Glossary
WhatsApp Business terms, defined.
Short, plain definitions of the words you will meet when you set up WhatsApp for your business.
24-hour customer service window
- The 24 hours after a customer’s last message during which a business may reply with any message type. After it closes, only approved templates can be sent. Read the guide.
Business Solution Provider (BSP)
- A company approved to provide access to the WhatsApp Business Platform to businesses, usually with its own software on top.
Click-to-WhatsApp ads
- Facebook and Instagram ads with a button that opens a WhatsApp chat with the advertiser. Meta passes ad details with the first message so the lead can be attributed. Read the guide.
Embedded Signup
- Meta’s guided flow that lets a business create or connect its WhatsApp Business account, phone number and optional catalogue from inside a provider’s product.
Opt-in
- A customer’s permission to receive messages from a business on WhatsApp. WhatsApp requires opt-in for business-initiated messages.
Template message
- A pre-approved WhatsApp message format, with optional variables, media and buttons, that a business can send outside the 24-hour customer service window. Read the guide.
Webhook
- An HTTPS call a platform makes to your server when something happens, such as a customer replying or a message being delivered.
WhatsApp broadcast
- Sending one approved template message to many opted-in contacts at the same time, usually to a segment of an audience.
WhatsApp Business API
- The programmatic interface of the WhatsApp Business Platform that lets a business send and receive WhatsApp messages at scale through software, with multiple users, automation and integrations, instead of a single phone. Read the guide.
WhatsApp catalogue
- A Meta product catalogue connected to a WhatsApp Business number, letting customers browse products and send a cart inside the chat.
WhatsApp chatbot
- An automated flow that replies to customers on WhatsApp, asks questions, shows buttons or lists and can create leads or hand over to a person. Read the guide.
WhatsApp Cloud API
- The version of the WhatsApp Business Platform hosted by Meta. Businesses and providers connect to it over HTTPS without running their own servers.
WhatsApp CRM
- Customer relationship management built around WhatsApp conversations, where contacts, leads, stages, owners and tags sit next to the chats. Read the guide.
WhatsApp Flows
- Interactive forms and multi-screen experiences that open inside a WhatsApp chat so customers can book, register or answer questions without leaving the app.
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