WhatsApp Business API
The WhatsApp Business API is Meta’s official way for a company to send and receive WhatsApp messages from software instead of a phone. The company connects its own number, starts each conversation with a template Meta has approved and can then reply freely while the person keeps chatting.
Many frontline candidates read WhatsApp long before they read email. A recruiter who wants to screen hundreds of them on WhatsApp cannot do it from a phone in their pocket. The WhatsApp Business API is the route that lets software run those conversations from one company number.
How does the WhatsApp Business API differ from the WhatsApp Business app?
| WhatsApp Business app | WhatsApp Business API | |
|---|---|---|
| Who uses it | One person on one phone | Software, for a whole team |
| Automation | Quick replies and a greeting message | Full conversations run by software |
| Starting a conversation | Type any message | Use a template Meta has approved |
| Volume | A few chats a day | Hundreds or thousands of chats |
| Fits | A small shop or a single recruiter | Screening many candidates at once |
What does a hiring team need to use it?
- A verified business. The company connects its Meta Business Portfolio and Meta checks the business. Plan a few days for that approval.
- Its own number. The number belongs to the company, so candidates see who writes to them. A personal number cannot be used.
- Approved message templates. Every first message follows a template Meta has approved.
- Software that runs the conversations. The API has no screen of its own. A recruiting tool sends the messages, reads the replies and stores the result.
How do message templates work?
Meta requires an approved template whenever a business starts a conversation. The template fixes the wording of that first message, with room for details such as the candidate's name or the job.
Once the candidate replies, a 24-hour window opens. Inside that window the software can write freely and run the screening questions. When the window closes without a reply, the next message needs an approved template again. That is why a reminder to a candidate who did not answer is also a template.
What can go wrong?
Meta watches how people react to a number. When many people block it or many messages cannot be delivered, Meta can limit or ban the number. A new number that suddenly sends thousands of messages is a risk.
Three habits keep a number healthy:
- Start with a small daily volume and raise it step by step.
- Write only to candidates who applied or agreed to be contacted.
- Pause a campaign when many messages fail.
WhatsApp is one channel next to the phone. Phone screening explains when a call works better than a chat.
How does Ringtime use the WhatsApp Business API?
Ringtime connects through the official WhatsApp Business Platform. There is no workaround and no personal number.
- You connect your own WhatsApp Business account in the Ringtime web app. Messages come from your number.
- Ringtime writes the templates for the first message and the reminders and submits them to Meta.
- One number can serve several assistants, for example one per office or vacancy type.
- On request, Ringtime paces a new number and pauses a campaign when too many messages fail.
What the candidate experiences in the chat is described under WhatsApp recruiting.
To screen candidates on WhatsApp from your own number, see how Ringtime runs WhatsApp recruiting.
