WhatsApp, SMS and social messages

"Does it work with WhatsApp?" is the first thing most Indian buyers ask. The honest answer is below, before the feature list, not after it.

Yes, with your own WhatsApp account. MerlinDesk connects to WhatsApp through Meta's own service, or through Gupshup, MSG91 or Twilio. You need an account with one of them, in your own company's name. No WhatsApp number is included with MerlinDesk, and we do not resell messages. You pay Meta or your provider for them.

It is not switched on for the demo. The code that talks to each provider is written and the demo stands in for it, so nothing you send from the demo reaches a real phone. The same is true of SMS, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and Slack.

WhatsApp

A WhatsApp message becomes a customer request like any other, in the same list as your email and chat, with the same rules about who picks it up.

  • Four ways to connectMeta's own service, Gupshup, MSG91 or Twilio. Your account, your keys
  • A checklist for the numberRegister a new number, or move one you already use, step by step — including sharing it with the WhatsApp Business app
  • Message templatesWrite them, pick a category, send them to the provider for approval and pull the answer back
  • The 24-hour rule, in plain sightThe screen shows which chats you may still reply to freely, and which now need an approved template
  • A warning before the window shutsThe person who owns the request is told the 24 hours are nearly up
  • Seven days to answerYou can allow replies for up to seven days after the customer's last message
  • Pictures, video, PDFs and voice notesCustomers can send them all, and you can send one welcome message per window
  • What it might costWork out a month's cost by message type and country. The rates on that screen are an example you edit, not a live price from Meta

One thing to know. On the web screen your team reads WhatsApp and SMS conversations and sends approved templates. Typing a free reply works in the phone app, not yet in the web screen. If free replies from a desk computer matter to you, ask us where that has got to before you buy.

SMS

  • Six providers and a custom oneMSG91, Twilio, Kaleyra, SignalWire, Gupshup SMS, or your own gateway over the web
  • Built for the Indian rulesRegister sender IDs with your DLT entity number, and register your DLT-approved templates
  • Two-way, or alerts onlyEither customers can reply, or you only send out
  • Picture messagesSend an image with the text where the provider allows it
  • No marketing at nightPromotional texts are held between 9 pm and 9 am

Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Slack and the rest

Messages from these go into the same list as everything else, so nobody has to keep ten tabs open.

  • Direct messagesFrom a Facebook Page and an Instagram professional account
  • Comments, mentions and reviewsFrom a Facebook Page, Instagram, X, Telegram, Discord and Google Play reviews
  • Deal with each oneReply, hide spam, delete it on the platform, or turn it into a customer request
  • Watch for your nameFollow keywords, ignore posts below a size you set, and raise a request for each mention if you want
  • Automatic replies and spam rulesMatched on the words in the message
  • Slack, Microsoft Teams, Telegram or DiscordAs a channel customers write to, with its own secret and a form to put the message into
  • Staff requests in Slack or TeamsEach message in a chosen channel becomes a request for your IT or office team
  • Bring your old chat tool acrossTawk.to, Crisp, LiveChat, Drift, Freshchat, Olark or your own. Their messages come in and you reply from here. It is not a full two-way copy of everything
  • Marketplace ordersOrder messages come in through a connector
  • Anything elseConnect any messaging system of your own with two web addresses and a shared secret
  • Tell your team somewhere elseSend alerts to Slack, Teams, Google Chat, Telegram or Rocket.Chat, and choose which events go where

Permission to message people

Messaging people who did not ask for it is how a WhatsApp number gets blocked. The rules are built in rather than left to whoever is sending.

  • Stop and start by keywordThe words that opt someone out, and back in, are yours to edit
  • A record per phone numberWho agreed to what, and why. Changing it by hand needs a reason
  • No marketing to people who said noMarketing templates are blocked for anyone who has not opted in
  • Numbers stored as a codePhone numbers are kept scrambled one way, with block lists
  • Bulk sends with a brakeA WhatsApp or SMS send-out shows an estimate, needs an approval, and confirms how many people it will reach
  • A monthly spending limitSet a budget, and stop send-outs when it is used up
  • Tell your own systemCall your web address when a message is sent, delivered, read or fails, signed so you know it is us
  • New request or the old oneWhen the same customer writes again: always a new request, add to the open one, or new after a quiet spell