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The WhatsApp page under Channels manages the WhatsApp Business lines connected to your workspace, and offers two ways to connect: The WhatsApp channel page with the two connection options

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Option 1: Connect WhatsApp Business (dedicated line)

Choose Connect WhatsApp Business to link a number through Meta’s secure embedded signup. In this setup the number lives in the platform: your team answers from the shared Inbox and the agent can use message templates to reach out after the 24-hour window.
1

Open the WhatsApp channel page

In the sidebar, go to Channels, then WhatsApp.
2

Click Connect WhatsApp Business

A Meta window opens.
3

Log in with Facebook

Sign in with the Facebook account that manages your business.
4

Select your Meta Business Account

Pick an existing Meta Business Account, or create one from the same window.
5

Pick the phone number

Choose the number to connect and follow Meta’s verification steps.
6

Test the line

Back in Ciarem, your line appears on the WhatsApp page. Send yourself a test message; it should show up in the Inbox within seconds.
Connecting a number this way moves it fully onto the API. If that number is currently active in the WhatsApp Business app on a phone, it will stop working there, so make sure your team is ready to work from Ciarem’s Inbox. If you want to keep the app, use Coexistence instead.

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Option 2: Keep using your phone (Coexistence)

If you run your business from the WhatsApp Business app and do not want to give that up, choose Keep using your phone — connect via coexistence. Your number connects to Ciarem while the app keeps working as before: you and your team keep chatting from your phones, and the AI agent reads and answers on the same number. Nothing is hidden from your phone. Incoming customer messages and the replies the AI sends both keep appearing in your WhatsApp Business app, so you always see the full conversation there, as if you had written it yourself. You will need:
  1. Your number active on the WhatsApp Business app (not personal WhatsApp).
  2. Access to a Meta Business Account (the flow guides you if you do not have one).
  3. A recent version of the WhatsApp Business app on your phone.
1

Open the WhatsApp channel page

In the sidebar, go to Channels, then WhatsApp.
2

Choose the coexistence option

Click Keep using your phone — connect via coexistence.
3

Log in with Facebook

It is the same Meta login as the dedicated line. Select your Meta Business Account, or create one if the flow asks you to.
4

Confirm the code on your phone

Meta sends a code to the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. Confirm it there; your app stays logged in throughout.
5

Wait for the line to finish setting up

Its card on the WhatsApp page shows what is happening: connecting (Meta is registering the number), then importing (your recent chat history is syncing in), then ready. The line already works while history imports.
See WhatsApp Coexistence explained for what syncs and what does not.

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Which one should I choose?

Stay with Coexistence if your phone is still the center of your operation and you want the AI working alongside you. Choose the dedicated line when the platform becomes the center: more teammates answering from the Inbox, higher volume, and outbound follow-up with templates.

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What you can send and receive

Everything a customer sends on WhatsApp lands in the Inbox as-is: text, photos, videos, voice notes (with a one-click Transcribe action), documents, stickers, locations, shared contact cards, emoji reactions, and replies that quote an earlier message. A message the customer deleted shows “This message was deleted”. In the rare case Meta delivers something Ciarem does not recognize, the thread shows an “Unsupported message” notice instead of dropping it silently. Your team and the AI can send text (with WhatsApp’s bold, italic, and strikethrough formatting), emoji, photos, videos, and documents with captions, voice notes recorded in the composer, emoji reactions, and quoted replies. Unique to WhatsApp, you can also send message templates and interactive button and list messages. Files are capped at 16 MB, and audio is converted automatically to a format WhatsApp accepts. The types you cannot send from Ciarem: stickers, locations, and contact cards. After 24 hours without a reply from the customer, the composer locks and offers a template instead. See WhatsApp costs and the 24-hour window. A dedicated line can also take voice calls: customers call your number on WhatsApp, your team answers from the Inbox, and the call lands in the thread with its recording and summary. See WhatsApp voice calls.