What is WhatsApp Business Calling?
Meta's WhatsApp Business Calling API lets customers place free voice calls to your business's WhatsApp number — the same number they already message. The call, the chat history, the templates and the voice notes all live in one thread. For customers it's a familiar tap on the call icon; for your team it's a ringing banner inside ChatReach, answered with one click in the browser using the agent's headset. Media flows directly between the agent's browser and WhatsApp, so there's nothing to install and no PBX to run.
What you get in ChatReach
Browser answering. An incoming call rings every online agent with the customer's name and history one click away. Answer, mute, and hang up from a floating call bar — with the full conversation on screen while you talk.
Missed-call deflection. Can't answer? ChatReach automatically sends your missed-call message ("Sorry we missed you — reply here and we'll help right away"), turning a lost call into a live chat instead of a lost customer.
Call hours & callbacks. Set the hours you're callable (SA time), hide or show the call icon on your profile, and let customers request a callback when your team is offline.
Call log & reporting. Every call — answered, missed, rejected — is logged with duration and the agent who took it, linked to the customer's conversation.
Outbound with built-in compliance. Business-initiated calls require customer permission under Meta's rules. ChatReach requests it with one tap from any chat and enforces Meta's limits automatically — one request per contact per day, two per week — so your number's standing is never at risk.
What Meta requires
Calling runs on the WhatsApp Cloud API (which ChatReach uses), and Meta currently requires the business number to have a daily messaging limit of at least 2,000 unique recipients before calling can be enabled. Newer numbers start at lower tiers and scale up automatically with consistent, quality messaging — ChatReach's Diagnostics page shows you where you stand. User-initiated calling is available wherever the Cloud API works, including South Africa; business-initiated calling is available in South Africa too (a handful of countries such as the US and Canada are excluded by Meta).
What does it cost?
Calls are free for your customers. Meta bills the business per minute on business-initiated calls, with rates varying by country; inbound handling happens on your existing ChatReach plan. Talk to us for current rates for your setup.
Why it matters
Some conversations just need a voice — a complex quote, an upset customer, a high-value sale. Until now that meant asking the customer to leave WhatsApp and call a landline or mobile they don't recognize. With Business Calling, the escalation happens inside the thread they already trust, with the agent who already has the context. Businesses using WhatsApp calling report higher conversion on complex sales and faster resolution on support — because nobody has to repeat themselves.