Business messaging answers
Short, sourced answers to the questions people ask about WhatsApp Business API, SMS, RCS, OTP, APIs, reselling and GCC compliance. Each page starts with a direct answer, then the specifics.
WhatsApp Business API15 questions
- Can I build a chatbot on the WhatsApp Business API?Yes. A chatbot on the WhatsApp Business API receives customer messages through webhooks and replies through the API. WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy allows automation when responding within the 24-hour customer service window, but requires prompt, clear and direct escalation paths, such as transfer to a human agent. Messages the bot starts outside that window must use approved templates.
- Can I move my WhatsApp Business API number to another provider?Yes, a WhatsApp Business API number can move to another provider because the business owns its WhatsApp Business Account and number. Through Meta's partner migration flow, the number keeps its display name, quality rating, messaging limits and Official Business Account status. Approved templates with high quality are copied, and Meta says messaging continues without interruption.
- Can I use my existing WhatsApp number for the WhatsApp Business API?Usually, yes. Meta lets a WhatsApp Business app number join the Cloud API through Embedded Signup with coexistence, keeping the app working; we confirm during onboarding whether it is available for your account. Any other number on WhatsApp, including a personal one, must first be deleted from the app, losing its chat history. A new number that can receive an SMS or call also works.
- Can multiple agents use one WhatsApp Business number?Yes, multiple agents can use one WhatsApp Business number when it runs on the WhatsApp Business API. The API has no agent seats of its own: messages reach your software through webhooks, so a shared inbox can route each conversation to any number of agents. Customers still see one business name and one conversation.
- How do I get the green tick on WhatsApp Business?The WhatsApp green tick is Meta's Official Business Account (OBA) badge, now shown as a blue checkmark. To request it, a business needs an API phone number with business verification, two-step verification, an approved display name, at least 30 days on the platform and policy compliance. Meta decides each request, and meeting the criteria does not guarantee approval.
- How do I get the WhatsApp Business API?To get the WhatsApp Business API, sign up through a Meta partner's Embedded Signup flow or build on Meta's Cloud API directly. You need a Meta business portfolio, a phone number you own that can receive an SMS or voice call, and a display name. Then you register the number, create templates and connect your software.
- How do I increase my WhatsApp messaging limit?To increase your WhatsApp messaging limit, verify your business and send high-quality template messages. New business portfolios start at 250 unique users per moving 24 hours. After 2,000, Meta raises the limit one tier automatically, within 6 hours, when messages are high quality and you have used at least half of your current limit in the last 7 days.
- How do I message a customer on WhatsApp after 24 hours?To message a customer on WhatsApp after the 24-hour customer service window has closed, the business must send a Meta-approved message template. A utility template fits follow-ups on the customer's own request; offers need a marketing template and prior opt-in. When the customer replies, a new 24-hour window opens for free-form messages.
- How do I send bulk WhatsApp messages without getting banned?To send bulk WhatsApp messages without getting banned, use the official WhatsApp Business Platform rather than unofficial bulk tools. Message only people who opted in, send approved templates in the right category, stay within your messaging limit and honour every opt-out. Meta can limit or remove access for businesses that spam or message people at scale without authorisation.
- How long does WhatsApp Business API approval take?WhatsApp Business API approval has no single fixed duration because several separate checks happen. Phone number registration through Embedded Signup completes in the same session. Meta states that template review can take up to 24 hours. Business verification and display name review have no published duration, and delays usually come from mismatched business details.
- How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost?The WhatsApp Business API costs what Meta charges per delivered message plus any provider fees. Since 1 July 2025, Meta prices each delivered template by category (marketing, utility, authentication) and recipient country. From 1 October 2026, service messages are also charged after 1,000 free per business phone number each month. Incoming customer messages are never charged.
- What is the difference between marketing and utility templates on WhatsApp?On WhatsApp, a utility template is a non-promotional message tied to a specific user action or request, such as an order confirmation or appointment reminder. A marketing template covers promotions, offers, announcements and re-engagement. Any template that mixes the two is classed as marketing. Meta charges each category at its own rate per delivered message and re-checks categories after approval.
