Add a WhatsApp template message

AI-generated summary

Genesys Cloud's WhatsApp template messaging system provides businesses with a comprehensive framework for managing approved outbound communications through Canned Responses while maintaining full compliance with WhatsApp Business Account specifications. The platform supports multiple template elements including text or image headers (in JPEG, PNG, or WebP format up to 5MB), body content up to 20, footers, and up to 10 interactive buttons configured as Phone Number buttons (requiring E.164 format), URL buttons (with static or dynamic links), or Quick Reply options. Variable parameters utilize a pill button format with unique, lowercase, alphanumeric names not exceeding and underscores, supporting multi-language capabilities and custom substitutions that override default values. Genesys Cloud automatically populates special variables such as "agent_name," "customer_name," and "agent_alias," though only single variable parameters are permitted in header text and Link URL fields—using multiple variables in these fields will cause template delivery to fail. Implementation requires prior WABA approval, exact template content matching, and appropriate permissions (Responses > All > All), with templates created and approved in the WhatsApp Business Account before addition to Genesys Cloud. Template Name and Language fields become non-editable after saving, while other message and button content remains editable by administrators only; agents cannot modify templates or images during interactions. The system automatically includes "Call on WhatsApp" buttons for outbound messages, supports both inbound replies within 24 hours and proactive outbound messaging using pre-approved structured messages, and enables efficient, consistent customer communication while maintaining brand standards. Additional capabilities include agentless WhatsApp notifications, Embedded Signup Flow integration, migration tools for transitioning existing WhatsApp business messaging, and community support resources, with users required to acknowledge the Genesys Cloud privacy policy

PrerequisitesClick to expand

WhatsApp business customers can reply to inbound messages within 24 hours without a template message. After 24 hours of receipt of the original inbound message or to send a proactive outbound message, WhatsApp business customers must use pre-approved, structured messages, called template messages, to contact their customers.

Genesys Cloud supports two types of WhatsApp templates through Canned Responses. Depending on the type of customer experience you want to deliver, you can use either standard WhatsApp templates or carousel templates.

Standard WhatsApp templates support text-only messages and single-media headers with images. These templates are created and approved in Meta Business Manager before they can be mapped to a Genesys Cloud canned response and used in customer interactions. Agents, bots, and digital bot flows, agentless API, and outbound campaigns use these approved templates.

WhatsApp carousel templates provide a richer messaging experience by allowing businesses to send multiple image cards with interactive buttons in a single message. Customers can browse products, services, promotions, or other content and access external websites directly from WhatsApp. Carousel templates are created and managed within Genesys Cloud, and submitted to Meta for approval. Approved templates can be used by bots, agentless API integrations, and outbound messaging scenarios, depending on the template type.

To add a WhatsApp template message, follow these steps:

Click Menu > Digital and Telephony > Interaction Assets > Canned Responses.
Under Libraries, in the library where the response belongs, click .
Click Add Response.
In the Response Name box, type a meaningful name. Agents see this name.
The Libraries list displays the library name that you selected in the Libraries tab. To specify a different library, click the library name from this list.
For Response Type, click the Message Template tab.
In the Template Type section, select the type of template that you want to create.

Message TemplateClick to expand

Note: Before you add a template, you must create a WhatsApp template in your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) and obtain approval from WhatsApp before you add it to Genesys Cloud. For more information, see .

To create a standard WhatsApp template message, select the Message Template option, and perform the following steps:

In the Template Info section, provide the template specific details:
1. In the Template Name field, enter the name of the message template name.
2. In the Language list, click the language for the template message.
  Note: You must have a different response for each language that the WhatsApp template supports.
In the Message section, set the content of the message template.
1. Click the Add Header list.
2. Select Text or Image and then perform the following steps:
  - Click Text and in the Header Text field, copy and then paste the header text from the approved WhatsApp template in your WABA, including any variable parameters.
  - Click Image and in the Image Source field, perform these steps:
    - Click Insert from, insert the image from a URL, and then click Save.
    - Click Insert From Asset Library, insert the image from the asset library, and then click Save.
In the Body section, copy and paste the body text from the approved WhatsApp template in your WABA, including any variable parameters that includes text formatting.
Note:
- To ensure that the message delivers successfully, the contents of the body text must match exactly with the template approved in your WABA.
- Your WhatsApp message template can contain up to 20,000 characters.
Click Save.
Click Add Footer.
In the Footer Text section, include the text.
In the Buttons section, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Add Button list.
2. Select one of the options and perform the corresponding steps:
  - URL: When you select URL, the following fields appear.
    - The Button Type field displays the URL as the value selected.
    - In the Button Label field, enter the name of the button.
    - In the Link URL field, enter either a static URL or a dynamic URL with a variable parameter, as configured and approved in the WhatsApp template in your WABA.
    - Click Save.
  - Phone Number: When you select Phone Number, the following fields appear.
    - The Button Type field displays Phone Number as the value selected.
    - In the Button Label field, enter the name of the button.
    - In the Phone number field, enter the full E-164 phone number with the “+” sign followed by the country code, area code, and number.
    - Click Save.
  - Quick Reply: When you select Quick Reply, the following fields appear.
    - The Button Type field displays Quick Reply as the value selected.
    - In the Button Label field, enter the name of the button.
      Note: WhatsApp automatically adds the Call on WhatsApp button to the outbound message when delivering the canned response to the user. Therefore, if you have created a WhatsApp message template with a Call on WhatsApp type of action button in your WABA, do not configure the Call on WhatsApp button again in your Canned Response.
To create another response, enable the Create Another check box. The new response belongs to the same library by default. However, you can select a different library if necessary.
Click Save.

