Connect WhatsApp Business (Coexistence)

Normally, moving a WhatsApp number onto Meta’s business platform means the WhatsApp Business app on your phone stops working for that number. Coexistence is Meta’s newer mode that skips that trade-off: the number stays live in the app on your phone and connects to Exabloom at the same time.

Three rules explain almost everything it does:

• Every customer message lands in both places. Your phone gets it as usual, and the same message appears in Exabloom’s Inbox for your team.
• Replies from either side join one thread. What you type on the phone shows up in the Inbox, marked with a small phone icon. What your team (or a workflow) sends from Exabloom shows up on the phone. The customer just sees you.
• The phone keeps the link alive. Open the app at least once every 14 days, or Meta may drop the connection.

The short answer: your phone, number and chats carry on as before, and Exabloom joins alongside. A few things do change, and a few app features are switched off by Meta. Here is all of it in one place.

The reasons and the how-tos are in the sections below. The rows about Meta’s rules (the switched-off features, the 14-day check-in, the 24-hour window) are WhatsApp’s, not Exabloom’s, and apply to every provider.

Run down this list first. It prevents almost every failed connection.

• The WhatsApp Business app, not regular WhatsApp. The number must be registered in the business app on your phone. The everyday WhatsApp app can’t connect.
• The phone itself, in your hand. Half the steps happen on the phone that runs the number: approving Meta’s message and scanning a QR code off your computer screen. If someone else holds that phone, do this together.
• About 7 days of real use. Meta turns away brand-new or barely used numbers. The number should have been chatting with real customers in the app for a week or more.
• A Facebook login with full access to your business portfolio. You sign in with it during the steps. The portfolio does not need to be verified to connect. If you don’t have one yet, start with Create your Meta Business Portfolio, and give it the same name as the business name in your WhatsApp Business app.
• The number isn’t tied to another provider. If it was on the WhatsApp API before, with us or anyone else, that has to be released first (see Fix connection problems).
• You’re not in Nigeria or South Africa. Meta hasn’t switched Coexistence on there.

Also know what changes on the phone. Meta switches off a handful of app features the moment Coexistence starts. That is WhatsApp’s rule, not Exabloom’s:

It takes about five minutes and moves between two screens: your computer, where you start in Exabloom and walk Meta’s popup, and your phone, where the WhatsApp Business app approves the link. Keep the phone next to you from the start, and don’t close any window until step 8.

5

Walk Meta’s popup

A Facebook window opens. Follow its five screens. The red boxes mark what to click.

This is Meta’s official signup, not Exabloom’s, and it names the app Exabloom AI. If Facebook asks you to log in, use the account with full access to your portfolio.

1Check the account at the top right is the Facebook account with full access to your business portfolio (click it to switch). Then click Continue.

2Choose Enter a new phone number, even though the number already exists. Pick the country code, type the number your WhatsApp Business app uses, and click Next.

3Meta shows the WhatsApp Business profile on that number. If it’s yours, click Next. If it isn’t, the number is wrong: click Back and fix it.

4Choose your Business portfolio and click Next. Its name should read like the business name in your WhatsApp Business app.

5A QR code appears under “Import contacts and chat history”. Leave it on screen and pick up your phone.

The mistake that sinks most connections

A mistyped number, and a wrong country code counts. Screen 3 is your check: if the profile Meta shows isn’t your business, go back and fix the number first. And if Next won’t move on the portfolio screen, the portfolio’s name probably doesn’t match your app’s business name (the here’s the fix).

6

Approve on your phone

With the QR code on your computer screen, open the WhatsApp Business app on the phone that runs the number.

1A chat from Facebook Business appears by itself. Open it.

2Tap Connect on the newest message. Older ones are left over from earlier tries.

3Tap Connect to the Business Platform.

4Choose Share all chats, then Confirm.

5The camera opens. Scan the QR code on your computer, then wait: it can take up to 45 seconds.

6“Finish setting up in Exabloom” is expected. The phone is done, the computer isn’t yet.

“Share all chats” is a one-time choice

It’s what lets Exabloom bring your chat history in, and Meta warns on that screen that it can’t be changed later. Choose Don’t share chats and your Inbox starts empty.

7

Finish on your computer

Go back to your computer. Meta’s popup has moved on by itself; walk its last four screens.

1Pick the Time zone that matches your country and click Next.

2Review what Exabloom AI will be able to access and click Confirm.

