Set up WhatsApp calls

Many customers tap the phone icon in WhatsApp instead of typing. With The-Y CRM these calls arrive in your phone system like any other call: menu, group, queue, voicemail. The call appears right in the contact's WhatsApp conversation. And you can call back via WhatsApp if the customer has allowed it. Since version 1.1.45.

⏱ Switching on approx. 5 min · Permission: settings.manage (admin) · Requirement: WhatsApp connected, phone system set up · Free & Paid (Free: outgoing calls count towards the 200 outgoing call minutes) · As of version 1.1.46

1. What happens on a WhatsApp call

• The customer taps the call button for your number in WhatsApp.
• It rings in your browser (softphone) and on your desk phone. The softphone shows “WhatsApp call” with the name.
• The phone system answers right away. Then your flow applies: menu, ring group, queue, opening hours, voicemail.
• Hold, park and internal transfer work as for any call.
• Incoming WhatsApp calls cost nothing at Meta.
• WhatsApp calls count towards the limit for simultaneous calls (Free 2, Cloud Pro 10). Above the limit the caller hears the announcement that all lines are busy. The call list then shows “rejected – limit”.

2. What Meta requires – check first

These conditions are set by Meta. No provider can get around them.

3. Switch on calls (3 steps)

1. Open Settings → Channels → WhatsApp and click “Set up” for your number.
2. On the “WhatsApp calls” card, switch on “Accept calls” and confirm with “Turn on”. The status changes to “Active: customers can call you via WhatsApp.”
3. Under Telephony → Numbers → “WhatsApp numbers”, choose where the call starts (section 4).

“Show call button in WhatsApp” hides or shows the phone icon. Without the button, customers cannot call on their own.

4. Where the call goes

Under Telephony → Numbers → “WhatsApp numbers” you set per WhatsApp number:

• Call starts at: menu, ring group, queue, extension, opening hours, announcement or voicemail. “Automatic” means: like your top phone number, otherwise the first menu or the first extension.
• Fallback instead of forwarding outside: applies when your flow leads deeper to an external number (section 5). “Automatic” means: the first voicemail box, otherwise hang up.

Leave Meta's call hours off: outside them nobody can call – not even reach voicemail. Your phone system's opening hours handle this better. The card tells you if call hours are set at Meta.

5. No forwarding into the phone network

Meta does not allow a WhatsApp call to be forwarded to the telephone or mobile network – at no point of the call. The phone system therefore blocks it itself:

• If your flow leads to an external number (e.g. menu key → mobile, overflow, fallback of the extension), the caller hears a short announcement and then goes to the fallback destination.
• The flow view shows such places in red: “Forward to … – blocked for WhatsApp calls”.
• The softphone does not offer external numbers as a transfer target for WhatsApp calls.

Phone calls are not affected. You can still answer on the go: with the softphone in the app on your phone – that runs over the internet and is allowed (see Install the app).

6. The call in the WhatsApp conversation

• Every WhatsApp call is a line in the conversation with the contact, just like in the WhatsApp app: “📞 WhatsApp call (incoming)” with the result.
• Possible results: answered with duration, missed, voicemail left, hung up in the menu, not reached.
• A voicemail message is added below as audio, a recording is attached to the line.
• A missed call notifies the person assigned to the conversation, otherwise the team.
• A call opens WhatsApp's 24-hour window: you can write right away without a template.
• “Press 1 for WhatsApp” sends WhatsApp callers a normal message (“Thank you for your call! Just write your request here …”) instead of a template.
• If someone calls with a hidden number, their WhatsApp username is shown.

In the call list, WhatsApp calls carry the “WhatsApp” badge; the filter “Via WhatsApp” shows only these. In flows, the triggers “Call ended” and “Key pressed in voice menu” have the condition “Network: phone / WhatsApp” – e.g. for a task after a missed WhatsApp call.

7. Call back via WhatsApp

1. On the card, switch on “Allow outgoing WhatsApp calls” (confirm the cost note).
2. In the WhatsApp conversation, click “WhatsApp call”, then “Call now”. The button is also on the contact and on WhatsApp calls in the call list.
3. Your own phone rings first. When you answer, the phone system calls the customer via WhatsApp.

You may only call customers who have allowed it:

• Automatically: anyone who calls you via WhatsApp allows a callback for 7 days.
• On request: “Ask for call permission” sends “May we call you via WhatsApp? That way we can sort out your request faster. You decide and can change this at any time.” The customer chooses “temporary” (7 days) or “permanent”, or declines. The answer appears as a note in the conversation.
• Within the open 24-hour window the request goes as a normal message. After that you need the approved template “May we call you?”: card “WhatsApp calls” → “Submit template to Meta”. Meta reviews it like any template.

To call back you need your own extension. On the first call the customer may only see your number instead of the company name.

8. Costs

Meta bills you directly via the payment method on your WhatsApp account. The-Y CRM charges nothing for it. The cost overview in the CRM estimates outgoing calls at Meta's list price. In Free, outgoing WhatsApp calls count towards the 200 outgoing call minutes per month. All other costs: costs page.

9. What the status on the card means

10. Recordings: inform your customers

A menu key with recording also records WhatsApp calls. Since version 1.1.46 the caller hears a notice beforehand. It is switched on from the start. Since 1.1.51 you record the notice “This call is being recorded” yourself (in the browser or as an audio file); without your own recording the caller only hears a tone. You do this under Telephony → Overview → “Notice before a recording” (guide). As long as your own notice is missing, the recording still starts and the app shows a clear warning. If you switch the notice off, say it yourself in the menu announcement, e.g. “This call is recorded for training purposes.” Whether you need consent and how you inform people is up to you (no legal advice). What The-Y CRM processes for WhatsApp calls is described in our privacy policy (section “Data from Meta platforms”) and in the DPA.

11. Self-hosted

Without setup, WhatsApp calls stay off – nothing else changes with the update. For WhatsApp calls you need:

• a public name for the phone system (e.g. sip.your-domain.tld) with a valid certificate from a public authority (e.g. Let's Encrypt). Meta checks the certificate; if it is invalid or expired, Meta drops every call immediately.
• in the .env of app and worker: PBX_WA_SIP_HOST and optionally PBX_WA_SIP_PORT (default 5071). Certificate and key inside the Asterisk container at /etc/asterisk/certs/wa-sip.crt and wa-sip.key (change with PBX_WA_TLS_CERT/PBX_WA_TLS_KEY). PBX_WA_PUBLIC_ADDR only behind NAT. Optionally PBX_WA_TLS_CERT_LOCAL (path where the worker sees the certificate) so it reloads a renewed certificate by itself at night.
• Asterisk 22.5 or later with res_srtp; mount the folder pbx/asterisk/certs read-only into the Asterisk container.
• in the firewall, port 5071/tcp only for Meta's IP ranges (list in Meta's SIP guide); open the RTP range 10000–20000/udp and set it in rtp.conf; Meta's IP ranges in fail2ban's ignoreip.
• the AMI account with write = system,call,originate.
• with your own Meta app: click “Subscribe webhooks” once in the hub (new: calls, account_settings_update); the app must be in “Live” mode. If calls is missing, the card shows “Call events from Meta are missing”.
• since 1.1.46: without a paid key, 2 simultaneous calls are possible, WhatsApp calls included. More under Self-hosting → phone system.

Order when updating by hand: first the app (it updates the database), then the worker. More on running it: self-hosting guide.

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