Documentation / WhatsApp channel
Coexistence: the WhatsApp Business app and aishaa together
In short: With the connection mode Coexistence: Business app + aishaa, the WhatsApp Business app on the primary phone keeps working as usual, while the same conversations also come into aishaa. Meta sets conditions for this: open the app at least every 13 days, keep it installed and up to date, and never break the connection yourself. aishaa monitors the health of the connection and warns you in good time.
Where to find this
Go to Organisation > Channels > WhatsApp > Settings. As soon as a number has been connected in coexistence mode, you see the Coexistence status block below Connect WhatsApp, with the status chip, the buttons to open the app or reconnect, and the Important for WhatsApp coexistence block.
Who: from the Organisation admin role upwards. The designated phone manager (see Phone manager and default agent) may also reconnect and use the app prompt. The setting applies per organisation and per connected number.
The Coexistence status block under Organisation > Channels > WhatsApp > Settings with the status chip, the line Last seen app-side activity, the QR codes under Open the app on the primary phone and the Important for WhatsApp coexistence block.
How coexistence works
- Customer messages come into both the WhatsApp Business app and aishaa. In aishaa they become tickets, as with every channel.
- If a colleague replies from the WhatsApp Business app on the phone, that reply also appears in the ticket in aishaa, with WhatsApp Business app as the sender.
- Automatic messages from the Business app (a greeting or away message) appear in the ticket as WhatsApp Business app (automatic). They do not count as a reply: the ticket status does not change and the ticket stays in the workload.
- When a colleague opens a WhatsApp ticket in aishaa or sends a reply, aishaa reports the customer messages to Meta as read. As a result, they no longer show as unread in the Business app on the phone either.
- When connecting, aishaa imports the contacts from the Business app and as much recent conversation history as Meta allows. That history ends up in a closed ticket per contact and is not analysed.
- On the Connection status card, Last Business app send shows when a message was last sent from the Business app.
Meta’s restrictions for coexistence
The Important for WhatsApp coexistence block appears on the page as soon as you choose coexistence and stays visible after that. These are the conditions:
- As a precaution, open the WhatsApp Business app on the primary phone at least every 13 days. Otherwise the API connection may stop until it is reconnected.
- Keep the Business app installed and up to date (version 2.24.17 or later).
- Do not use WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp for desktop as a substitute: activity on linked devices does not replace opening the app on the primary phone.
- Coexistence has a lower sending limit than Full Cloud API. Meta currently documents a maximum of 20 messages per second.
- Broadcast lists, disappearing messages, view once media and live location are dropped or restricted.
- Standard business verification and the blue tick (OBA) are not available. Set the display name and profile picture correctly beforehand: the display name is fixed after connecting and the profile picture can no longer be changed after that.
- Do not delete the app, do not delete the WhatsApp Business account (WABA) and do not break the platform connection manually from the app. This can cause a waiting period of one to two months before the number can be connected again.
Health status of the connection
aishaa counts how many days no activity from the WhatsApp Business app has been seen. Activity is, for example, a message sent from the app or a synchronisation of the app with Meta. The result appears in the Coexistence status block, with Last seen app-side activity: and the date below it.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Healthy | Activity from the app has been seen in the last 7 days. |
| Activity unknown | No activity seen for 8 days or longer. This is also the status after someone clicked Open WhatsApp Business app within the last 3 days while the connection would otherwise be At risk. |
| At risk | No activity seen for 10 days or longer. aishaa sends reminders (see below). |
| Possibly broken | No activity seen for 14 days or longer, or Meta has reported a registration or connection error. Messages may be missing until the connection has been restored. |
| Unknown | The status has not been determined yet. |
With At risk and Possibly broken, there is an extra line: As a precaution, open the WhatsApp Business app on the primary phone. If the API connection is not working, start reconnecting.
A click on Open WhatsApp Business app is a soft signal: it suppresses reminders for three days, but does not reset the counter. The counter only goes back to Healthy once aishaa sees real activity from the app.
