WhatsApp Business Calling API

WhatsApp Business Calling API is currently in Beta.

✅ User-initiated calls: Supported globally for numbers in all regions where Meta’s Business Messaging operates and WhatsApp Calls are supported on mobile. These calls can be received directly in your respond.io Inbox — free of Meta fees.

✅ Business-initiated calls: Supported in all countries except for numbers from U.S., Nigeria, Canada, Vietnam, and Turkey.

🚫 Not supported: Numbers from sanctioned regions (North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk).

⚠️ Limited reliability: In some regions such as United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt, call reliability may vary due to local government restrictions. Calls may intermittently fail or not connect.

ℹ️ Access and availability may change once the Beta period ends.

WhatsApp Calls allows your business to make and receive voice calls with customers directly through the respond.io platform.

Enable WhatsApp Calls

Eligibility requirement: Your WhatsApp Business number must have a messaging limit of at least 1,000 business-initiated conversations in a rolling 24-hour period to enable WhatsApp Calls. Learn more about WhatsApp messaging limits here.

Before you can use WhatsApp Calls, you need to enable it in your Workspace Settings.

1. In your Workspace Settings, navigate to Channels.

2. Select the WhatsApp Channel you want to enable WhatsApp calls for and click Manage.

3. Navigate to WhatsApp Calls in the left sidebar, and turn on WhatsApp Calls.

Once enabled, you will also have the option of allowing or not allowing your Contacts to call you. If turned off, your Contacts can’t call you, but you can still call them.

Receiving calls

A minimum balance of $10 is required to receive WhatsApp calls. Learn more.

You will receive calls from 2 places, the Inbox sidebar and directly within a conversation with the Contact who’s calling. You can accept and decline calls in these 2 places as needed.

• The Inbox sidebar

• Directly within the conversation with the Contact who’s calling

While on a call, you’ll still be notified of new incoming calls but can’t accept them until the current call ends.

When a call is answered, you’ll see a record button if call recording is enabled.

Missed calls

Missed calls will be marked as Contact events, so you can follow up later.

Call transfers

Telnyx Calls now support call transfers, allowing agents to transfer active calls to other available teammates within the Workspace.

How to transfer calls

1. Click the Call Transfer icon on the call card.

2. Select the agent you want to transfer the call to.

3. (Optional)Add a note to provide context before transferring.

Notes:

• Agents with restricted call capabilities won’t appear in the transfer list.

• Agents who are already on a call cannot receive a transfer — the initiating agent will see a snackbar notification if the transfer fails.

• If the receiving agent doesn’t answer within 30 seconds, the call automatically reverts to the initiating agent.

Improving call pickup rates

Frequent missed calls, especially those outside business hours, can lead to a poor experience for your Contacts.

To reduce missed calls and improve pickup rates, we recommend setting your business hours in Meta Business Suite:

How to set it up:

1. Go to Meta Business Suite

2. Navigate to WhatsApp Settings > Business Profile

3. Set your Business Hours

Calls received outside these hours will be auto-rejected by Meta, and won’t count against your pickup rate.

Make a call

A minimum balance of $10 is required to make WhatsApp calls. Learn more.

First, you need a Contact’s permission to make a call. Once granted, this permission becomes permanent unless they revoke it

Note: Contacts can revoke permission at any time. If they do, you’ll need to request it again before making another call.

How to request permission to call

Conditions for sending permission requests:
- Open conversation window: Permission requests can only be during an open conversation window, meaning there’s a recent chat history with the Contact.
- Request limits: You can send one request per 24 hours, with a maximum of two requests in 7 days.
- If a message template was used to open the conversation, you must first receive a reply from the Contact before sending a permission request.

Go to the conversation with the Contact you wish to call.

1. Click the phone icon in the message composer > click the Request permission to call button.

The Contact will receive a notification asking for their consent. The Contact can either approve or decline the request.
- If they approve, you’ll be able to call them immediately and anytime moving forward, as long as they don’t revoke permission.
- If they decline, you’ll need to send another permission request again after 24 hours to call them.

Call the Contact

Tip: If a Contact grants permission, you can call them anytime—even after a missed call—without needing to request permission again, as long as the permission has not been revoked.

Once a Contact grants permanent permission, your business may still make up to 5 call attempts in the first 24 hours without being limited by a 7-day window.

1. Click the phone icon in the conversation actions bar.

   

2. Select the phone number you want to call from the dropdown. Click to initiate the call.

   

3. During your call, there will be a Contact card with a call timer on the left. To end the call, click the End button.

   

Pricing for WhatsApp Calls

WhatsApp does not offer free business initiated calling on the Business API. For detailed information about rates and countries, check out Meta's official documentation here.

WhatsApp Calls on the Business API are charged based on the type of call and the country code of the user. Here’s a quick overview:

Inbound Calls (User-Initiated)

• Starting May 1, 2025, calls initiated by the user to the business will be free.

Outbound Calls (Business-Initiated)

• Charges apply for calls initiated by the business, which require user permission beforehand.

Pricing Details

• Rates are time-based and calculated per minute.

• Prices vary depending on the country of the user calling or being called.

• Calls are billed according to WhatsApp’s pricing structure, and invoices will reflect the exact usage.

Ensure you review the country-specific rates to understand your costs better.