Facebook, the parent company of WhatsApp, announced this Wednesday at its developer conference a series of news for WhatsApp Business . The solution aimed at improving business-customer interaction refines its API and adds new communication features .

Users who prefer to write little will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new features. From now on, when they contact a company account, WhatsApp will show a menu with up to 10 preset response options . In addition, the quick response buttons will allow up to three options with just one touch.

WhatsApp Business also improves the way companies communicate with their customers. For example, they can notify you when an item is available again . Commercial profiles will be able to send this type of notifications before 24 hours, which was the previous limit.

In addition, as WhatsApp is used in many areas, the company assures that this function will also be useful for health authorities. That is, they will be able to notify people with whom they have previously contacted with frequent information.

The updates also seek that customers are protected if they had a bad experience with the company. If they decide to block a business account they can add comments to provide details of the situation they experienced .

The number of companies using the WhatsApp Business API is also expected to increase significantly. Before these changes, approval could take weeks. Now, those interested will be able to benefit from all the functions just five minutes after submitting the application .

The difference between WhatsApp Business API and the business app

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
WhatsApp Business API is available only to companies that have been approved. It provides all the necessary tools to automate and integrate WhatsApp with other platforms . It is an advanced function that allows, for example, to use chatbots and integrate the business account to a CRM on a website.

The WhatsApp Business application , meanwhile, is available to everyone. Companies can display important information such as your address and website . They can also tag chats to find them easily. In addition, since October, in some geographical areas, they can sell products directly from their profile.

Despite recent controversies over privacy policies , WhatsApp remains the world’s leading mobile messaging app. With more than 2 billion active users, many companies rely on the service to reach their customers.