- What is the difference between the WhatsApp Business app and the API?The WhatsApp Business app is a phone app built for small business owners who chat with customers by hand. The WhatsApp Business API, part of Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, connects WhatsApp to a business's own software for messaging at scale, with automation, templates and webhooks. Meta does not charge for app messages; API messages are charged per delivery.
- What is the WhatsApp 24-hour rule?The WhatsApp 24-hour rule is Meta's customer service window: when a customer messages or calls a business, the business can send free-form messages for 24 hours. Every new customer message resets the timer. After the window closes, the business can only send pre-approved template messages until the customer writes again.
- Why was my WhatsApp template rejected?WhatsApp templates are usually rejected for badly formatted variables, policy violations, the wrong category, a body too long or too short for its variables, or wording that duplicates an existing template. Meta reviews templates automatically and manually. You can edit and resubmit a rejected template, or appeal with a sample; Meta says appeal decisions take up to 24 hours.
SMS11 questions
- How do I register an SMS sender ID in Saudi Arabia?To register an SMS sender ID in Saudi Arabia, a business applies through a licensed provider for CST and operator approval on STC, Mobily and Zain KSA. The ID is alphanumeric, Latin or Arabic, up to 11 characters, one per legal entity per use case, supported by company documents. Unregistered IDs are typically blocked.
- How do I register an SMS sender ID in the UAE?To register an SMS sender ID in the UAE, a business applies through a licensed provider, which registers it with the operators etisalat and du under TDRA rules. The ID is alphanumeric, Latin or Arabic, up to 11 characters, one per legal entity per use case. Promotional senders must carry the AD- prefix.
- How do I register for India DLT (headers and templates)?To send business SMS in India, you register once as a Principal Entity on an operator's DLT platform, then register your sender headers and every consent and content template, and bind the telemarketers that carry your traffic. TRAI's TCCCPR rules require this, and messages that do not match a registered header, template and chain are blocked during scrubbing.
- How many characters can an Arabic SMS have?An Arabic SMS holds up to 70 characters in a single message because Arabic is sent in UCS-2 encoding. Longer Arabic messages are split into segments of 67 characters each, as every segment carries a reassembly header. An English GSM-7 message, by comparison, holds 160 characters, or 153 per segment.
- How much does bulk SMS cost?Bulk SMS cost is the number of recipients multiplied by the segments per message and the per-segment rate for each destination country and operator. Message length and encoding matter as much as list size: an Arabic message uses more segments than the same length in English. Volume tiers and sender ID registration fees also affect the total.
- What do SMS delivery report statuses mean?SMS delivery report statuses tell the sender what happened to a message after the operator accepted it. In SMPP 3.4 receipts, DELIVRD means delivered to the handset, UNDELIV means undeliverable, EXPIRED means the validity period ran out, and REJECTD means the network refused it. HTTP APIs usually map these to statuses like DELIVERED or FAILED.
- What is an SMS sender ID?An SMS sender ID is the name or number shown as the sender of a text message on the recipient's phone. It can be an alphanumeric brand name of up to 11 characters, a short code or a full phone number. Many countries, including most GCC markets, require business sender IDs to be registered before use.
- What is the best time to send marketing SMS?The best time to send marketing SMS is within the recipient's local daytime and outside legal quiet hours, then refined by testing on your own audience. In the UAE, TDRA bars marketing SMS between 21:00 and 07:00. In Saudi Arabia, CST bans promotional messages from 22:00 to 09:00, and from 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan.
- What is the difference between transactional and promotional SMS?Transactional SMS is a non-marketing message triggered by a customer's action or account event, such as an OTP, order confirmation or payment alert. Promotional SMS markets products or offers. Promotional messages face stricter rules: opt-in consent, an opt-out, quiet hours and, in the UAE, an AD- prefix on the sender ID.
- Why are my SMS messages not being delivered?SMS messages usually fail to deliver because the number is invalid or inactive, the phone stayed off past the validity period, the sender ID is not registered for that country, the content was filtered as spam, or promotional rules blocked the send. Delivery reports show which: UNDELIV, EXPIRED or REJECTD each point to a different cause.
- Why is my SMS split into multiple messages?An SMS is split into multiple messages when the text exceeds one segment: 160 GSM-7 characters or 70 Unicode (UCS-2) characters. Long messages are sent as linked segments of 153 or 67 characters, because each carries a header for reassembly. One Arabic letter, emoji or curly quote switches the whole message to Unicode.