3Connecting your account. Wait, and don’t close the popup.

4“Your account is connected to Exabloom”. Click Finish. The green Add payment method button is for template charges (see the 24-hour window below); you can do it later.

The popup closes and Exabloom takes over with Connecting to WhatsApp. Leave it alone: it closes by itself when the connection is saved, and a short Successfully updated instance message pops up. If you see Failed to update instance instead, nothing was saved: start again from step 3.

app.exabloom.com/settings/social-channels

BMBright MindsOrchard

Inbox

Leads

Calendars

Contacts

Bulk Actions

Win-back

Workflows

Analytics

Forms

Settings

Settings

General

Profile

Workspace

User Management

Audit Logs

Communication

Social Channels

Quick Replies

Availability

Notifications

Logout

Social Channels

Connect your communication platforms to start messaging leads directly from the dashboard.

Whatsapp BusinessCoexistence

Integrate to start messaging leads.

Connect

Message Templates

Understanding the 24-Hour RuleWhatsApp requires pre-approved templates to initiate conversations outside the 24-hour support window.

Meta Business Manager Manage Templates

Facebook Messenger

Integrate to start messaging leads.

Connect

Instagram Messenger

Integrate to start messaging leads.

Connect

Connecting to WhatsApp

Connecting your WhatsApp account...

This may take a moment

We only request the permissions you explicitly grant

Glimpsed a Done button behind the popup?

While Meta’s last screen is still open, Exabloom’s dialog behind it can briefly read Successfully Connected to WhatsApp with a greyed-out Done button. Nothing is saved yet at that point. Go back to the popup and click Finish.

8

Check it worked

Look at the Whatsapp Business card in Exabloom, then at the phone.

app.exabloom.com/settings/social-channels

BMBright MindsOrchard

Inbox

Leads

Calendars

Contacts

Bulk Actions

Win-back

Workflows

Analytics

Forms

Settings

Settings

General

Profile

Workspace

User Management

Audit Logs

Communication

Social Channels

Quick Replies

Availability

Notifications

Logout

Social Channels

Connect your communication platforms to start messaging leads directly from the dashboard.

Whatsapp BusinessCoexistence Connected

Connected to +65 8123 4567

Connected a few seconds ago

Settings

Message Templates

Understanding the 24-Hour RuleWhatsApp requires pre-approved templates to initiate conversations outside the 24-hour support window.

Meta Business Manager Manage Templates

Facebook Messenger

Integrate to start messaging leads.

Connect

Instagram Messenger

Integrate to start messaging leads.

Connect

On the phone, one last sheet confirms it:

1“You’re connected to Exabloom.” Tap OK.

2The Exabloom logo now sits next to the name. That logo means the link is complete.

The logo is the tell

In the app, Settings → Account → Business Platforms shows the connection. The Exabloom logo means it’s complete. A plain shop icon with “Finish setting up in Exabloom” means the computer side never finished: start again from step 3.

Last, test the loop: ask a colleague to message your business number from their own WhatsApp. It should appear in the Inbox within seconds. Reply from Exabloom and check it lands on their phone.

Your chat history comes in. Because you chose “Share all chats”, Meta sends over your recent one-to-one conversations (up to about the last six months) in the background, both sides of each thread. A busy number can take a while; let it run.

• Each person becomes a contact in Exabloom, named with the name they set on their own WhatsApp profile. Names you saved in your phone’s address book don’t come across, so some contacts arrive as a bare phone number. Rename them as you go.
• Old messages you had already read arrive as read, so your Inbox isn’t flooded with “unread” chats from last month.
• Imported history is just history: it doesn’t start workflows, send auto-replies or trigger follow-ups. Only messages that arrive after the connection is live do that.

From now on, phone replies show up in the Inbox. Anything you send from the app appears in the thread as your reply, already marked read, with a small phone icon and the line WhatsApp app / linked device above it. Replies sent from Exabloom carry the teammate’s name instead. A chat you answered from your phone doesn’t sit there looking unanswered for everyone else.

Day to day, reply from whichever is handier: the app when you’re out, Exabloom when you’re at a desk or want the team to pick it up. Two things are worth understanding.

The 24-hour window

WhatsApp’s one big rule applies to every business connection, Coexistence included. When a customer messages you, a 24-hour reply window opens. Inside it, Exabloom can send anything. Once it closes, Exabloom can only restart the conversation with a template message: a pre-approved message Meta has checked. Every new message from the customer restarts the 24 hours; your own replies don’t.

