WhatsApp Business Setup

Connect WhatsApp to Assistaffer with Meta Onboarding

Assistaffer delegates your WhatsApp number through Meta's own onboarding flow — a secure, guided pop-up that replaces manual developer setup. This guide explains exactly what happens and what every Meta term means.

On this page

  1. How the connection works
  2. Meta concepts, explained
  3. Connect your WhatsApp number
  4. After you connect
1

How the connection works

Assistaffer is registered with Meta as a Tech Provider for the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Instead of asking you to create a Meta Developer App, add the WhatsApp product, and copy technical IDs by hand, Assistaffer uses Meta's official onboarding flow — called Embedded Signup, and referred to on this page as Meta Onboarding — to request permission to send and receive WhatsApp messages for your business number.

You approve the connection inside a secure pop-up window hosted by Meta and Facebook. Assistaffer never sees your Facebook password, and Meta hands back only the technical identifiers Assistaffer needs to operate your number — nothing else.

ℹ️ You'll need a Facebook account with access to your business's Meta Business Portfolio, or the ability to create one — Meta offers this during onboarding if you don't have one yet.

2

Meta concepts, explained

Meta uses its own terminology throughout the onboarding pop-up. Here's what each term means.

🏢

Meta Business Portfolio

The umbrella Meta account that owns your business's assets — Facebook Pages, ad accounts, and WhatsApp Business Accounts. If your business doesn't have one yet, Meta lets you create one during onboarding.

💬

WhatsApp Business Account (WABA)

A container inside your Meta Business Portfolio that holds one or more WhatsApp phone numbers and message templates. Each Assistaffer organization connects to exactly one WhatsApp Business Account.

📱

Phone Number & Phone Number ID

The Phone Number is the number your customers message. The Phone Number ID is a separate numeric identifier Meta assigns to that number — Assistaffer uses this ID, not the number itself, to send and receive messages through Meta's API.

🔐

Meta Onboarding (Embedded Signup)

Meta's official guided flow for connecting a WhatsApp number to a Tech Provider like Assistaffer. It opens as a secure pop-up window where you log in with Facebook and approve only the specific permissions Assistaffer is requesting.

🔄

Coexistence

If your number is already active in the WhatsApp Business App on your phone, Meta offers to link it to Assistaffer instead of requiring a new number. Your number keeps working in the WhatsApp Business App while Assistaffer also sends and receives messages through it.

🔑

Meta Access Token

The credential Meta issues to Assistaffer once you approve the connection. It's what lets Assistaffer send and receive messages on your behalf. It's stored securely and never shown again after the connection completes.

💶

Meta Messaging Charges

Meta's own per-conversation fees for sending and receiving WhatsApp messages, billed directly to your business by Meta. These charges are entirely separate from, and in addition to, your Assistaffer subscription.

⚙️

Webhook (already configured)

The mechanism Meta uses to deliver incoming messages to Assistaffer in real time. Because Assistaffer is a registered Tech Provider, this is already set up platform-wide — you don't need to configure or verify anything in Meta yourself.


3

Connect your WhatsApp number

What you'll actually do — most of it happens inside Meta's own pop-up.

  1. Open your organization's Settings page in Assistaffer (requires the Basic or Premium plan) and find the WhatsApp Chat bot Phone configuration section.
  2. Read the notice explaining that Meta Messaging Charges are billed by Meta directly and are separate from your Assistaffer subscription.
  3. Click Setup WhatsApp... — this opens Meta Onboarding immediately in a pop-up window hosted by Facebook.
  4. Log in with your Facebook account and select — or create — the Meta Business Portfolio that should own your WhatsApp number.
  5. Choose or create your WhatsApp Business Account and phone number. If your number is already active in the WhatsApp Business App, accept Meta's Coexistence option to link it without losing your existing chats.
  6. Review and approve the permissions Meta lists — sending and managing WhatsApp messages on your behalf — then let the pop-up close.
  7. Done automatically: Assistaffer saves your WhatsApp Phone Number, Phone Number ID, WhatsApp Business Account ID, and Meta Access Token without any copying or pasting.
💡 No Meta Developer App, no System User, no webhook setup — Meta Onboarding and Assistaffer's Tech Provider registration handle all of that for you.

4

After you connect

A couple of things to check once Meta Onboarding completes.

  1. If your organization isn't already on a paid plan, activate your subscription — the chatbot only responds to messages once the subscription is active.
  2. Send a test WhatsApp message to your business number to confirm the AI booking agent replies.
  3. To reconnect later — for example if you revoke access in Meta, or move your number to a different Meta Business Portfolio — simply run Meta Onboarding again from organization Settings; it overwrites the stored connection.
ℹ️ Self-hosted deployments that don't have Meta Onboarding configured can still enter the WhatsApp Phone Number ID, WhatsApp Business Account ID, and a Meta access token manually from organization Settings.