WhatsApp AI assistant: answers from your sources, approved replies, handover to a person
A WhatsApp AI assistant is software that answers questions arriving on a business's WhatsApp number from sources the business supplies. It passes the conversation to a person when it should. ALTAI Digital builds it on the WhatsApp Business API. The assistant tells customers it is a bot. When the sources hold no answer it does not invent one and hands over instead. By default each reply is a draft that a person approves before it is sent. Automatic sending is switched on only for situations the business chooses.
Most questions that reach a business on WhatsApp are the same ones. Where are you, are you open today, how does this service work, when is the next free slot. Most of the answers already exist in the business's own material. Even so, every message lands on one person's phone and is answered when that person has a minute. A message sent in the evening waits until the morning. By then the customer may have written to a competitor as well. A WhatsApp AI assistant is built to take these repeated questions, using the information the business supplies. Outside office hours, the reply goes out at once for question types the business has opened to automatic sending. For other questions the draft waits for approval in the morning. If more than 24 hours have passed since the customer last wrote, only an approved template can be used.
The assistant draws on sources that come from the business: the service list, opening hours, frequently asked questions and documents. It speaks only from those sources. If a question has no answer in them, the assistant does not guess and does not invent. It hands the conversation to a person. This rule is the foundation of the set-up. An assistant that quotes a wrong price or makes a wrong promise costs more than one that stays silent. The customer is also told from the start that they are talking to a bot.
The assistant runs on the WhatsApp Business API. The business keeps one number in one account, and the assistant and the team write from that same number. WhatsApp's own rules form the frame of the set-up. A free-form message can be sent within twenty-four hours of the customer's last message. After that window only templates approved by Meta can be used. In the default set-up the assistant writes the reply as a draft. The draft waits in an approval queue and the decision to send stays with a person. If the business wishes, automatic sending is switched on for chosen situations.
Below you will find what the set-up covers, the steps and the questions we hear most. For the number, the templates and the channel itself, see the WhatsApp automation page. If you want incoming requests collected in one list, look at the request-handling product. ALTAI Digital works from Rotterdam and Istanbul. The price is given in the discovery call once the scope is clear.
What goes wrong today
- 01
Messages sent outside office hours wait until morning
A customer asks about a price, an address or availability in the evening. Nobody is holding the phone, so the message is opened the next day. By then the customer may have written to another business too. Once the assistant is set up, an out-of-hours reply goes out at once for question types the business has opened to automatic sending. For other questions the draft waits for approval in the morning.
- 02
The same question is typed again every day
Address, opening hours, what a service includes and how to book come up daily. Each answer is typed by hand. At busy times these questions use up the time the team set aside for its real work.
- 03
The information exists but is scattered
The morning shift gives one answer and the afternoon shift gives another. The customer receives two versions. The information exists in the business but is scattered, so nobody can say which version is right.
- 04
A general-purpose AI does not know your business
A model that does not hold your information still writes a fluent answer to a question it cannot answer. The reply looks right and is wrong. A wrong price or promise in writing becomes a dispute that someone has to settle later.
- 05
Customers want to know who they are writing to
A customer who finds out late that the other side is a bot loses trust. The customer is told from the start that it is a bot, so they know who they are writing to.
- 06
Nobody knows where the chats end up
Customer chats are personal data, and GDPR applies. Where the chats end up can be unclear. That uncertainty delays switching an assistant on. Written conversations are recorded and the history stays with the business; chats are not used to train models.
Scope of the build
An assistant that answers from the business's own sources
The assistant speaks only from the sources the business supplies: the service list, opening hours, frequently asked questions and documents. When the sources hold no answer, it does not invent one and hands over to a person. The business decides which sources the assistant may use.
Drafts, an approval queue and automatic sending for chosen situations
In the default set-up the assistant writes each reply as a draft and places it in an approval queue. A person approves it and it goes out. If the business wishes, automatic sending is switched on for chosen situations, for example opening-hours questions. Everything else stays behind approval.
