WhatsApp and SMS

Message leads and customers from their record with templates, connect your own WhatsApp Business number so replies land in CRM, add WhatsApp or SMS steps to sequences, and text with MSG91 or Twilio.

Every message you send or receive is kept on the lead, contact or deal, next to calls, emails and notes. You use your own WhatsApp and SMS accounts, and pay them directly; Ellibo adds no charge per message.

Click-to-chat (every plan, no setup)

1. Open a lead, contact or deal and click the WhatsApp tab above the history.
2. Pick a template, or write the message. Fields such as {first_name} are filled in.
3. Click Open WhatsApp. WhatsApp opens on your phone or computer with the message ready. Press send there.

The message is kept on the record, marked Opened in WhatsApp. A lead that was New becomes Contacted.

Numbers typed without a country code get your business's code, for example +91 in India. Numbers abroad keep their own code.

Message templates

Go to Settings › Business settings › WhatsApp & SMS › Message templates and click New template. Choose WhatsApp or SMS, give it a name, and write the message with fields. The whole team can use it.

Connect WhatsApp Business (Standard plan and above)

With your own WhatsApp Business number connected, you send from CRM and replies come back to the record by themselves. You also see delivered and read ticks, and a new sender can become a lead.

1. Go to Settings › WhatsApp & SMS and follow the steps shown there:

   • create a Meta app with WhatsApp;
   • copy the Phone number ID and the WhatsApp Business Account ID;
   • create a permanent token for a system user;
   • optionally copy the App secret.
2. Paste them and click Connect WhatsApp.
3. Copy the Callback URL and Verify token shown into your Meta app (WhatsApp › Configuration › Webhook), then subscribe to messages.

The 24-hour rule

WhatsApp lets you send any message within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, you can only send an approved template:

1. Create templates in WhatsApp Manager.
2. When Meta approves them, click Sync from Meta in Settings.
3. In the message window, CRM tells you whether the 24 hours are open, and offers your approved templates when they are not.

Meta bills your own account for conversations you start. Replies within the 24 hours are free.

New chats become leads

With A new WhatsApp sender becomes a lead on, a message from an unknown number creates a lead:

• the source is WhatsApp;
• the owner comes from your assignment rules.

SMS (Standard plan and above)

Connect your SMS account under Settings › WhatsApp & SMS › SMS:

• MSG91 (India): business SMS in India needs DLT registration, a TRAI rule. Register your business, sender ID and each message on a DLT portal (MSG91 guides you).

  • Create a Flow in MSG91 for each approved message, with variables named like the fields, for example ##first_name##.
  • Add the template in CRM with the Flow's template ID.
  • In India, every SMS uses one of these templates.
• Twilio (worldwide): enter the Account SID, Auth Token and the number or Messaging Service you send from. Some countries ask you to register your brand first; Twilio guides you.

Then the SMS tab appears on records.

WhatsApp and SMS in sequences

In a sequence, add a WhatsApp or SMS step:

• With WhatsApp Business connected: the step is sent by itself. If the person hasn't written in 24 hours, choose an approved template for the step and its values, for example {first_name}, {my_name}.
• With SMS connected: the step is sent by itself.
• Otherwise: the person who added them gets a task with the message ready (and a WhatsApp link to open it).

A WhatsApp reply stops the person's sequence, just like an email reply.

Good to know

• Disconnecting deletes the keys. Messages already kept stay on the records.
• The WhatsApp & SMS filter on a record's history shows only messages.
• Keys are stored encrypted.