WhatsApp and messaging
Connect a WhatsApp Business number so messages from truckers, drivers and partners land on the shipment they are about — and link each number to the contact behind it.
Settings → Integrations → WhatsApp and messaging connects a WhatsApp Business number to Linbis, so a driver's message about a pickup lands on the shipment instead of on one person's phone.
Integrations (/settings/integrations) is the index of everything Linbis connects to — messaging,
email and QuickBooks. Messaging is the first entry.
What you need first, at Meta
Most of the setup is Meta's, not Linbis's, and it cannot be shortened. Before you start:
- A verified business in Meta Business Manager.
- A WhatsApp Business number. It cannot already be in use on the ordinary WhatsApp app.
- A Meta app with WhatsApp added. This is what gives you the phone number ID, an access token and an app secret.
The access token, app secret and verify token are set as environment variables on the server, not typed into this page. They are credentials for the whole deployment, and keeping them out of the database keeps them out of your backups too — ask whoever administers your Linbis installation to set them.
Point Meta at Linbis
In your Meta app, under WhatsApp → Configuration:
- Copy the Callback URL shown on the settings page and paste it into Meta.
- Use the same verify token that was set on the server.
- Subscribe to the messages field.
Connect your number
- Enter the Phone number ID from your Meta app.
- Enter a Label you will recognise later — for example "Miami operations".
- Select Connect.
Linbis checks the number against Meta rather than taking your word for it. A connection is only shown as working once that check has succeeded, so a number that was mistyped or is not reachable will not sit there looking connected.
Connected numbers can be paused and resumed without disconnecting them.
The message you send back has a time limit
WhatsApp lets you reply freely for a set number of hours after someone messages you — the page shows the exact window. Outside it, WhatsApp only accepts pre-approved templates, and that approval happens at Meta and takes a day or two per template.
This is Meta's rule, not a Linbis restriction. It is why the identity list below tells you, per number, whether you can reply right now or whether the conversation needs a template.
Link a number to the person behind it
Who has messaged you lists the numbers that have written in. A number on its own is not much use — it becomes useful when Linbis knows whose it is.
- Find the number in the list.
- Select Link and search for the contact.
- Confirm.
From then on, messages from that number are attributed to that person and their company, so the conversation can be filed against the right account. You can unlink a number later if it was linked to the wrong person; unlinking clears both the contact and the company.
Numbers are matched on a normalised form, so the same phone reaching you twice resolves to the same person rather than creating a duplicate each time.