Messages from the app on your phone stay free, as they always were. Messages from Exabloom follow Meta’s pricing:

Building and submitting templates has its own guide: WhatsApp message templates. The Manage Templates button on the Whatsapp Business card takes you straight there.

Keep the link alive

Coexistence asks one thing of you for as long as it runs: the phone has to stay in use. Meta drops the link if it thinks the app has been abandoned.

• Open the WhatsApp Business app on the main phone at least once every 14 days. A quick open is enough. The app itself reminds you of this under Business Platforms.
• Linked computers (WhatsApp Web or desktop) that sit unused for about 30 days get unlinked by Meta. Scan the QR code again to relink them.

When Meta tells Exabloom the link is gone, three things happen at once: a red 🚨 Whatsapp disconnected bar appears across the top of Exabloom for everyone, the card flips back to Connect with a “Disconnected … · outside Exabloom” line, and the people who have the channel alert switched on get an email.

Reconnecting is self-service: run steps 3 to 8 again. While the link was down, nothing could be sent from Exabloom and your workflows couldn’t reply, so check the phone for anything that came in meanwhile.

Three things most people never need: how Coexistence differs from the API connection, reading a channel’s connection history, and disconnecting on purpose.

Coexistence or API

The Whatsapp Business card comes in two kinds, and the badge next to its name says which one your workspace has:

• Coexistence: you keep using the WhatsApp Business app, and Exabloom joins the same number. Its Settings dialog has one section, Connection Details, because the profile is still run from the app.
• API: the number moves entirely onto Meta’s platform and the phone app stops working for it. In return, Exabloom can set the profile photo, submit a new display name to Meta, and turn on template analytics. It connects with a 6-digit PIN instead of a QR code.

The kind is set when your workspace is set up, so you won’t see a choice when you click Connect. If the phone is part of how you work, Coexistence is the right fit. If the number is (or could become) a dedicated line nobody needs on a phone, the API gives you more control. To switch, message us.

Connection history

The small grey line under the card’s number (“Connected 2 days ago”, “Disconnected 3 hours ago · outside Exabloom”) is also a button. It opens the channel’s connection history: every connect and drop, when it happened, and whether it started in Exabloom or outside it.

Disconnect on purpose

The part that surprises people: a Coexistence connection can’t be ended from inside Exabloom. Meta only accepts a disconnect that starts on the phone. Exabloom’s Disconnect button exists, but it opens a dialog that sends you back to the app.

Then, on the phone:

1. 1In the WhatsApp Business app, open Settings → Account → Business Platforms.
2. 2Tap the Exabloom card (the boxed one). The line under it says Tap to disconnect.
3. 3Confirm on the prompts that follow.

Within a few minutes the card in Exabloom flips back to Connect, and the red disconnected bar and email from Keep the link alive appear too. That’s expected when you did it on purpose; dismiss the bar with its ✕. If Business Platforms is empty on the phone, the link is already gone.

Most failed connections stop inside Meta’s popup, before Exabloom is even involved: a permission error, a Next that won’t move, a number that isn’t eligible or is still held by another account. Each one has its own fix in Fix WhatsApp connection problems.

An amber “Review your Meta connection” pill on the card

The number is connected, but Meta is blocking messages you start. Hover over the pill: it lists each problem in plain words, with the place in Meta to fix it.

The usual causes, in the order to fix them: an incomplete business profile (Meta Business Suite › Settings › Business info), an unverified business (Settings › Security Centre), and a missing or failing payment method (Billing & payments).

• A phone reply counts as answered. It lands in the thread as your reply, already read, so the team won’t double-handle it.
• Only the customer reopens the window. Your replies, from either place, never extend the 24 hours. Past that, it’s a template or nothing.
• Groups, calls and Status stay on the phone. Coexistence carries one-to-one messages only.
• Contact names come from the customer’s own profile, not your address book. Nameless contacts after the history import are normal.
• The profile is still run from the app. Photo, display name, catalog, and greeting and away messages are edited in the WhatsApp Business app, not in Exabloom.
• Failed sends are visible. Payment problems and out-of-window mistakes land in Failed messages with the reason attached.
• The Meta Verified badge doesn’t come back by itself. It’s removed when you connect; re-verify through your Meta Business Profile if you had one.
• Disconnecting starts on the phone, and the same number may then wait up to 24 hours to reconnect.