WhatsApp Channel Activation

As soon as you have followed the steps to request a WhatsApp Channel, you can proceed with your channel activation. The Whatsapp channel activation can be done in two ways:

• Through the Channels tab of your MessageBird Dashboard.

• Through a phone call, if you are using a MessageBird Virtual Mobile Number (VMN).

Whatsapp Channel Activation through MessageBird Dashboard

1. Go to the Channels tab of your MessageBird Dashboard and click on your Whatsapp channel.

2. After you’ve selected WhatsApp, under ‘My channels’, you should see a button that reads ‘Activate Channel’.

3. Click on this button to trigger a prompt where you will select SMS, followed by Send code.

4. When you receive the code, input it in the prompt dialogue. You should then wait up to 20 minutes for your channel to be activated.

Whatsapp Channel Activation through a Phone Call

If you are using a MessageBird VMN, you’ll be required to verify the phone number so that you can activate the account. To do so, you’ll need to forward the verification code call to a phone number to which you have access, by following the steps below:

1. Go to Flow Builder, scroll down to Templates, and select the Forward Call template.

2. Fill in the phone number information in the Phone Call step. Then, populate the ‘Forward to number’ field in Forward Call and, if necessary, set up the step’s additional options. If you need further information on how to do this, please check our 'Forwarding Call’ article.

3. Once you have set up and published the flow, go back to Channels → Whatsapp and click on Activate Channel.

4. Choose Phone call on the activation prompt, followed by Send Code. By doing this, the ‘Forward Call’ flow you have just created will be executed, and a verification code will be sent to your MessageBird WhatsApp number and forwarded to the setup number via a phone call.

5. Enter the activation code, and click on Activate channel. You’ll then need to wait up to 20 minutes for your channel to be activated.

6. When the process is complete, the activation status changes from ‘Pending’ to ‘Added’. Your channel is ready to be used, and it will look like this:

If you face any difficulties, please take a look at our Whatsapp Channel Activation FAQ article, or feel free to reach out to our support team. We will be happy to help!