WhatsApp message approval, PDFs and buttons

WhatsApp only lets a business start a chat with wording it has checked first. BytePhase sends your wording to WhatsApp for you. This page shows how to change a message, add the PDF or buttons, and read the status.

1. You change the words

   And save.

2. Send for approval

   BytePhase sends it to WhatsApp.

3. In review

   Usually a few minutes. Meanwhile, that message opens in WhatsApp for staff to send by hand.

4. Approved

   It now goes out on its own.

Before you start

• You don’t have to do anything to start. Your shop already has approved wording for every message.
• Only someone with WhatsApp › Connect & buy balance can send wording for approval.

Change a message and send it for approval

1. Go to Settings › Customers & messaging › Message content & variables, and pick the WhatsApp tab. You can also click Saved messages on the WhatsApp page.

2. Pick the message on the left, for example Quotation Sent - WhatsApp. You see its status (1), and whether the PDF (2) and buttons (3) go out with it.

   

   Desktop

3. Click Edit, change the words in Message content, and click Save.

4. In the window that opens, click Send for approval.

   You see “Sent to WhatsApp for approval.”

Done!

When WhatsApp approves it, the badge turns Approved and the new words go out on their own.

What each status means

Status	What it means	What to do
Approved	WhatsApp accepted these words. Messages go out on their own	Nothing
Approved · edited	You changed the words after approval. The old approved words aren’t used any more	Click Send for approval
In review	WhatsApp is checking. Meanwhile the message opens in WhatsApp for staff to send	Wait, usually a few minutes
Rejected	WhatsApp didn’t accept the words. Its reason is shown	Change the words and save. WhatsApp won’t accept the same words twice
Stopped	WhatsApp stopped this message, often after customer complaints	Change the words and send again
Not submitted	These words were never sent to WhatsApp	Click Send for approval

Click Needs your attention to see only messages that were rejected, stopped or edited after approval.

Utility or Marketing

WhatsApp decides whether a message counts as Utility (an update about a job or bill) or Marketing (an offer). Words that read like an offer are charged at WhatsApp’s higher Marketing rate on your own number. Keep job and invoice messages plain. If you see “WhatsApp changed this to Marketing”, remove offer-style words.

Attach the PDF

Turn on Attach the PDF to send the printed document with the message, for example the invoice, job sheet or quotation. It appears on messages that have a document: jobs, invoices, sales, quotations, payment receipts, purchases, diagnosis reports, maintenance contracts and pickups.

• The badge PDF is going out means it’s approved.
• Waiting for WhatsApp approval means the message still goes out, just without the PDF for now.

Add buttons under a message

Turn on Show buttons under this message to add up to 3 buttons.

1. Click Add button and choose a Kind: Reply, Open a link or Call.
2. Type the Words on the button. For a link, choose Which link or type a web address. For a call, type the Number to dial.
3. Check How the customer sees it, then click Save buttons.

On quotations, the Approve and Reject buttons are fixed. When the customer taps one, the quotation is approved or rejected in BytePhase.

Until WhatsApp approves the buttons, the message still goes out with the words and PDF. It never stops a message from going.

Good to know

• The bottom of each message says where it’s sent from: your own number or BytePhase’s number.
• “No approved template fits this message” means this message opens in WhatsApp for staff to send by hand until you send it for approval.