Reminders and the banner
aishaa sends reminders as soon as the connection is at risk. Each reminder arrives as a notification in aishaa, as a push notification for anyone who has push notifications turned on, and as an email.
| Moment | Who gets the notification | Title of the notification |
|---|---|---|
| 10 days without activity | The phone manager. If there is no phone manager, the organisation admins. | As a precaution, open the WhatsApp Business app |
| 12 days without activity | The organisation admins and the phone manager. | WhatsApp channel may be at risk |
| 14 days without activity, or a connection error from Meta | The organisation admins and the phone manager. | WhatsApp connection may be broken |
The notification mentions the number and the number of days without activity, and asks for the WhatsApp Business app to be opened on the primary phone. The day 12 notification also states who has been asked to open the app today.
In addition, bars appear at the top of aishaa, on every page:
- With At risk, an orange bar with the text of the reminder and the button or QR codes to open the app.
- With Possibly broken, a red bar WhatsApp connection may be broken with the text Channel (number): messages may be missing until the coexistence connection has been restored. and the Reconnect button for organisation admins and the phone manager. That button takes you straight to the right block on the WhatsApp page.
The bars disappear automatically as soon as the connection is healthy again.
The red bar WhatsApp connection may be broken at the top of aishaa with the Reconnect button.
Opening the WhatsApp Business app
In the Coexistence status block, aishaa helps you open the app on the right phone:
- On a phone or tablet you see the Open WhatsApp Business app button. It tries to open the app directly. If that does not work, you see Open the WhatsApp Business app on the registered primary phone.
- On a computer you see the Open the app on the primary phone block with two QR codes: Android (explicitly opens WhatsApp Business, even if regular WhatsApp is installed) and iPhone (open the WhatsApp Business app after scanning). Scan the code with the primary phone. As the text next to it says: Activity via WhatsApp Web or desktop does not count.
Only opening the app on the primary phone counts as activity for Meta. Clicking the button or scanning the QR code only registers the soft signal described above.
Reconnecting
If the connection no longer works, you restore it with the shortened reconnect. aishaa then uses the same WhatsApp Business account, the same number and the same channel settings. So you do not need to set anything up again.
- Go to Organisation > Channels > WhatsApp > Settings or click Reconnect in the red bar.
- Click Reconnect connection.
- Read the Reconnect coexistence? dialog. Before and during the recovery, do not do the following: uninstall the WhatsApp Business app, remove the WhatsApp Business account or the phone number from Meta, or break the platform connection manually from the app. Those actions can make the shortened reconnect unusable and cause a long waiting period.
- Click Continue reconnecting and go through the Meta pop-up, just as with the first connection.
The Reconnect coexistence? dialog with the warning about what you must not do and the Continue reconnecting button.
If Meta reports that the number is not eligible, a red block Reconnecting is currently not possible appears, explaining that the app or the WhatsApp Business account may have been deleted or the platform connection broken manually, and that a waiting period then applies. Do not keep trying again in that case. Note the time and the number and contact the aishaa team via the aishaa support chat in aishaa (menu Chat, conversation aishaa support) or via support@aishaa.nl.
Managing multiple coexistence numbers
If several coexistence numbers have previously been connected in this organisation, the Manage or reconnect a coexistence channel list appears above the connection mode. Each number is listed with its health status. Choose a number to view its status or reconnect it, and click Back to default channel to return to the active number.
Good to know
- Coexistence is the default choice when connecting. If you do not want to depend on the app, choose Full Cloud API (see Connect WhatsApp).
- Do not disconnect a coexistence number to solve a problem; use Reconnect connection. Disconnecting stops sending and receiving in aishaa (see Disconnect WhatsApp).
- Designate a phone manager: the person who manages the primary phone. They receive the first reminder and may reconnect themselves, even without the Organisation admin role.
- The reminders can also be found among your notifications in aishaa (see Notifications).
- The coexistence status is about the WhatsApp Business app on the phone. Whether Meta delivers messages from the number is shown separately in the Status at Meta block (see WhatsApp settings).