RCS5 questions
- Does RCS business messaging work on iPhone?RCS business messaging can reach iPhone users, but only under conditions. Apple supports RCS in the Messages app from iOS 18, when the user's carrier supports RCS on iPhone. Google describes RCS for Business as reaching customers on Android and iOS. Some features, such as persistent suggestions, are not supported on iOS, so test on iPhones.
- How do I become a verified RCS sender?A business becomes a verified RCS sender by having an RBM partner create an agent for its brand, then passing Google's brand verification and launch approval. An authorised brand representative confirms the agent details. After launch, Google Messages shows a verification checkmark next to the agent's name. Carriers may run their own reviews.
- How much does RCS business messaging cost?RCS business messaging has no single global price. Google's RBM billing model counts billable events per agent and carrier: non-conversational agents are billed per message, while conversational agents are billed a fixed rate per 24-hour conversation once a user replies. Rates vary by carrier and country, so businesses confirm them in a quote.
- What is RCS business messaging?RCS business messaging (RBM) lets a verified brand send branded, interactive messages to a customer's default messaging app, such as Google Messages. Messages can carry the brand's name and logo, rich cards, carousels, media and suggested replies. RBM works only where the carrier and device support RCS, so businesses keep SMS as a fallback.
- What is the difference between RCS and SMS?RCS and SMS both land in the phone's native messaging app, but they differ in content and reach. SMS carries short plain text over the mobile network and reaches almost every phone. RCS business messaging adds a verified brand sender, rich cards, carousels, media and suggested replies, but only works where carrier and device support it.
Voice and OTP6 questions
- Can an IVR or AI voice agent speak Arabic?Yes, an IVR or AI voice agent can speak Arabic. Arabic text-to-speech lets an IVR read menus, amounts, dates and codes in Arabic, and an AI voice agent can understand and answer callers in Arabic and English. Quality depends on dialect, vowel handling and number reading, so test real prompts with native speakers before launch.
- How do I send OTP codes on WhatsApp?To send OTP codes on WhatsApp, a business must use an approved authentication template. Meta fixes the text as "<code> is your verification code", with an optional security disclaimer and expiry warning, plus a one-tap autofill button, a copy-code button, or zero-tap. Authentication messages go only to the user's primary WhatsApp device.
- How do I stop SMS pumping fraud on my OTP flow?To stop SMS pumping fraud, limit who can trigger an OTP, how often and to which countries. Rate-limit requests per phone number, IP, device and session; allow only countries you serve; add bot protection before sending; slow down resends; and alert when the share of codes actually entered drops. Ask your provider to block abused ranges.
- Should I send OTP codes by SMS or WhatsApp?Most businesses should send OTP codes by both SMS and WhatsApp rather than choosing one. WhatsApp authentication templates offer one-tap, zero-tap and copy-code autofill and are delivered only to the user's primary WhatsApp device, but reach only WhatsApp users. SMS reaches almost every phone. A common pattern is WhatsApp first, SMS fallback.
- What is voice OTP and when should I use it?Voice OTP delivers a one-time password through an automated phone call: a text-to-speech engine reads the code aloud, usually twice, and the user types it into the app or website. Businesses use voice OTP mainly as a fallback when SMS or WhatsApp codes do not arrive, for landlines, and for users with visual impairments.
- Why are users not receiving OTP SMS?Users usually miss OTP SMS for one of a few reasons: the number is wrong or badly formatted, the phone is off or out of coverage, the sender ID is not registered for that country, an operator filter blocks the message, or the user blocked promotional senders. Delivery reports show which cause applies, so check them first.
APIs and SMPP5 questions
- How do I add SMS sending to my app with an API?To add SMS sending to an app, call the provider's SMS API from your backend with an access token, the recipient's number in international format, an approved sender ID and the message text. Store the returned message ID, receive delivery statuses on a webhook, and handle errors, retries and rate limits before going live.
