WhatsApp follow ups
A message costs a fraction of a call. This is how to send one after the phone rings.
Why it exists
Dialling a lead a second time costs another call. Sending them a message costs a fraction of one. So a number that did not answer is usually worth a message rather than a redial, and a call that did connect almost always ends with the person asking to be sent something. That second half is the work that actually piles up.
What you need first
Your own WhatsApp Business account with Meta. Svarloop does not resell WhatsApp and does not sit between you and Meta, in the same way it does not sit between you and Sarvam. You bring the account, Meta bills you directly, and your messages never pass through a Svarloop server.
If you do not have one yet, that is a setup at business.facebook.com and it is the longest part of this. Everything below takes about five minutes once you do.
Connecting it
In Svarloop, open Messaging. Three values are asked for, and all three come from your Meta account under WhatsApp, API Setup:
- Phone number ID — the number Meta has issued you, not your own mobile.
- WhatsApp Business Account ID — the account the number belongs to.
- Access token — use a permanent token, not the 24 hour test one. A test token stops working overnight and takes your follow ups with it.
Your access token is stored in Windows Credential Manager, not in Svarloop's database.
Press Connect and verify. Svarloop asks Meta to confirm the credentials and shows you exactly what Meta says back, right or wrong. If Meta rejects them you see Meta's own reason rather than a guess at it.
Templates
Once connected, Svarloop loads the message templates Meta has already approved for you. You cannot write a template inside Svarloop, and that is deliberate: only Meta can approve one, and a message built from an unapproved template is rejected at send time, after you already believe it went out. Approve templates on Meta's side, then they appear here.
The rules that run before anything sends
Four checks, in the same spirit as the calling ones. Two are Meta's and are not optional. Two are Svarloop protecting you from a mistake that is expensive to undo.
- Opt outs. Anyone who asked to stop hearing from you gets nothing further. A STOP reply is recorded automatically. This is checked against your do not contact list for calls as well, on purpose: somebody who asked not to be called did not agree to be messaged instead.
- The 24 hour window. Meta allows a free form message only within 24 hours of that person's most recent message to you. Outside it a pre approved template is required. Svarloop checks this on your machine and refuses the send, rather than letting Meta reject it afterwards.
- Two messages per number per day. Svarloop's own limit, not Meta's, and lower than the three attempts allowed on calls, because a message is easier to send and easier to overdo.
- Quiet hours. 9 AM to 9 PM IST by default. This is not the TRAI rule, which governs calls, not messages. A marketing message at three in the morning still costs you the relationship. You can turn it off in settings for genuinely transactional sends.
What it costs
Meta bills you directly for messages at their own rates. Svarloop adds no markup and never sees that invoice, exactly as with Sarvam and your calls. A licence unlocks the feature in Svarloop; it does not buy you messages.
Stuck on the Meta side? Email svarloop@s8n.in.