Connect WhatsApp and the Inbox channels

Why it matters

When customers write to a salesperson's personal phone, messages get lost, replies are slow and the history leaves with that person. The Genuka Inbox brings together, in one place, the WhatsApp conversations of your business number and those of your website chat. The whole team sees them and replies, and each conversation is linked to the customer's record.

Summary

The Inbox (Menu › Communication › Inbox) receives four channels:

The channel filter at the top of the conversation list (All channels, WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, Messenger, Web, then your WhatsApp Numbers) lets you show a single channel or number.

Prerequisites

• To connect a number: access to Marketing (permission marketing.*).
• A Meta Business account and a phone number that can receive a verification code (SMS or call).
• To open Inbox Settings: permission inbox.*.
• To connect Instagram or Facebook Pages: permission meta.connections (administrators hold it by default).

Steps

1. Connect your WhatsApp number

1. Open Menu › Communication › Marketing › Settings, WhatsApp tab.
2. Click Connect WhatsApp. A Meta window opens.
3. In the Meta window, sign in, choose or create your business account, enter the number and confirm it with the code you receive.
4. Back in Genuka, the message "WhatsApp connected successfully!" appears and the number shows in the list.
5. If you have several numbers, click Use this number on the one that should be used for sending (campaigns, company messages). It then gets the Main badge.
6. Optional: Edit name gives the number a clearer Genuka name ("Akwa Shop") than its Meta name.

As soon as the number is connected, the messages your customers send to it arrive in the Inbox.

1b. Connect Instagram or your Facebook Pages

1. Open Menu › Communication › Marketing › Settings, Facebook & Instagram tab. Each product has its own card and connects on its own.
2. Instagram: click Connect Instagram. In Meta's window, sign in with Instagram (or Facebook), choose the professional account and accept. In the Instagram app, "Allow access to messages" must be turned on. You come back to Genuka and the account shows on the card.
3. Messenger: click Connect Pages, sign in with Facebook and tick the Pages whose messages should reach Genuka.
4. On each card, an account can be Paused without disconnecting everything.

A customer who writes to you on Instagram or Messenger becomes a customer record (named when Meta gives the name, with no phone) and the conversation arrives in the Inbox.

2. Give access to your team

Access to the Inbox is set per role, in Settings › Company › Roles & Permissions, Inbox group:

• inbox.view opens the Inbox.
• View every conversation, not only the ones assigned to them (inbox.conversations.view_all): without this right, a member only sees the conversations assigned to them.
• One right per WhatsApp number, Instagram account or Facebook Page (Messaging accounts group), or one right for all: a member without access to an account sees neither its conversations nor the customers who wrote to it.
• Send messages (inbox.messages.send) and Assign conversations (inbox.conversations.assign) to take action.

Roles that have inbox.* (all messaging rights) can access everything, numbers included.

3. Share your WebChat

Open the Inbox, click the Inbox Settings icon, WebChat tab: Your webchat link is there, with Copy and Open. Share it on your social networks, your website or your business cards. See "Customize the WebChat".

Fields and options

The main tabs of Inbox Settings:

Edge cases and common mistakes

• Meta rejects my number ("already linked to a WhatsApp account"). The number is still active in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app on a phone, and the connection offered by Genuka cannot keep both. Use another number, or contact support before deleting anything: deleting the WhatsApp account from the phone means losing the app and its history.
• The Meta window closes without connecting anything. The message "WhatsApp connection cancelled" appears. Start Connect WhatsApp again and go all the way through the number verification.
• An employee sees no conversation. They are missing either View every conversation, or access to the WhatsApp number concerned. Or no conversation has been assigned to them yet.
• I can't see the Inbox Settings icon. It requires the inbox.* permission.
• Deleting a connection (Delete button, then confirmation) stops receiving and sending messages for that number in Genuka. To simply switch Meta account, prefer Reconnect WhatsApp.
• Instagram and Messenger outside 24 hours. You can only reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message, and only to someone who wrote first: Genuka refuses to send after that and says so on the message. There are no templates to follow up on these channels.
• An "Expired" Instagram or Facebook connection. Meta no longer accepts the access: click Reconnect on the card.
• WhatsApp messages outside 24 hours. WhatsApp only allows a free-form message within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, you need a template approved by Meta: see "Create a message template".

FAQ

Can I connect several numbers? Yes. Each one appears in the list and in the WhatsApp Numbers filter of the Inbox; one of them is the Main number for sending.

Do I have to pay to receive messages? No. Receiving and replying in the conversation uses nothing. Messaging credits are used for template messages (campaigns, follow-ups): see "Messaging credits".

Can an AI agent reply for me? Yes, on WhatsApp as well as on the WebChat. See "Configure an AI agent".

See also

• Reply to a conversation
• Customize the WebChat
• Messaging credits
• Create a message template