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People who already message your business on WhatsApp can call it there too. Connect the WhatsApp Business number from your own Meta app, bind an agent, and the agent answers WhatsApp voice calls to that number. The number stays in your WhatsApp Business Account, Meta keeps delivering the calls, and on Fish Audio each call bills as an ordinary agent session: no monthly rental, no phone surcharge, no transfer fees.

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How it works

When someone calls your WhatsApp Business number, Meta sends a call event to Fish Audio’s webhook. The platform accepts the call, connects its audio to a session, and hands it to the agent bound to the number, which greets the caller within a few seconds. From there it behaves like an inbound call: the session shows up in Conversation history with source: "whatsapp", the inbound call webhook runs before the first reply, and post-call webhooks and analysis follow as usual. Either side can hang up; the session ends with user_hangup or agent_hangup. Compared with phone calls, a WhatsApp call has no telephone-network leg, so:

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Prerequisites

  • A Meta app with the WhatsApp product added, and access to its App Dashboard. You need the app’s App ID and App secret.
  • A WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) with a phone number registered for the Cloud API: the WhatsApp Business Account ID and the number’s Phone number ID.
  • A System User access token for that app with the whatsapp_business_management and whatsapp_business_messaging permissions.
  • Calling enabled on the number. The import turns it on for you; Meta grants it once the business has completed Business Verification. A number Meta declines still connects, with calling off and Meta’s reason kept on the number (shown on its status badge, and as status_detail over the API).
  • Team owner or admin role in the console.

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Connect the number

1

Open the import form

On the workspace Phone numbers page, choose Add number → Import third party (or Import number when the list is empty), and set Provider to WhatsApp Business.
2

Enter your Meta credentials

Fill in the App ID, App secret, Phone number ID, WhatsApp Business Account ID, and System User access token. The Phone number field is only a cross-check: the number Meta reports for the Phone number ID is the one that gets connected, and the form warns you if it differs. Optionally add a label, bind an agent right away, and, if the number is not yet registered for the Cloud API, its six-digit two-step verification PIN.
3

Import

The platform validates the token against your app, reads the number at Meta, subscribes your app to the account’s webhooks, and enables calling. The number then appears in the list with provider WhatsApp, and the webhook setup panel opens.
4

Point your Meta app at Fish Audio

Copy the two values from the panel into your Meta app, as described in the next section. Until then, calls do not reach the agent.
A 422 means Meta refused the credentials: a wrong App secret, a token that belongs to another app, or a token without the required permissions. The error carries Meta’s own message, never your token. A 409 means the number is already connected on the platform, or the WhatsApp Business Account is connected to another workspace.
The App secret and the access token are stored encrypted and never shown again. The secret verifies the signature of every webhook Meta sends; the token answers and ends calls on your behalf.

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Point your Meta app at Fish Audio

Meta delivers call events to a callback URL that you configure once per app. The panel that opens after the import shows both values, and you can reopen it any time from the number’s row menu as Verify configuration:
Callback URL
The verify token is generated for your account and shown next to it.
1

Open the webhook settings

In the Meta App Dashboard open your app → WhatsApp → Configuration → Webhook, and click Edit.
2

Save the callback

Paste the callback URL and the verify token, then click Verify and save. Meta verifies the URL immediately.
3

Subscribe to calls

Under Webhook fields, subscribe to calls.
The badge on the panel reads Pending until Meta’s verification reaches the platform, then Verified. The first call that arrives marks the account verified too, because Meta signs every delivery with your App secret. Meta repeats its verification only when the callback URL changes, so if you edit the verify token alone, expect the badge to turn green with the first call instead.

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Answer calls

Bind an agent to the number from its row menu, the same way as for any phone number. The agent must be published. A call is declined, and no session is created, when the number has no agent, the agent is unpublished, calling is off on the number, the number is not active, or the team has no credit left. Callers see the call ring and get answered within a few seconds. The session’s caller_number is the caller’s WhatsApp number in E.164 format and dialed_number is your business number, so dynamic variables, the inbound call webhook, and your own records all line up.

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Manage the number

  • Bind, unbind, label: as for any number, from the row menu or with PATCH /v1/agent/phone-numbers/{phone_number_id}.
  • A second number on the same account: import it the same way; it joins the account already holding the WhatsApp Business Account. One WhatsApp Business Account connects to one workspace.
  • Release: from the row menu or with DELETE /v1/agent/phone-numbers/{phone_number_id}. The number stays yours at Meta. Releasing the account’s last number also disconnects the account and unsubscribes your app from its webhooks. If the same workspace connects the number again later, it keeps the same verify token, so nothing changes in your Meta app.
The number counts toward your team’s phone number quota like any other.

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Billing

WhatsApp calls bill at the agent conversation rate only: no phone surcharge, no transfer fees, and no rental for the number; see Pricing. Whatever Meta charges for WhatsApp Business calling is between you and Meta.

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API

The public API has no endpoint for connecting a WhatsApp number; the connection happens in the console. Once connected, the number is a regular entry of /v1/agent/phone-numbers with provider: "whatsapp", and its calls are sessions with source: "whatsapp" on GET /v1/agent/sessions.

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Troubleshooting

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Going further

Inbound calls

What happens when someone calls a bound number.

Phone numbers

The shared lifecycle: list, bind, label, release.

Webhooks

The inbound call webhook and post-call events.

Conversation history

Review WhatsApp sessions, transcripts, and recordings.