WhatsApp Business (Official API)

Quick Release supports two ways of sending WhatsApp messages, and you choose per operation under Settings → WhatsApp:

Neither channel is deprecated. You can switch in both directions at any time; SMS fallback works on both.

WhatsApp Business is rolled out operator by operator: until Quick Release has enabled it for your operation, the settings screen shows only the linked-device channel. Ask for it by email or WhatsApp.

Coexistence: your phone keeps working#

The number you use today in the WhatsApp Business app can be connected to the official API without leaving the app. Meta calls this coexistence:

• the app on your phone keeps working, with its chat history;
• messages sent from Quick Release also appear in the app;
• messages you answer from the app also appear in the booking’s conversation in Quick Release;
• customers see one and the same number and business name.

During the Meta signup you scan a QR code with the app, exactly like linking WhatsApp Web. A fresh number is the alternative: it lives on the API only, with no app on a phone. A number on personal WhatsApp cannot be used; move it to the WhatsApp Business app first.

Before you start: what you need at Meta#

WhatsApp Business runs on your own Meta account, not on Quick Release’s. Three things are yours to arrange, once:

1. A Meta business account — a Meta Business Portfolio in your company’s name, at business.facebook.com. If you already advertise on Facebook or Instagram, you have one. If not, create it: Settings → Business info with your company name, address and VAT number. Business verification (Meta asks for a company document) lifts your messaging limit and clears the “pending” state on your display name — you can start without it, but do it early.
2. A payment method on that account — Meta Business Suite → Billing. Meta charges the paid messages directly to you.
3. A phone number for WhatsApp — either a fresh number, or the number you use today in the WhatsApp Business app. An existing number keeps working on your phone (coexistence); a fresh number lives on the API only. A number that is on personal WhatsApp cannot be used.

You do not need a developer account, an app, or any technical setup: Quick Release is the technical provider, and Meta’s connect window handles the rest.

Setting up WhatsApp Business#

The four steps below are the same four the settings screen ticks off. The step-by-step page walks through them with timings.

1. Connect with Meta — in Settings → WhatsApp → WhatsApp channel, click Connect with Meta. A Meta window opens; log in with your own Meta business account and follow the signup. You can bring your existing WhatsApp Business App number (it keeps working on your phone) or use a fresh number.
2. Payment method — Meta bills the paid messages directly to you. Open Meta Business Suite → Billing, add a payment method, and confirm the step in Quick Release. Without a payment method, paid template messages will stop sending (they fall back to SMS and the settings screen warns you).
3. Templates — your existing WhatsApp/SMS template wordings are automatically submitted to Meta for approval, per language. The provisioning list shows each wording’s status (pending / approved / rejected, with Meta’s reason). Fix a rejected wording in the templates screen and save — it is resubmitted automatically.
4. Activate — once your account is connected and the templates are approved, Activate WhatsApp Business. From that moment all WhatsApp traffic uses the official API.

Checking your account at Meta#

Everything Meta owns — the health of your number, the review of your templates, your invoices — is checked in WhatsApp Manager on your own account. Once you are connected, the settings screen has buttons that open the right page for your account directly:

Quick Release mirrors the essentials (template status, messaging tier, payment problems) in the settings screen, so day to day you should not need WhatsApp Manager. It is where you go when Meta rejects something and you want the full reasoning, or when Meta asks you to verify your business.

The 24-hour window#

WhatsApp’s rules for business messaging:

• When a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens. Inside it you can send free-form text, and those messages are free.
• Outside the window, messages must use an approved template. These cost a few cents each (Meta’s utility rate for your country) and are billed by Meta to your account.
• Recipients outside the window always receive the approved template wording — also when you edit the proposed text in the send dialog. Your edits reach the recipients inside the window; the dialog shows how many recipients are outside the window and warns you when your edit will be replaced by the template for them. The message thread shows the wording that was actually sent.
• When no approved template is available for a message type, out-of-window messages fall back to SMS automatically. Nothing is dropped silently.

Template variants#

A message type (reminder, cancellation, …) may have multiple variants, each with its own name — for example a “morning flight” and a “short notice” reminder. Manage them in Settings → WhatsApp/SMS Templates (add/remove variant), and pick the variant in the send dialog. Every variant and language is approved by Meta separately.

Booking confirmation#

The booking confirmation template only offers booking variables (name, code, passengers, amounts, comment) — never flight variables, since no flight is planned yet when it is sent. The default wording tells the customer that WhatsApp is used for information about their flight and schedule changes only.

Fixed platform templates#

Two messages carry a wording set by Quick Release, not by you: the personal flight page link (UP-link) and the flight suggestions list. Outside the 24-hour window they are sent as those fixed templates; inside it, as free text. They are submitted to Meta automatically and do not appear in your templates screen.

Costs and usage#

The Subscription page shows your WhatsApp Business usage: paid vs free messages and an indicative cost estimate. This is informational only — the authoritative invoice is Meta’s, on your own account (Meta Business Suite → Billing). Quick Release does not charge for WhatsApp Business messages.

An optional monthly alert threshold can be set to warn when paid volume runs higher than expected.

Switching back to WhatsApp free#

In the same settings screen, Switch back to WhatsApp free releases your number from the Business API. Pair your phone again with the QR code, exactly like before. SMS fallback covers the transition, and you can switch to WhatsApp Business again later — your Meta account and approved templates are remembered.