- How do I connect to an SMS provider over SMPP?To connect to an SMS provider over SMPP, request a bind and register your source IP addresses, then open a TLS connection to the host and port provided. Send bind_transceiver with your system_id and password, submit messages with submit_sm, acknowledge every deliver_sm receipt, and send enquire_link regularly to keep the session alive.
- How do I receive delivery reports with a webhook?To receive delivery reports with a webhook, expose an HTTPS endpoint that accepts POST requests and register its URL with your messaging provider. Store each event, answer with a 2xx status quickly and process it asynchronously. Match events to your records by message ID, deduplicate them, and never let a late status overwrite a final one.
- How do I send a WhatsApp message through an API?To send a WhatsApp message through an API, connect a WhatsApp Business Account through a Meta partner or Meta's Cloud API, collect opt-in and get a message template approved. Send the template to start a conversation. After the customer replies, you can send free-form text, media or interactive messages within the 24-hour customer service window.
- Should I use SMPP or an HTTP API to send SMS?Use an HTTP (REST) API to send SMS from applications, OTP flows and multichannel products, because it works with any HTTP library and reports delivery statuses by webhook. Use SMPP v3.4 when you already run an SMPP client or send sustained high volume, since one persistent bind keeps many messages in flight. Many senders use both.
Reselling and white-label4 questions
- Can I resell the WhatsApp Business API under my own brand?Yes, you can resell the WhatsApp Business API under your own brand by working with a Meta Solution Partner or becoming a Meta Tech Provider. Your console, billing and support can carry your brand, but each client owns its own WhatsApp Business Account, verifies its business with Meta and must follow Meta's policies.
- How do I start an SMS reseller business?To start an SMS reseller business, choose a niche and target markets, pick an upstream provider with direct operator routes, white-label tools and sub-accounts, then set retail rate cards above your wholesale cost. Before launch, plan sender ID registration, opt-in checks and fraud controls for every client, because their traffic travels under your account.
- How do messaging resellers set prices and margins?Messaging resellers set prices by taking their wholesale cost per destination and channel, adding a markup per route or customer tier, and publishing retail rate cards. SMS costs vary by country and operator and are usually charged per segment. WhatsApp charges are set by Meta per delivered message, by category and recipient market.
- What is a white-label SMS platform?A white-label SMS platform is messaging software and connectivity that a reseller sells under its own brand. The reseller's logo, domain and colours appear on the console, invoices and delivery reports, while the upstream provider runs routing, operator connections and the platform. The reseller sets prices, owns the customer relationship and handles first-line support.
Compliance in the GCC5 questions
- Do I need consent to send WhatsApp marketing messages?Yes. WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy lets a business contact people only if they gave it their number and opted in to receive messages. Meta's opt-in guidance requires businesses to state clearly that the person is opting in to receive messages and to name the business. Applicable law, such as Saudi Arabia's PDPL, can add further consent requirements.
- Do promotional SMS need an opt-out?Yes. In the GCC, promotional SMS must include a simple opt-out. In the UAE, every promotional SMS must carry STOP or ايقاف, and opt-outs are honoured across the network. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman expect the same one-step keyword. Saudi Arabia's PDPL also requires a clear mechanism to stop receiving advertising. Transactional messages are treated separately.
- How does Saudi Arabia's PDPL affect SMS and WhatsApp marketing?Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), published by SDAIA, requires prior consent before a business sends advertising to someone's personal contact details, plus a clear way to stop receiving it. Marketing data must come directly from the person, with consent that can be withdrawn at any time. SMS and WhatsApp campaigns need consent records and working opt-outs.
- What are the rules for SMS marketing in the UAE?UAE SMS marketing rules come from TDRA and are applied by the operators etisalat and du. Promotional SMS needs a registered sender ID with the AD- prefix, verifiable opt-in, and an opt-out keyword such as STOP or ايقاف in every message. TDRA's spam policy bars marketing texts between 21:00 and 07:00 UAE time; OTPs and alerts can be sent anytime.
- What time can you send promotional SMS in Saudi Arabia?In Saudi Arabia, promotional SMS can be sent between 09:00 and 22:00 Saudi time. CST's Regulations for Curbing SPAM Messages and Calls ban promotional messages from 22:00 to 09:00 daily, and from 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan. Transactional messages, such as OTPs, order updates and account alerts, can be sent at any time of day.