Official WhatsApp calls for business: the Calling API and the client’s permission
The official way to take calls is the WhatsApp Business Calling API: calls go through Meta’s official interface on an official WhatsApp number. It gives a proper status in the platform’s eyes, but it lives by the platform’s rules, and those rules are strict. Below is how it differs from our channel and from Coexistence.
| Our channel (WhatsApp Web by QR) | Official WhatsApp (Calling API) | Coexistence | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The client calls first | Yes | Yes | Yes, to the app on the phone |
| You call the client first | Yes | Only with the client’s permission | From the phone, as before |
| Client’s permission | Not needed | Required, and it can be lost | Not needed — the call is from the app |
| Calls in the CRM | Yes, with the calls option | Yes, once Meta admits the number | Not through the official interface — calls stay in the app |
| Recording in the card | Yes, if the conversation went through the line | Made by our side, not by the platform | No — the call bypasses the CRM |
| Charge for conversations | None on top of the subscription | Incoming calls are free, the business’s outgoing calls are charged at Meta’s rates | None — the calls are in the app |
The client calls you. This works wherever the official Cloud API is available, and every incoming call from a client is free. This is also the easiest moment to get permission for call-backs: Meta can show the permission request right when the person calls you.
You call the client — only with their permission. This is not caution on our side but a Meta rule. Permission can be obtained:
- by a request in the chat — an ordinary message or a call permission request template;
- automatically, when the client called you themselves, if the matching setting is on;
- the client can grant it themselves in the business profile.
- A temporary permission lasts 7 calendar days (168 hours); there is also a permanent one that does not expire.
- You may request permission at most once a day and no more than twice in 7 days; the counter resets after a call that took place.
- The client can revoke the permission at any moment.
- Four unanswered calls in a row — and the permission is removed automatically.
- A request the client did not answer expires on its own after 7 days.
So «got it once, call forever» does not exist on the official way: the permission is used up and is kept alive by conversations.
Where official outgoing calls do not work. Meta does not let a business call first in the USA, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam and Nigeria; incoming calls from clients work there.
Charges for conversations. Incoming calls from clients are free; outgoing calls from the business are charged. Meta counts them not by the minute but in six-second increments; the rate depends on the other person’s country and the monthly volume, and the company’s WhatsApp account must have a valid payment method. We estimate this part at the check from your volume; the line subscription is in tenge on the prices page.
Coexistence: calls stay on the phone. Voice and video calls in the WhatsApp Business app work as before, but the official interface does not support them on such a number — on this path there is no recording or transcript in the card. If you need calls in the CRM on a Coexistence number, they are connected through our channel on the same number; we confirm this at the free check.
Does Meta itself record the conversation? No. The recording and transcript appear because the conversation goes through a connected line and our side saves it. When there will be a recording, when there will not, and where it is kept — see the article on call recording.
Is it legal to record a conversation?
You may record if the other person has been told and agrees: under the law of Kazakhstan, recording a conversation is processing of personal data. Agree the wording of the notice with your lawyer — we do not give legal advice.
- You need it quickly, you need to call clients first and you need the recording in the card — our channel.
- You need an official status at Meta and accept its rules on permission and the charge for outgoing calls — official WhatsApp.
- You need official chats in the CRM while the number stays in the app on the phone — Coexistence.
Meta’s rules change. Before connecting, we check them again for your number and your country.
WhatsApp calls in your CRM: answering, recording and transcripts
Call recording and transcripts: when there will be one
Guide: set up WhatsApp call answering
API, Coexistence or QR: which to choose
What else changes in the app with Coexistence — Meta terms
Prices of lines with calls in tenge
Check your number for calls for free
Message Support on WhatsApp · +7 771 682 74 70 · support@tehprof.kz