[Feature Request] Add WhatsApp channel support

[pavlovps]

Is there any chance WhatsApp channel being implemented in bot framework since WhatsApp announced API?

[oghaleetomu]

Any update on this please ?

[ogarules]

I believe the WhatsApp API is still in beta, hope we can have it as a channel as soon as it is released

[Tsessebe]

[Feature Request] Add WhatsApp channel support #2920

was closed by

JasonSowers closed this on Oct 2, 2018

So please advise as to the status of the request? And if there is active work being done on the request; as there has been no feedback in ANY of the threads.

[EdwinOtten]

Like over 50 others, I am very interested in a WhatsApp integration.

I've notice some people worry about getting banned by WhatsApp. I've looked at WhatsApp's Business policy and although they set some clear rules to prevent marketing spam, it seems the use of bots is not prohibited..

[EdwinOtten]

I believe the WhatsApp API is still in beta, hope we can have it as a channel as soon as it is released

It doesn't look like a beta to me: Current Version: v2.21.6 https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/changelog

[pernambucano]

Hi there, everyone. I've been jumping from closed issue to closed issue until I've got here. Is there any update on this yet?

It would also be helpful to have one single place to know about the updates.

cheers!

[EricDahlvang]

We do not have anything to release publicly at this time. Please stay tuned on this issue for updates regarding WhatsApp specifically.

You can also follow https://blog.botframework.com/ for general announcements.

[iMicknl]

@EdwinOtten @pernambucano the WhatsApp Business API is also still in public preview as you can find here. Do you have access to the Business API?

[ogarules]

I know is not the same, but any chance for a voice channel? One that could have a phone number to which customers can call to? Or for example a connection to twilio voice offering not only twilio sms?

[pernambucano]

Hi, @iMicknl , how are you? I do not at this moment, but since I'm developing bots in Brazil (vast majority of the population uses Whatsapp for almost any communication) it is THE long waited feature. I really think this is what we need to make chatbots (and bot framework specifically) well know here. I know it does not depend on anything on your Microsoft's side, but since it's in preview for quite time now, it is possible that it will soon be released as a public version.

Thanks a lot for the response, @EricDahlvang!!

[juanestebanj]

I do not have access to the public API. It would be great if there is a solution when the Business API goes generally available, though.

[Unders0n]

any updates to that? Isn't the fact that Twilio somehow supports that telling us that's it's not impossible for our favorite framework to also support WA?

[ogarules]

Somehow @Unders0n... even twilio tells you that you have to wait for an undefined period of time for your number to be approved since it's still in beta. Sigh

[mhrnik]

@EricDahlvang Is it going to take time for small business or startup to use this channel?

[EricDahlvang]

@mhrnik I'm sorry, but I am not aware of timelines for this.

[jameslew]

We are still invested in bringing a WhatsApp channel to market, however do not have an ETA currently. This is at the top of our list for new channels to add, however we have a full schedule of improving our bot building capabilities that may delay our addition of the channel. When we have an ETA we will share it here.

[andresvettori]

Hi Team, a few months have passed since last Aug 2019, anything new over this topic?

Thanks!

[marcasmar94]

Any updates?

[RuanCowley]

Any new progress on the WhatsApp Channel? We really need this. 😞

[vijay1anand]

Any progress on Whatsapp Channel? Is there any other way in which we can connect the Azure Bot with the Whatsapp.

[nicobytes]

@vijay1anand From Azure Bot Service is not possible but you can use TwilioWhatsAppAdapter instead of use BotFrameworkAdapter and use Twilio for send and receive message from Whatsapp

https://www.npmjs.com/package/@botbuildercommunity/adapter-twilio-whatsapp

[ziaulhaque1207]

@vijay1anand From Azure Bot Service is not possible but you can use TwilioWhatsAppAdapter instead of use BotFrameworkAdapter and use Twilio for send and receive message from Whatsapp

https://www.npmjs.com/package/@botbuildercommunity/adapter-twilio-whatsapp

@nicobytes Hi,

Can you please provide c# sample and a step by step procedure.

[GamalMohamed]

Any updates guys on adding Whatsapp channel support?

[jameslew]

We are still working on a plan for this. The business model associated with providing platform for WhatsApp is a bit different from other channels and as such we are still investigating, as well as working with partners to help customers get going in the interim. I don't yet have an ETA until we work out the details.

[ziaulhaque1207]

GamalMohamed

We have successfully integrated Azure Bot with WhatsApp. We have launched our Covid19 Tracker ChatBot. You can check with this link: http://wa.me/14073377601?text=hi

It is using Twilio, I can help if you want. Just connect with me on zia@elitedigital.ai

[Unders0n]

@ziaulhaque1207 , have youused just twilio or twilio with ms botbuilder? Can you reveal a little more on overall schema please?

[ziaulhaque1207]

@Unders0n We have used MS Bot, Twilio and WhatsApp Business.

[Unders0n]

@ziaulhaque1207 can you please describe high level architecture?

[ziaulhaque1207]

@Unders0n please provide your mail id will share.

