When are you going to start connecting where your customers are?
Your customers already have WhatsApp open. An AI agent sits behind your business number on the official Business API, answering at 22:40 or midday, in whatever language the message was written. Your team only sees the ones that need a person.
WhatsApp is the channel most South African customers actually use. FloServ runs it on the official Business API as part of Conversational AI →.
Book a scoping call opens our booking calendar directly, not a contact form. Grab a slot before you close the tab.
people use WhatsApp worldwide, making it most customers' default way to reach a business.
messaging app across most of Africa, and a growing default for business messaging elsewhere too.
is roughly how long you have before interest starts dropping. After an hour, most people assume you are closed and message somebody else.
On the channel itself
It uses WhatsApp the way your customers actually use it.
People do not type neat sentences into WhatsApp. They send voice notes while driving, photograph documents badly, and switch languages halfway through. The agent handles all of that.
Voice notes
A customer records eight seconds instead of typing. The agent understands it and replies in text or in kind.
Documents and photos
IDs, payslips, proof of payment and warranty photos come in through the chat and get filed to the right record.
Location
Someone drops a pin and the agent tells them the nearest branch, the hours, and how to get there.
Buttons and lists
Where a tap is quicker than typing, the agent offers real WhatsApp buttons rather than asking people to reply with a number.
Catalogue and orders
Show products, answer questions about them, and move the customer to a paid order without leaving the thread.
Language switching
Detected per message, not per customer. Somebody who opens in English and switches to Setswana is followed without a hiccup.
This matters more than it sounds
On the official Business API. Not a phone in a cupboard.
A lot of cheap WhatsApp automation runs by quietly driving WhatsApp Web on a device somewhere. It works until Meta notices, and then the number your customers have saved gets banned. Nine years of contacts, gone in an afternoon.
- Official WhatsApp Business API through an approved provider
- Business verification with Meta, and the green tick where you qualify
- The number registered to your business, so it stays yours
- Your whole team on one number at the same time
- Charges billed by Meta and passed to you at cost
- An unofficial connection that breaches Meta's terms
- No verification, no green tick, no route to support
- A permanent ban risk on the number your customers know
- One device, one session, breaking whenever it disconnects
- Customer data sitting on a handset nobody is auditing
The rule nobody explains
The 24 hour window.
This is the single thing that trips up businesses new to WhatsApp, and it also explains your bill. Worth two minutes.
When the customer writes first
A service window opens for 24 hours. Inside it, your agent can reply freely, in normal conversation, as many times as the exchange needs. This is where almost all of your volume sits.
When you write first, or the window closes
You can only send a message template that Meta approved in advance. Order updates, appointment reminders, a nudge on an unfinished application. These are charged differently and are worth using deliberately rather than constantly.
Meta sets these charges and revises them periodically. We pass them through at cost, show you the current rate before you commit, and show it again on every invoice. How pricing works →
Your team, same number
The agent does not lock your people out.
Six staff can work the same WhatsApp number at once, which is not possible on the Business app. When the agent escalates, a named person picks it up in the same thread.
WhatsApp questions
The ten things people ask before starting.
Can I keep my existing WhatsApp number?
Usually yes. A number currently on the WhatsApp Business app can be migrated to the API, though the chat history on that handset does not come across. If the number is on a personal WhatsApp account it has to be deregistered first. If you would rather not risk it, a new number is also fine and we set it up cleanly.
What is the green tick and will I get one?
It is Meta's official business verification badge, and it is awarded at Meta's discretion based on how notable your brand is, not on payment. We complete business verification for you, which is a separate and achievable step, and we apply for the badge. Plenty of legitimate businesses run without it.
Could my number get banned for using a bot?
Not on the official API, which is built for exactly this. Bans happen to businesses running unofficial automation on WhatsApp Web, or sending bulk unsolicited messages. Staying inside Meta's rules is part of what we set up.
Do customers have to opt in?
For you to message them first, yes. Meta requires opt in, and POPIA requires it too. When the customer messages you first, no opt in is needed to reply. We set up the consent capture so this is handled properly rather than hoped for.
Can my team still reply manually?
Yes, and several people can be in the queue at once, which the Business app does not allow. When someone takes over, the agent steps back until they hand it over again.
What happens when it does not know the answer?
It says so and escalates rather than guessing. Every escalation is logged with a reason, and those reasons are what we use to improve it each month.
Which languages does it handle?
Most African languages, plus Portuguese, French and Swahili for cross border work. It detects the language per message, so a customer switching mid conversation is followed rather than confused.
Does it work with the WhatsApp Business app I already use?
The API replaces the Business app on that number rather than running alongside it. Your team works in the helpdesk instead, which is the part that lets more than one person answer at a time.
What does it cost per message?
Meta charges per conversation and the rate depends on who started it and why. We pass that through at cost with nothing added. The pricing page shows a worked example on three thousand conversations a month.
What happens to the number if we stop working together?
It is registered to your business, so it stays with you along with an export of your conversations and collected documents. You are not renting your own customer relationships from us.
Test it, do not take our word for it
Message our agent.
Try it in your own language.
Ask it something difficult. Send it a voice note. Switch languages halfway through. It is the same build your customers would get, and there is no person waiting behind it to fake the answers.