Handover to a person
Handover happens in three cases. A question has no answer in the sources, the customer asks for a person, or a listed topic comes up. The default list holds complaints, price negotiation and contracts. The chat summary and the customer record are ready for whoever takes over.
The assistant says it is a bot
The customer is told plainly that they are talking to a bot. The welcome text is written in the business's own words. The assistant does not present itself as a member of staff.
Approved templates and the twenty-four-hour rule
A free-form message can be sent within twenty-four hours of the customer's last message. After that only a template approved by Meta can be used. Template approval usually takes a few days, and the plan allows for it. Text without approval is not sent.
Moving your existing number
An existing number can be moved. During the move it leaves the personal WhatsApp app, so many organisations start with a separate number. On a moved number, customers keep writing to the same number and nobody has to change it.
Channel health and a kept record
Read and reply rates, template status, and the number of blocks and complaints are monitored. Written conversations are recorded and stay with the business. Chats are not used to train models.
How the build runs
- 01
Discovery and sources
The questions customers ask most are collected. The sources the assistant may use, the topics to hand over and the welcome text are agreed.
- 02
Number and templates
The WhatsApp Business API account is opened and the number is connected or moved. Required templates are written and sent to Meta for approval.
- 03
Running in draft mode
At first the assistant only writes drafts. The team sees, edits and approves every reply. Gaps in the sources show up at this stage.
- 04
Automatic sending for chosen situations
The business decides for which kinds of question a reply may go out directly. Channel health (read and reply rates, template status, number of blocks and complaints) is measured and reported.
Products used in this build
AI chatbot and voice receptionist
It greets customers on your site and on the phone, answers what it has a source for, and hands the rest to a person.
WhatsApp Business integration
Notifications, order tracking and customer conversations gather in the business account; the history stays with the company.
Request handling
Requests from five channels collect in one list, the draft reply arrives ready, and the decision to send stays with you.
Terms used on this page
- WhatsApp AI assistant
- A WhatsApp AI assistant is software that answers a business's WhatsApp questions from supplied sources and hands over what it cannot answer.
- Approval queue
- The approval queue is the list where a drafted reply waits for a person to approve it before it reaches the customer.
- Handover
- Handover is the assistant passing a conversation it cannot or should not answer to a person, together with a summary of the chat.
- Twenty-four-hour rule
- The twenty-four-hour rule is the WhatsApp rule that limits free-form replies to the window after the customer's last message.
- Approved template
- An approved template is a ready-made message text that Meta has approved in advance and that can be sent outside the twenty-four-hour window.
WhatsApp AI assistantFrequently asked questions
The assistant reads each message arriving on the business's WhatsApp Business API number and prepares the reply from the sources the business supplied. If the sources hold no answer, it does not invent one and hands the conversation to a person. In the default set-up the reply first goes into an approval queue and a person approves it.
Not in the default set-up. The assistant writes a draft, the draft waits in the approval queue and the decision to send stays with a person. The business can switch on automatic sending for chosen situations. In every other situation a reply still waits for approval. The same holds outside office hours. For question types open to automatic sending the reply goes out at once. Otherwise the draft waits for approval in the morning.
The assistant does not invent an answer. A question with no answer in the sources is handed to a person. The chat summary and the customer record are ready for whoever takes over. The customer does not have to explain again.
Yes. The customer is told plainly that they are talking to a bot. The customer can ask for a person at any point, and that request hands the conversation over. Complaints, price negotiation and contracts are on the default handover list.
On WhatsApp a free-form message can be sent within twenty-four hours of the customer's last message. After that only templates approved by Meta in advance can be used. The set-up shows this rule on screen, and the free-text field closes when the window closes.
An existing number can be moved. During the move it leaves the personal WhatsApp app, so many organisations start with a separate number. On a moved number, customers keep writing to the same number.
No. Chats are not used to train models. Written conversations are recorded and stay with the business, which also decides which sources the assistant may use.
The price is given in the discovery call once the scope is clear. The scope is given in writing in the discovery report.
Other WhatsApp pages
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