WhatsApp Business glossary
Plain-English meanings of the WhatsApp Business Platform words: templates, the 24-hour window, opt-in, messaging limits and more.
- 24-hour customer service window
- After a customer messages you, you have 24 hours to reply with normal (free-form) messages.
- Authentication message
- A template that sends a one-time login or verification code.
- BSP (Business Solution Provider)
- A company approved by Meta to connect businesses to the WhatsApp Business Platform and give them software for it.
- Business verification
- Meta checking that your company is real, using your trade licence and website.
- Click-to-WhatsApp ad
- A Facebook or Instagram ad whose button opens a WhatsApp chat with you.
- Cloud API
- The version of the WhatsApp Business Platform hosted by Meta, used by most providers today.
- Coexistence
- Using the same number on the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business Platform at the same time.
- Display name
- The business name customers see on WhatsApp.
- Embedded signup
- The Facebook pop-up that connects your number to a provider in a few minutes.
- Interactive message
- A message with reply buttons (up to 3) or a list (up to 10 options).
- Marketing message
- A template for offers, news, invitations or anything that promotes the business; the most expensive category.
- Messaging limit
- How many different people you may start conversations with (by template) in 24 hours.
- Official business account (green/blue tick)
- The verified badge next to a business name on WhatsApp.
- Opt-in
- The customer's clear agreement to receive your WhatsApp messages.
- Quality rating
- Meta's score of how people react to your messages (green, yellow, red).
- Service message
- A normal reply to a customer inside the 24-hour window.
- Template message
- A message written in advance and approved by Meta, needed to start a conversation or to write after the 24-hour window.
- Utility message
- A template about something the customer already started: an order, a booking, a payment or an account update.
- WhatsApp Business app
- The free WhatsApp app for small businesses, used on a phone (and linked devices).
- WhatsApp Business Platform (API)
- Meta's official way for businesses to send and receive WhatsApp messages from software, so a team, chatbots and other systems can use one number.
- WhatsApp chatbot
- Automatic replies that answer customers with buttons, lists, questions and forms.
- WhatsApp Flows (forms)
- Full-screen forms inside WhatsApp, for sign-ups, bookings, quotes and surveys.