WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is the business edition of the WhatsApp messaging service, giving a company a business profile and tools to chat with customers who use WhatsApp.

Some of your clients may already use WhatsApp every day, for example to keep in touch with family abroad, and may prefer it to SMS. For them, being able to message their vet clinic in the same app they use for everything else is a real convenience. They can send a question, get a reply and keep the conversation in one place.

The app and the platform

There are two ways a business can use it. The WhatsApp Business app runs on a single phone and suits very small teams. The WhatsApp Business Platform connects through an approved provider, so messages can be handled from shared software by several people or by an automated service. Clinics that want WhatsApp to sit alongside their phone and SMS usually use the platform.

Templates and conversation windows

WhatsApp separates conversations by who starts them. When a client messages the clinic first, the clinic can reply freely for a limited window. When the clinic starts the conversation, for example with an appointment reminder, it must use a message template that WhatsApp has approved in advance. Templates keep reminders and updates consistent and limit unwanted messages.

Consent and opting out

As with text messaging, a clinic should only start WhatsApp conversations with clients who have agreed to hear from it on that channel, and clients must be able to stop messages at any time, for example by replying STOP. Keep a record of each client's choice.

An example

At a two-vet clinic with many Spanish-speaking clients, the team adds WhatsApp alongside SMS. A client who agreed to WhatsApp reminders receives an approved reminder template about her dog's check-up and replies in Spanish to ask for a later time. The reply opens a conversation, the clinic offers a new slot and the booking is moved.

How Tilly handles it

Tilly answers WhatsApp messages 24/7 in English and Spanish, books and moves appointments in supported practice software, uses pre-approved templates for messages the clinic starts, and contacts only clients with recorded consent for that channel.

For the wider picture of how clients reach you, see the phone coverage guide. Related: two-way texting and appointment reminder.