Migrating Existing WABA Number to a Business Account

Migrating Existing WABA Number to a Business Account

Reaching a global audience is now easier than ever thanks to WhatsApp Business API. WhatsApp officially offers a migration path from the WhatsApp for Business App to the WhatsApp for Business API, which works like a charm.

When it comes to managing a large or expanding firm, WhatsApp Business falls short, despite being a very helpful tool in its own right. Hence, it is necessary to opt for WhatsApp Business API, managed by a service provider that provides the management of WhatsApp chats.

It's important to remember that without a provider, you can't use the WhatsApp API. Choose the one that best serves your company's needs. Contact an agent to discuss your needs and dispel any confusion. The individual you speak with will direct you and inform you of the services they provide and whether or not they meet your needs.

What is the WhatsApp for Business migration process?

The migration process means that a phone number that is already registered in the WhatsApp Business API can be moved between WhatsApp Business API accounts. This allows for businesses to change BSP's (Business Solution Provider) or move their number to a new account, but only if the source and destination Facebook Business Manager IDs are the same. After being migrated, a phone number keeps its display name, quality rating, messaging limits, Official Business Account status, and any quality message templates previously approved as soon as they do not exceed the maximum capacity of templates per WABA (250max).

‍What Is / Isn't Migrated in the process?

Migrated:

• Display name
• Quality rating
• Messaging limits
• Official Business Account status
• Any high-quality message templates previously approved

Not Migrated:

• Low quality, rejected, or pending message templates

Important considerations & requirements

You can use a phone number that is already registered with the WhatsApp Messenger or the WhatsApp Business App. Remember to back up your chat history from the WhatsApp Business App. These are guides on how to do so for Android or iOS.

Once you migrate a phone number to the WhatsApp Business Platform, you cannot use that number on the WhatsApp Business App concurrently. Your number must be used either on the Business Platform or on the Business App.

To migrate a number, you must first delete the WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business App account.

1. Open WhatsApp Messenger or WhatsApp Business app onyour Android or iPhone.
2. Navigate to Settings > Account.
3. Select Delete my account. Messages sent to this phone number will be queued in the meantime.
4. Follow the steps to delete the WhatsApp account for that phone number. It may take up to 3 minutes for the disconnected number to become available.

Please note that, your phone number need to have been disabled from 2FAby the owner of the source WABA so that you can migrate your account to another provider.

Template Messages and chat history migration

Only the high-quality message templates are migrated on this process. In practice, they are copied to the destination WABA. These templates do not need to go through review again and can be sent immediately. Low quality, rejected, or pending templates are not migrated. Any existing message templates in the destination WABA will not be overwritten. Messages and chat history are not migrated with this process.

Billing Migration

Messages sent before migration are charged to the source BSP. Messages sent after migration are charged to the destination BSP. Messages sent from the source that are not delivered before migration are still charged to the source BSP when they get delivered.

Official Business Accounts (Green Badge)

Official Business Accounts (OBA's) can be migrated between WABA's. The only requirement is that the two-factor authentication requires to be disabled during the migration process. It can be re-enabled after the number is migrated.

Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Who can migrate?

• Businesses that previously used one of Facebook's approved BSPs' API but wish to switch to a different provider.
• Businesses that are currently using their implementation but want to switch to a provider.

What factors affect account migration?

• You must provide the Business Manager ID and the phone number that will be transferred when you ask a BSP to migrate your account to a different account. These details will assist the BSP in migrating your account.
• Your phone number need to have been disabled from 2FAby the owner of the source WABA so that you can migrate your account to another provider.

How to take a backup before phone migration? Will message, chat history and insights for the phone number be migrated?

• There is no explicit need to take backup (unless the business wants to) before the migration. As mentioned above, message, chat history and insights do not get migrated as part of this.

Change in pricing before and after migrating a phone number from existing BSPs to a different one?

• Yes, the pricing change is applicable as per the new BSP.

Why choose ValueFirst over other BSPs?

ValueFirst, a Twilio company, offers a battle-tested, robust, and dynamic solution for Enterprise communication. With 19+ years of industry experience and a stronghold in all major industries, we empower organizations to enable smarter, relevant, and personalized conversations with their customers.

Here are some of the features that make ValueFirst the best choice as a BSP:

• Integrations supported: Salesforce, Shopify
• Solutions supported: Core Transactions, User Engagement, Customer Support, Marketing Communications
• Additional plug-ins supported: Payment integrations, Live Agent support, Natural Language Processing
  Our robust platform currently processes more than a 4.5billion messages monthly, all while maintaining the highest standards of quality & 99.99% uptime.
  In addition, we have institutionalized processes for customer onboarding and ongoing support that enterprises can take advantage of to massively boost their customer experience.
• Technical project manager to expedite customer onboarding and assist them at each step of the way.
• 24*7*365, always-online customer service desk on email and phone with a support ticketing mechanism.

Whatever your requirements are, you can rest easy knowing that ValueFirst, a Twilio company is a dedicated Business Solution Provider. We have helped numerous businesses around the globe to get their WhatsApp for Business account set up and functioning perfectly - and we can do the same for you.

For BSP migration to ValueFirst, click here