Connect your center’s WhatsApp Business number

Your center sends its messages from its own WhatsApp Business number directly, with sent, delivered and read statuses, and receives the replies of guardians and students in “WhatsApp chats”. The center connects its number through its own Meta account and contracts with Meta directly; Meta charges the center for template messages at its own prices. ECMS Pro adds no fee for messages.

Before you start: the center’s owner or administrator connects the number themselves under “Center settings” → “WhatsApp Business”; only the owner accepts the data processing notice. If you need help connecting, our team is with you on WhatsApp.

What you need

A Meta business account (Business portfolio) in the center’s name, preferably verified: verification raises the “messaging limit”.
A mobile number for the center that is not currently on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business phone app and can receive an SMS or a call for verification. If the number is on the app, delete its account from the app first after backing up its chats, or use a new number.
A payment method for the WhatsApp Business account: Meta requires it to send template messages.

1. Create the center’s app on Meta for Developers

Sign in to developers.facebook.com with an account that has access to the center’s business account, then press “My Apps” → “Create App”.
Choose the app type “Business” and link it to the center’s business account.
Add the “WhatsApp” product to the app and press “Set up”. This creates the center’s WhatsApp Business account, or choose its existing one.

An app dedicated to the center: use an app you create for ECMS Pro, for this center only — never an app another system such as Odoo already uses: an app has one receiving address, so that system would stop receiving its WhatsApp notifications once receiving is set up here. And one app per center: an app connected to another center is refused.

2. Add the center’s number

In the app, under “WhatsApp” → “API Setup”, press “Add phone number”.
Enter the name recipients will see (the center’s name as guardians know it; Meta reviews it), then the number, and confirm you own it with the code you receive.
In “WhatsApp Manager” → “Phone numbers”, open the number and turn on “Two-step verification” with a 6-digit PIN. Keep the PIN: you need it in step 5.
Add the payment method to the WhatsApp Business account in “WhatsApp Manager”.

3. Create the system user and the permanent access token

In Meta Business Suite’s “Business settings”, press “Users” → “System users” → “Add” and give it the “Admin” role.
Press “Assign assets” and give the system user full control of the center’s app and of its WhatsApp Business account.
Press “Generate new token”, choose the app, set the expiration to “Never”, select the two permissions whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management, then press “Generate”.
Copy the access token at once: Meta never shows it again. Do not send it to anyone, and do not keep it in a message or a shared file.

A token from another app: the system also accepts a System User token issued by another app of your business account, as long as it has the two permissions and reaches the number and the WhatsApp Business account. “Test connection” then says the token was issued by that app: the token is used for sending, and the system receives notifications through the center’s app whose ID you entered. In that case the center’s app must already be subscribed to the WhatsApp Business account before you set up receiving (step 6).

4. Copy the IDs and the secret

Phone number ID and WhatsApp Business Account ID: in the app, under “WhatsApp” → “API Setup”.
App ID and App secret: under “App settings” → “Basic”; press “Show” next to the secret.

5. Enter them in ECMS Pro and test the connection

Open “Center settings” → “WhatsApp Business” → “Connection details”.
Enter the phone number ID, the WhatsApp Business account ID, the app ID, the permanent access token and the app secret.
Press “Test connection”. The system checks the token and its two permissions, the app secret, and that the number belongs to the WhatsApp Business account, and shows the number, the verified name, the “Quality rating” and the “Messaging limit”. Nothing is saved if the test fails.
Press “Save”. The token and the secret are stored encrypted and are never shown to any user again.
If the number shows as “Not registered yet”, press “Register the number” and enter the PIN from step 2. The PIN is used once and never stored.

6. Set up receiving

Press “Set up receiving automatically”: the system then receives from Meta the statuses of messages (delivered and read) and the replies of guardians and students. Once Meta has checked the address, “The callback URL is verified” appears.

If the app sends its notifications to another system: the automatic setup stops, shows that system’s address and changes nothing. The best fix is an app dedicated to the center (step 1). If you are sure that system no longer needs the notifications, press “Replace the address” and confirm in “Replace the callback address?”: that system stops receiving them and they come to ECMS Pro instead.
If it says the app is not subscribed to the WhatsApp Business account: this happens when the access token was issued by another app. Subscribe the center’s app from the WhatsApp setup of that app, or use an access token issued from the center’s app, then press “Set up receiving automatically” again.
To set it up by hand: copy the “Callback URL” and the “Verify token”, paste them in the app under “WhatsApp” → “Configuration” → “Webhook”, press “Verify and save”, then subscribe to the messages field.
If “No notification has arrived from Meta yet.” stays after you sent a message to the center’s number from your phone, make sure the app is in “Live” mode; that needs a privacy policy link under “App settings” → “Basic”.

7. Submit the templates for review

Press “Submit templates for review”. Meta reviews the message templates: absence, dues, marks to the guardian and to the student, exam results to the guardian and to the student, the portal sign-in link, starting a conversation and the verification code. Review can take from minutes to a day; press “Refresh template statuses” to follow it until it says “Approved”.

Each kind of message is sent directly once its template is approved; until then it goes through WhatsApp as it does today.
Meta may reject a template: it shows “Rejected” with a “Rejection reason”. Messages of that kind keep going through WhatsApp as they do today, and every other kind is sent directly. For example, Meta may reject the “Portal sign-in link” template because it treats sign-in links like verification messages: the sign-in link then goes through WhatsApp as it does today, and portal verification codes arrive with the “Verification code” template.
If Meta changes a template’s category to “Marketing”, a warning says so; contact support to review it.

8. Accept the data processing notice

The center’s owner opens the “Data processing notice”, presses “Read the notice”, ticks “I have read the notice and accept it on behalf of the center.” and presses “Accept the notice”. The notice explains what the system keeps of the messages and chats and for how long, and the center’s duties: guardians’ and students’ agreement to receive messages, honouring requests to stop messages, and keeping in mind that most students are under 18.

9. Enable WhatsApp Business

Choose “Enable WhatsApp Business”, press “Save”, then “Enable” in “Enable WhatsApp Business?” to confirm.
Under “Sending”, choose what suits your center: “Send portal verification codes from the center’s number”, “Automatic messages” for absence messages when the attendance sheet is saved, marks messages when marks are saved and exam results when an exam is published, with the “Delay in minutes”, and the “Daily limit of direct messages”.
Automatic messages go to guardians only, unless you choose “Send automatic messages to students too”.
To receive replies in “WhatsApp chats”, choose “Enable conversations” and save. Chats appear to the center’s owner, its administrator and the secretary, never to teachers. You can also turn on “Read receipts”.

10. Send a test message

Send an absence message from “WhatsApp reminders” and follow its status to “Delivered”, then “Read”. Then reply to it from the phone and check that the reply reached “WhatsApp chats”.

If direct sending stops

If Meta refuses the access token or restricts the account, “Direct sending through WhatsApp Business is paused” appears: messages go through WhatsApp as they did before the connection, and verification codes come from the central number. Create a new access token as in step 3 and press “Change the access token”, then “Save”; or review the WhatsApp Business account at Meta, then press “Test connection”.

Disconnecting

“Disconnect” deletes the access token, the app secret and the callback URL, and messages go back to WhatsApp as before. The stored chats stay until you delete them, or until they are deleted automatically 12 months after their last message.

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