Some functionality that will be offered by the Business app and enterprise solution includes the ability to create a verified profile with info like address, description, and hours, plus “Features for helping manage customer chats like away messages for when businesses are not able to respond at the moment.”]įacebook Messenger inserts display ads into the inbox
The company also says that the enterprise solution will initially be free but it does plan to charge businesses.
[Update: WhatsApp now confirms our hunch, telling TechCrunch “Businesses will only be able to contact people who have provided their phone number and agreed to be contacted by the business over WhatsApp.” Not allowing cold-message ads meshes with WhatsApp writing that it plans to “make it easier for people to communicate with the businesses they want to reach on WhatsApp”, emphasis mine. That’s how Facebook Messenger works, and it’s led to businesses buying “tap-to-message” ads on Facebook’s News Feed to get people to initiate conversations so the business can follow up with sponsored messages. This could allow WhatsApp to create a business search engine with optional sponsored results, or let businesses cold-message people, possibly for a fee.Īlternatively, businesses on WhatsApp may need to be contacted by a user first before they can respond with organic or sponsored messages. Interestingly, if a business isn’t already in your phone number contacts, its name will appear as whatever they register themselves as instead of their number. Conversations with businesses are encrypted and they can be blocked. WhatsApp began testing verified accounts for businesses a week ago. WhatsApp also officially announced its closed pilot program for verifying business accounts with a green checkmark to distinguish them from personal accounts and fakes. It could also charge for artificial intelligence bot functionality or ecommerce transactions. Contact your provider for details.Perhaps WhatsApp could charge enterprises like “airlines, e-commerce sites, and banks” to have multiple representatives managing an account or sending high volumes of messages. You can choose to share status posts with all your contacts or just selected ones. Status allows you to share text, photos, video and GIF updates that disappear after 24 hours. Or record a voice message to connect quickly. Share your location with only those in your individual or group chat, and stop sharing at any time. End-to-end encrypted group chats let you share messages, photos, videos and documents across mobile and desktop. Stay in touch with your friends and family.
Your calls work across mobile devices using your phone’s Internet service, even on slow connections. Make secure video and voice calls with up to 8 people for free*. You can quickly view your contacts who are on WhatsApp and start messaging. Simple and secure connections, right awayĪll you need is your phone number, no user names or logins. No one outside of your chats, not even WhatsApp, can read or listen to them. Your personal messages and calls to friends and family are end-to-end encrypted. WhatsApp works across mobile and desktop even on slow connections, with no subscription fees*. It’s simple, reliable, and private, so you can easily keep in touch with your friends and family. It’s used by over 2B people in more than 180 countries. WhatsApp from Facebook is a FREE messaging and video calling app.