HomeAI chatWhatsApp automation
The most important customer channel runs on a device the company does not own.
CoderConda sets up the WhatsApp chatbot for companies on an account the business owns instead of a private phone. Today the customer has the fitter’s number and gets an answer in ten minutes, until the fitter leaves and two hundred threads go with them.
- Account
- The company’s, not the phone’s
- Window
- 24 hours of free text
- After that
- Approved templates only
01Customers write there anyway. The question is who owns the thread.
01 · THE PROBLEM
A channel nobody set up is a channel nobody can hand over.
- Year 1
Because it is faster
A fitter gives out their number because going through the office takes longer. It does take longer, and everybody is happy.
- Year 2
Four people do it that way
Who looks after which customer is known only to that person. During their holiday nobody reads the messages, and the customer notices on day two.
- The dispute
The thread is out of reach
A customer says they cancelled the appointment by message. The thread sits on a private device, and the company has no access to it.
- The resignation
Two hundred threads leave too
Legally awkward, practically irretrievable. What remains is a number people keep writing to that now reaches nobody.
02 · THE WINDOW
24 hours of free replies. After that, templates only.
- Hour 0
The customer writes
The window starts at that second. The assistant may reply freely, ask follow-up questions, accept photos and offer appointments.
- Hour 0–24
Free text allowed
Anything a person would be allowed to write, the assistant may write too. In that period the channel behaves like an ordinary inbox.
- Hour 24
The window closes
From here only what was submitted and approved as a template goes out. A free sentence is rejected by the interface rather than quietly swallowed.
- After that
A template opens it again
An approved template may go in where consent exists. If the customer replies to it, the window stands open for another 24 hours — which is why a good template ends with a question.
The messages run through Meta, and no setup changes that.
03 · PRIVATE PHONE OR COMPANY ACCOUNT
Both ways answer customers. Only one stays with the company.
| Both ways answer customers. Only one stays with the company. | Private phone or app | Company account |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the thread | The device. | The company. |
| Holidays | Nobody else reads it. | The stand-in sees everything. |
| At ten at night | Read, not answered. | Answered, or an appointment set. |
| Automatic reminders | By hand, if somebody remembers. | A template, triggered by the appointment. |
| Proving consent | Not possible. | Date and origin in the log. |
| Somebody leaves | The customers leave too. | The access is revoked. |
04 · WHAT GETS SET UP
Six parts, and half of them are bookkeeping about consent.
01Business Platform · several agents
An account the company owns
Its own number, a verified business profile, access for several people. Threads sit with the company.
02Opt-in · objection · proof
Consent with date and origin
Who consented when and where is stored and can be produced if it is ever questioned. An objection takes effect at once, not at the next send.
03Category · placeholders · version
Templates that pass review
Correctly categorized, with example values, ending in a question. Changes need a fresh approval, and that takes time.
04Keyword · ambiguity · escalation
Handover to a person
One sentence, one keyword or one unclear case, and the thread lands with somebody in the building — with everything written so far.
05CRM · calendar · inventory
Connected to what already runs
A case from WhatsApp then looks like any other case, not like an exception parked beside the system.
06Retention · export · DPA
Keeping and deleting
Threads sit where your own data protection allows, with periods somebody actually set. On exit there is an export and after that a deletion.
05 · WHAT DOES NOT BELONG THERE
The messages run through Meta, and no setup changes that.
- What can be shaped is where the threads sit, for how long and who may see them — not whose infrastructure the message passes through. Anybody promising otherwise has not read the terms.
- Health data, identity documents and payment details do not belong in a WhatsApp thread. There is a link to a form for that, and the assistant does not ask for them in the first place.
- Meta has changed categories, prices and the window logic more than once. I follow those changes; that belongs to running the thing, not to a new quote.
PLAIN ANSWERS
- Is the free WhatsApp Business app not enough?
- For one person on one phone it is, and if that is the situation the rest is unnecessary. As soon as several people should answer, the thread has to belong to the company, or something should happen automatically, the route goes through the Business Platform with an account of your own. The app knows nothing about stand-ins, connections to a CRM, or retention periods somebody can control.
- How long does setup take?
- The assistant is ready in days; the registration takes longer. Business verification, approval of the first templates and a number not yet registered with WhatsApp are the items that mean waiting. I say at the start what needs fetching, so it does not surface halfway through.
- Can I keep my current number?
- A number from the WhatsApp Business app can be migrated; the history inside the app does not come with it. A privately registered number has to be deregistered there first. The clean route is usually a dedicated number for the business, one that also appears on the website.
- What happens when a template is rejected?
- It gets corrected and resubmitted, usually the same day. The usual reasons are the wrong category, placeholders without example values, and wording that applies pressure. That is part of the setup and is not billed separately.
- How much may the assistant answer on its own?
- The company decides, against a list I go through with you. Opening hours, catchment area, how a fault call runs, appointment slots: yes. Price commitments, warranty and complaints about individuals: no, those go straight to a person. The line can be moved later without rebuilding anything.