi.

• Conversations whose phone number matches your records are linked to the customer card automatically; unmatched ones can be linked with “Match with an existing customer” or added as a new customer.

• From the Conversation Management panel you can assign the conversation to a staff member; the assignee receives the notifications.

• “End Conversation” closes the conversation without notifying the customer; if the same person writes again, a separate conversation opens.

• Besides text you can send photos, videos and documents, and leave reactions on messages.

The 24-hour service window

WhatsApp does not let businesses send free-form messages whenever they like. Every new message the customer sends you opens a 24-hour reply window; while it is open you can write freely. Once it closes, only previously approved template messages can be sent.

• While the window is open, the remaining time is shown above the composer.

• When the window closes, the composer is replaced by a “The 24-hour reply window has expired” notice and a “Choose Template and Send” button.

• The moment the customer writes to you again, the window reopens and the countdown starts over.

• If the customer has never written to you, the window is closed; you have to make first contact with a template.

• If the conversation started from an ad or a business page button, the window is 72 hours instead of 24.

Message templates

A template is a ready-made message pattern that Meta has reviewed in advance. It is the only kind of message you can send while the reply window is closed; appointment reminders and automation messages also go out as templates.

1. Open My Business → Pi Store → the Meta WhatsApp Business card.

2. Click the “Template Management” button at the bottom.

3. Click “New Template” to open the form, then enter the category (Marketing, Utility or Authentication), the language and the template name.

4. Write the body text; optionally add a header, a footer and buttons.

5. If you used variables in the text, provide a sample value for each of them.

6. Save — the template goes to Meta for review and its status becomes “In review”; once accepted it becomes “Approved”.

• The template name may only contain lowercase letters, digits and underscores; uppercase letters, spaces and hyphens are rejected.

• Variables are written as {{1}}; they cannot sit at the very start or end of the text, two variables cannot be placed side by side, and a sample value is required for each one.

• The body is limited to 1024 characters and the header and footer to 60; footers cannot contain variables.

• Only approved, rejected or paused templates can be edited; a template's name and language can never be changed.

• Deleting works on the name and language together and cannot be undone.

• Template management requires the Pi Store edit permission; staff with view-only permission can read the list but cannot change anything.

The WhatsApp business profile

The business profile is the card your customers see when they tap your business name on WhatsApp. It is edited at the bottom of the Pi Store card while the connection is active.

1. Open My Business → Pi Store → the Meta WhatsApp Business card.

2. Scroll down to the “Business Profile” section.

3. Fill in the profile photo, about text, description, industry, email, address and website fields, then save.

• The phone number and the verified business name cannot be changed here; they are only updated through Meta Business Manager and are shown read-only in this form.

• The “About” field cannot be left empty; if you clear it, the existing text is kept.

• Once an industry has been selected it cannot be reset to “Unspecified”.

• At most two websites can be added, and the profile photo must be a JPEG or a PNG.

• If your number is also used in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, the profile is synced with the app and changes made here may be reverted by it.

WhatsApp in automations

When an automation is triggered, the customer's reply window is most likely closed. That is why the WhatsApp step sends approved templates only; free-form text cannot be sent.

1. Open an automation from the Automations section, or create a new one.

2. Add a WhatsApp step to the flow.

3. Choose the recipient: the customer, the workspace owner, or the staff member providing the service.

4. Pick a template from the list; if needed you can also create one right there with “New template”.

5. In the variable mapping section, choose which Piyzi value fills each template variable, then save.

• You cannot activate the automation until the selected template is approved; you can save it, but it will not run.

• The template is read live from Meta at send time; if it was later rejected, paused or deleted, nothing is sent.

• Variables you leave unmapped are sent as “-”.

• The step does not run if the recipient has no phone number or the integration is inactive.

Notification settings

• The “Notification Settings” button above the inbox decides who receives mobile notifications; this section requires the messaging notification settings permission.

• WhatsApp, Instagram messages and Instagram comments are switched on and off separately for each staff member.

• If a conversation is assigned to a staff member, the notification goes to that person only — even if they are not on the list.

• If nothing has been configured, only the workspace owner receives notifications.

• At most 1 notification per 2 minutes is sent for the same conversation, and staff who have never signed in to the mobile app cannot receive notifications.

Deleting a conversation

1. Open the conversation in the inbox.

2. Scroll to the Conversation Management panel on the right.

3. Click “Delete Conversation” and confirm.

• Deleting is a separate permission (can delete conversations); by default only the workspace owner has it and it is added to roles manually.

• The conversation and all of its messages are removed from Piyzi; the action cannot be undone and is written to the audit log.

• Deleting only affects the Piyzi side: the conversation in the customer's own WhatsApp app stays exactly as it is. Meta's interfaces do not allow the other party's copy to be deleted.

• For conversations you do not want to delete, use “End Conversation” instead; the record stays and only the conversation is closed.

• If a deleted contact writes to you again, the conversation opens from scratch as a new one.

Removing the connection

1. Open the business settings of your Meta Business account.

2. In the WhatsApp accounts section, find the number you connected to Piyzi.

3. Remove the Piyzi app's access to that account.

• The Meta WhatsApp Business card in Pi Store has no disconnect button; removal is done on Meta's side.

• If your number is also used in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, you can break the connection from the app's settings as well.

• Meta tells Piyzi that the connection was removed; the integration is deactivated automatically and any send attempt is rejected.

• Your past conversations and messages stay in Piyzi; only the exchange of new messages stops.

• If you grant access again on Meta's side, the integration is reactivated automatically.

Troubleshooting

• The card does not show “WhatsApp Connected”: a pop-up blocker may have interrupted the connection flow; disable it and try again.

• There is no Messaging section in the left menu: the integration is not connected yet, or the staff member lacks permission to view messages.

• The composer is hidden: the 24-hour reply window has closed; send an approved template or wait for the customer to write.

• The template list is empty: you have no approved templates yet. Create one from Template Management and wait for Meta's approval.

• The automation cannot be activated: the template you selected has not been approved yet; the automation can be turned on once its status is “Approved”.

• A “connection has expired” warning: the authorization was dropped; reconnect from Pi Store. Incoming messages keep flowing, but sending stops.

• Notifications do not arrive: check the channel switches in Notification Settings, whether the conversation is assigned to someone else, and whether the staff member has signed in to the mobile app.