[Unders0n]

@ziaulhaque1207 vzzlom@gmail.com

[marcasmar94]

@ziaulhaque1207

I am interested as well if you can please, marc.asmar94@gmail.com

[droidriz]

@ziaulhaque1207 i also need one pls help! srmshaikhrizwan@gmail.com

[droidriz]

@marcasmar94 @Unders0n did u guys receive anything? pls help

[tameezmoosa]

@ziaulhaque1207 please also send me the WhatsApp api detail tameezmjoburg@gmail.com

[mahfouaddarwish]

@ziaulhaque1207 please send me details mahfouaddarwish@gmail.com

[fmolina5656]

@ziaulhaque1207 please send me details facundo1052@gmail.com

[jagdishkumawat30]

I connected WhatsApp to QnA Maker using Twilio and Azure Functions. You can also implement LUIS instead of QnA Maker. Here is how I did it - Create WhatsApp Bot. For improving this bot, you can implement conversational flow in Azure Functions or connect Azure functions to direct line channel.

[TameezAustell]

@jagdishkumawat30 can you please share the code script of the function

[jagdishkumawat30]

@TameezAustell Source code is available here.

[NickEricson]

There is a C# Adapter from Infobip available as well:

Source: https://github.com/BotBuilderCommunity/botbuilder-community-dotnet/tree/develop/libraries/Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Infobip

Nuget: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Infobip/

[serraventura]

We are in 2020 and this feature request is still open.

It looks like Microsoft Bot Framework will be deprecated. I wouldn't doubt based on Microsoft past tools history.

[NickEricson]

The business model associated with providing a platform for WhatsApp integration is a bit different from our other channels. We are continuing to work in this area, including working with partners to provide the connectivity everyone wants.

How to integration with WhatsApp, irrespective of Bot Framework, has been evolving over the last several months. WhatsApp uses Business Solution Providers (BSPs) as an integral part of the messaging platform.

BSPs: https://www.facebook.com/business/partner-directory/search?platforms=whatsapp&solution_type=messaging&sort_by=alpha

We have worked with one of these BSPs, Infobip, to create a C# adapter that can be used to communicate with WhatsApp. As of 5/2020 it is available to try but has not been extensively tested. RingCentral has added WhatsApp functionality into an adapter they have developed. People in this thread have used a Twilio adapter to communicate with WhatsApp. The base Twilio adapter does not support WhatsApp but I believe adding support is fairly straight forward. For completeness, I will also mention Dynamics 365 + Omnichannel also supports WhatsApp via Twilio.

Adapters work with Bot Framework bots and are a common way to extend connectivity to channels.

Infobip Adapter: (C#) https://github.com/BotBuilderCommunity/botbuilder-community-dotnet/tree/develop/libraries/Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Infobip RingCentral Adapter: (C#) https://github.com/BotBuilderCommunity/botbuilder-community-dotnet/tree/develop/libraries/Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.RingCentral Twilio Adapter: (C#) https://github.com/microsoft/botbuilder-dotnet/tree/master/libraries/Adapters/Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Adapters.Twilio Twilio Adapter: (JS) https://github.com/howdyai/botkit/tree/master/packages/botbuilder-adapter-twilio-sms Twilio Solutions: See other people's comments in this thread OmniChannel: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/omnichannel/agent/agent-oc/whatsapp

We realize many people would prefer an Azure Bot Service channel to an Adapter. We strive to provide high quality functionality to as many channels as we can. At this time I urge people to try one of the current options outlined above. Please note that WhatsApp/Facebook has a fairly stringent set of requirements around WhatsApp integration. You should become familiar with these requirements before proceeding.

[iMicknl]

@NickEricson a Twilio WhatsApp adapter (JavaScript) is available as community extension as well.

[ahmetkocadogan]

@NickEricson I created a PR for MessageBird WhatsApp adapter.

I am currently using this adapter for my projects.

https://github.com/BotBuilderCommunity/botbuilder-community-dotnet/pull/316

[arturl]

Bot Framework support for WhatsApp has been announced at Microsoft Ignite. For more info, see https://aka.ms/bfwhatsapp.

[ahmetkocadogan]

@arturl I added MessageBird WhatsApp channel support, my PR is merged. https://github.com/BotBuilderCommunity/botbuilder-community-dotnet/tree/develop/libraries/Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.MessageBird

[mainmind83]

Bot Framework support for WhatsApp has been announced at Microsoft Ignite. For more info, see https://aka.ms/bfwhatsapp.

Not available URL [https://aka.ms/bfwhatsapp]

[ravipulluri]

Bot Framework support for WhatsApp has been announced at Microsoft Ignite. For more info, see https://aka.ms/bfwhatsapp.

Not available URL [https://aka.ms/bfwhatsapp] check this url https://github.com/BotBuilderCommunity/botbuilder-community-dotnet/blob/master/libraries/Bot.Builder.Community.Adapters.Infobip.WhatsApp/README.md

[felipems19]

Hi folks! This week I was doing some research and I figured out that Microsoft Bot Framework still doesn't provide support (officially and not a beta adapter) to WhatsApp. Do you have any news about it? We are already in 2023 and it's frustrating not to find it.