Whatsapp with Twilio

Before you can connect WhatsApp through Twilio with Tiledesk, you will have to purchase a phone number with Twilio and wait for their team to approve your WhatsApp account. This process takes one week on average

Once you have your number approved, integrating to Tiledesk should only take 5 minutes.

Setting Up Twilio

First you need to create a Twilio account (you can start for free).

Getting a Phone Number

After you have created an account with Twilio, you gain access to their Dashboard. All new accounts are created with $15 of free credit that you can use to buy phone numbers and test the platform

Head over to the Twilio Dashboard and press the red “Get a Trial Number” button. Twilio will recommend a phone number based on your location.

If you don’t have a preference, you can click the “Choose this Number” button. However, if you would like to purchase a number from a different country or you would like a different number from the one recommended, you can click on “Search for a different number.”

Applying for WhatsApp Access

Once you have a Twilio account and an SMS-enabled phone number, you can apply for WhatsApp Access. For this, you will have to click on “Programmable SMS” on the Twilio main menu and select “WhatsApp.”

A prompt will appear asking you to read and agree to WhatsApp’s terms of service. Once you have done so, navigate to the “Senders” tab from the sidebar.

Under the WhatsApp Enabled Senders Tab, click “Sign Up to Receive Updates”  to start filling out the Twilio WhatsApp Application form.

This will take you to the first form you need to fill. Once you have filled this form, the Twilio team will contact you in a couple of days to let you know that your account is approved. You can move to the next step of the integration then. 

Creating a WhatsApp API:

Once approved, go back to Twilio and navigate to “Programmable Messaging “  > “Senders” > “WhatsApp Senders”. This time you will be able to create Sender, which are WhatsApp Accounts that can send and receive messages.

Profile Information

Here you have to click on New WhatsApp Sender button to open the Profile Information Form.

This form is where you create your WhatsApp account profile; this information will be visible to anyone that talks to your WhatsApp number. When you have filled out the required fields, click the “Submit Request” button at the bottom of the dialog box.

Once you have received the final approval from Twilio, your account will be ready to be integrated to Tiledesk where you can manage conversations.

Connecting Twilio to Tiledek:

Account SID and Auth Token

Back on the Twilio Dashboard, you should be able to spot the Account SID and Auth Token fields easily.

Copy the Account SID and paste it into its respective fields on the Tiledesk Platform. For the Auth Token, you will have to press the “Show” button to reveal it first. Then copy and paste it into Tiledesk Platform as well.

WhatsApp Enabled Number

Back on the Twilio platform, navigate back to the WhatsApp Enabled Senders page. Once the number is approved by WhatsApp you will able to click “Edit Sender” to access to Endpoint Configuration.he

Copy and paste the Webhook Endpoint from the WhatsApp app of Tiledesk to Endpoint Configuration form like below.

In this section you can also set a custom Profile Photo, your Business Website and Email and more.

Then click the “Update WhatsApp Sender” to save your configuration.

Connecting to the Platform

Return to the Tiledesk Platform and click “Connect”.

Your Space will now be connected to the WhatsApp Official API via Twilio.

Done. All future WhatsApp messages sent to that phone number will appear on the Tiledesk Platform.