Messaging integration
WhatsApp Business, in the same inbox as your emails
Clients write where it is easiest for them, often WhatsApp. With the integration, the messages that are event inquiries arrive in the same inbox as your emails, with the sender's name and number, ready to be handled by the team.
Inquiries next to your emails
WhatsApp messages that are event inquiries land in the same inbox as Gmail and Outlook, with the sender's name and number.
Inquiries only
Joinways detects which messages are event inquiries. A thank-you or a quick follow-up does not clutter the inbox.
WhatsApp Business API
Built on the official WhatsApp Business platform, connected with a guided signup.
What the WhatsApp integration does
No more checking a phone on the side. WhatsApp becomes a channel of your venue inbox, with the same history and the same rules.
One inbox for the team
A client who describes an event on WhatsApp becomes an inquiry in the team's inbox, next to the ones that came by email.
Messages that become inquiries
A message about a date or a price becomes an inquiry in Joinways, handled like an inquiry that arrived by email.
Nothing lost on a personal phone
Conversations belong to the venue's WhatsApp Business number, not to whoever happened to answer, so the history survives staff changes.
At a glance
- Category
- Messaging
- Availability
- Available
- Setup time
- About 10 minutes, through Meta's guided signup
- Who can connect
- A workspace owner or admin, for the whole team
- What flows where
- One-way: incoming messages come in, nothing is sent
- Updates
- Real time, as Meta delivers each message
- Needed on the tool's side
- A number on the WhatsApp Business Platform (API), not the app
- Built by
- Joinways (native integration)
Before you start
- A Facebook account that can create or manage your business's WhatsApp Business account during Meta's signup.
- A phone number you are ready to move to the WhatsApp Business Platform. It will no longer work in the WhatsApp mobile app.
- If the number is active in the WhatsApp app, delete that WhatsApp account on the phone first, wait 3 minutes, then connect.
- A way to answer clients outside Joinways: Joinways receives WhatsApp messages but does not send them.
What syncs with WhatsApp Business
- Messages received on the venue's WhatsApp Business number
- The sender's name and number, identified on every conversation
- Event inquiries, detected and created in Joinways
- The original message of each inquiry, kept on the inquiry
Security and access
- You sign in through Meta's official signup. No WhatsApp or Facebook password is typed into Joinways.
- Joinways receives the messages sent to the connected number and reads the number's display name.
- Every notification from Meta is checked against a signature before it is processed.
- The access token is stored encrypted.
- Disconnecting from your settings stops the import. The number stays on the WhatsApp Business Platform until you change it with Meta.
What it does not do
- It does not send WhatsApp messages: replies do not go out from Joinways.
- It only shows messages detected as event inquiries. Other messages, follow-ups included, do not appear in Joinways.
- Very short messages are not analyzed, so an inquiry split across several short messages can be missed.
- Voice notes, stickers and locations are not imported. Photos, videos and documents arrive as their caption or file name only.
- Messages received before the connection are not imported.
How to connect WhatsApp Business to Joinways
The integration uses the official WhatsApp Business platform, with a guided signup inside Joinways.
- 1
Open your integration settings
In Joinways, go to Settings, then Integrations, and choose WhatsApp.
- 2
Link your WhatsApp Business account
Follow the embedded Meta signup to connect your WhatsApp Business number. A few guided clicks.
- 3
Check the inbox
Client messages start arriving in your Joinways inbox, alongside your emails.
- 4
Handle them as a team
Messages are visible to the whole team, and detected inquiries join the others in Joinways.
Where it helps day to day
The bride who writes at 10 PM
The message reaches the venue's WhatsApp Business number. If it is an inquiry, the team finds it in the inbox the next morning.
The inquiry sent on a Sunday
A client describes the date, the headcount and the event type on WhatsApp. On Monday the inquiry is in the inbox with those details filled in, visible to the whole team.
The number on your website
A planner writes to the number listed on your site with a date and a headcount. The inquiry appears in the inbox with those details, the sender's name and number, ready to call back.
Why plug WhatsApp into your venue software?
Event clients use WhatsApp because it is where they already are. The problem is on the venue side: those conversations live on one phone, invisible to the rest of the team and disconnected from the client record.
The integration turns WhatsApp into an inbound channel for inquiries. When a message describes an event, Joinways creates the inquiry with the client's name and number and the details it contains, in the same inbox as your emails. Clients keep the channel they prefer; you get the inquiries in one place.
And without the WhatsApp integration?
When the person holding that phone is off or leaves, the conversation goes with them, and the client record stays incomplete.
A date confirmed on WhatsApp that never reaches the schedule can cost you a high-season Saturday.
