Migrate WhatsApp business messaging to Genesys Cloud

Prerequisites
  • Verified Meta Business Portfolio or account.
  • Meta Business associated source WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) and destination WABA.
  • Source WABA with an approved status. Verify the WABA status with the current owner of your WABA to ensure that it’s eligible for migration.
  • Source WABA with a valid attached payment method. Phone numbers that are in WABAs without attached payment methods cannot be migrated.
  • Approved display name of the phone number to be migrated. Display names in pending status cannot be migrated.
  • Two-step verification (2FA) of the phone number disabled by the business entity that owns the source WABA.
    • If the source WABA is owned by another WhatsApp provider, request to disable 2FA.
    • If the source WABA is owned by Genesys Engage, email the Genesys Engage WhatsApp team 1–2 business days before the planned migration date so they can disable the 2FA for your numbers.
  • Phone number enabled to receive SMS or voice calls from international numbers for WhatsApp verification.
    • If you choose the phone call method of verification and if your number is behind an IVR, you need to either temporarily disconnect the number from IVR, or temporarily forward all calls going to your number to a mobile or landline so that you can receive the verification code.
    • WhatsApp limits you from requesting too many codes in quick succession, and failure to receive the code and verifying that the number may result in your number being locked by WhatsApp.
  • Inbound message flow and digital bot flow setup for your Genesys Cloud organization. Once migration for the number is complete, configure a message route by associating the new integration to your flow.

    As a user, migrate your phone numbers that are registered on the WhatsApp business platform through Genesys Engage or any other business solution provider to Genesys Cloud using the Embedded Signup Flow process. You can activate or migrate a number with 5-10 minutes if the prerequisites are met. You may experience a brief period of downtime during the migration process. 

    Note:
    • If you are a Genesys Engage customer migrating your WhatsApp number to Genesys Cloud, delete your WhatsApp Integration from your Genesys Engage hub and wait for 1-2 minutes before you proceed with the migration to Genesys Cloud. The number goes into offline status in the source WABA for a brief period before it is migrated and reactivated through Genesys Cloud.
    • Meta does not allow you to migrate business phone numbers from your mobile applications (WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business App) to the WhatsApp business platform. If your WhatsApp number is registered on a mobile device app (either WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business App), you need to first delete the account from your mobile device, before you can register the number on the WhatsApp Business Platform through Genesys Cloud. You can use your number either on the business platform, on the business, or on the messenger app and it cannot exist concurrently on both accounts. Permanently delete your WhatsApp account from your mobile application. For more information on deleting the account from your mobile application, see How to delete your account. Uninstalling the application does not release the number. You must delete the number for it to be released and then treated as a new number for registration. After you have deleted the account, wait 3–5 minutes for the number to be released by WhatsApp. Then, create your WhatsApp integration in Genesys Cloud by following the Embedded Signup Flow process.

    Click the view the steps to complete your phone number migration process.

    To complete your phone number migration, perform the following steps:

    1. Click Admin.
    2. Under Message, click Platforms.
    3. Click Create New Integration.
    4. Click WhatsApp Messenger.
    5. Log in to your Facebook account.
    6. Select the same Meta business portfolio that owns the source WhatsApp Business Account (WABA).
    7. Select the WhatsApp Business Account. If you do not have a WABA, you can create one. 
    8. Create a new WhatsApp business profile for the number that is migrated. Use the approved display name for the number as provided in the source WABA.
    9. Enter the number that you want to migrate. A warning message about the migration appears. Click the image to enlarge. Phone number migration message displays
    10. Select the preferred verification method. You can verify your number using either Text Message or Phone Call method.
    11. Click Next.
    12. In the Verification Code field, enter the 6-digit verification code.
    13. Click Next to verify your number. 
    14. Choose the Facebook pages that you want Genesys Cloud to access and click Continue.
    15. Review what Genesys Cloud is requesting permission to do and click Continue.
    16. After Meta has verified all information, click Finish.
    17. The Platform page refreshes automatically. Complete the WhatsApp integration by performing the following steps:
      1. In the Phone Number field, enter the WhatsApp phone number. Use the E.164 format to enter the phone number. Include the + sign and full number with country and area code, without any other characters or white spaces.
      2. In the Name field, type a name that you want to assign to your WhatsApp Messenger integration.
      3. In the PIN field, enter any 6-digit PIN number to register your phone number on WhatsApp. Your PIN can be a combination of any six digits. You can use the same PIN for future actions on your WhatsApp phone number. It is encouraged that you save or store the PIN before you move on to creating your integration as Genesys does not persist this PIN. If you forget or misplace the PIN, you can change it from your Phone Number Settings page in your WhatsApp Manager.
      4. Click Create Integration.
    18. Click Confirm to create the integration. 

    If the integration fails to save and yo see an error, your traffic continues to flow through your current provider as long as the number is still connected in the source WABA. Traffic switches over to Genesys Cloud only after you create the integration and is in Active status, which ensures that there is no disruption to your traffic. Once you save your integration, proceed to configure the message route to associate the new WhatsApp Integration to your inbound message flow. For more information about configuring a message route, see Add an inbound message route.

    All the high quality templates from the source WABA are migrated to the new WABA automatically. To begin using these templates, configure them in your Canned Responses. You can also create new templates in the WABA by logging into your WhatsApp Business Manager. For more information about managing your WABA, see Manage your WhatsApp business account.