360dialog is an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider that charges a flat monthly fee per number, and passes on Meta's messaging fees without a markup. Contacts can message your number and reply with photos, videos, documents and locations or by tapping buttons, and you can reach them at any time with templates approved by Meta.

Before you start

You'll need a 360dialog account with your WhatsApp number set up on it. 360dialog's guide to getting started walks you through signing up and adding your number, and its pricing explains what it costs.

Once your number is set up, generate an API key for it in the 360dialog Client Hub. It's only shown once, so copy it somewhere safe. Generating a new key stops any earlier ones from working, including one you've already used to connect a channel.

Adding the channel

Go to Settings > Channels and click New Channel. 360Dialog WhatsApp is under Social & Chat, or you can type its name in the search box.

Then fill in the form:

Click Add Channel. There's nothing more to set up on 360dialog's side, and your number's approved templates are synced to your workspace's Templates.

Considerations

Contacts can be sent any message within 24 hours of their last message to you. Outside that window, messages have to use one of your approved templates.

If Meta has enabled Direct Send for your WhatsApp Business Account, messages sent outside that window can go as utility messages without a template. Open the channel, choose Edit from its menu and check Direct Send.

To learn more about WhatsApp channels in general, see Using WhatsApp.