Media CarouselClick to expand

In Genesys Cloud, you can create multiple carousel cards with images that users can scroll horizontally.

Unlike standard templates, Carousel Templates are created and submitted to Meta through Genesys Cloud. Meta approves the template and shares the status back to Genesys Cloud with appropriate reasons.
Before configuring media carousels, ensure that your organization has a configured WhatsApp integration and you know the exact integration name.

To create a WhatsApp media carousel template with images, select this option, and perform the following steps.

In the Template Info section, provide template specific details:
1. In the Template Name field, enter the name of the media carousel in lowercase letters with optional underscores. The template name should not contain spaces, capital letters, or special characters.
2. In the Language list, select the language for the media carousel.
  Note: You must have a different media carousel for each language that WhatsApp supports.
3. In the Select a WhatsApp Integration list, select the WhatsApp integration suitable for the media carousel.
In the Carousel Details section, specify the carousel parameters that are applicable for all the carousel cards:
1. In the Message Body Text field, enter the message that appears above all carousel cards. This message must be a generic one that introduces the carousel to the customers, for example, Platinum Credit Card with exclusive benefits. Message body that you configure must be a plain text with optional variable substitutions up to 10 variables, for example, {{firstname}}, {{phone1}}, {{156}}. However, make sure that the message body does not contain leading or trailing variable substitutions, as they are not approved by Meta. Click Save. After you save, a preview of the message is automatically shown in the Preview box.
2. Under Card Body Message, enable the toggle Card Body Message button to display the same message body on all carousels.
3. Under Card Buttons, select the number of buttons and the type of buttons to be displayed on all the carousel cards. Each card can contain up to two buttons.
  1. In the Button 1 Type list, select at least one button for each card with a maximum of two buttons per card. You can select buttons of type:
    - URL – Redirects the customer to the actual organization’s microsite to explore more products or services.
    - Phone number – Allows customers to directly call your organization’s phone number.
    - Quick reply – Allows customers to reply to your WhatsApp campaign.
  2. Click Add Button and add more buttons.
  3. In the Button 2 Type list, select one more button to be added to the carousel. On the right side, the added buttons are displayed in the Preview of the image carousel.
  4. To delete the button, click delete .
In the Carousel Card Selector section, perform the following steps:
1. In carousel cards, you need a minimum of two cards. Hence, by default, two card records are shown in the section. Click Add Card to add more cards. You can add up to 10 cards.
2. Select the card that you want to move up () or move down () in the order of display, or edit.
3. You can upload a new image or replace an existing image for the card carousel as part of the Carousel Card Contents section. The new image is automatically updated in the preview of the image carousel.
4. To delete the card, click delete .
In the Carousel Card Contents section, you can edit the content of the card that you selected in the previous step in the Carousel Card Selector section. All the changes you make in this section are displayed in the preview of the image carousel. To edit a carousel card, perform the following steps:
1. Under Card Image, in the Image Source field, click Insert Image. If you have selected an existing carousel card that already has an image, you can only see Replace Image. The uploaded image must be in the .jpg, .jpeg, or png format and the maximum size is 5 MB. In the Attach Image dialog, you can insert image in one of the following ways:
  - Asset Library – Select an existing image from the asset library managed in Canned Responses.
  - Insert from URL – Upload a new image by inserting a valid image URL.
  - Upload New Image – Upload a new image from the local device.
2. Under Card Body Message, enter the message that appears specific to the carousel card that you are editing. You can add up to 10 variable substitutions (for example, {{cardLimit}}) as part of the message. When defining variables, ensure that you always provide default values for each variable before saving the template.
3. Under Card Buttons, configure the values for the buttons for the selected carousel card. The card button values vary for each button type:
  - For the URL button type, you must specify the name of the button in the URL Button Label field and enter either a static URL or a dynamic URL with a variable parameter in the Link URL field. You can also use variables in the URL definition, for example, {{summerSale01}}. The URL should be a secured one, that is, it should start with https.
  - For the Phone Number button type, you must specify the name of the button in the Phone Number Button label field and enter the full E-164 phone number with the “+” sign followed by the country code, area code, and number in the Phone number field.
  - For the Quick Reply button type, you must enter the name of the button in the Quick Reply button label field. In the Payload field, enter a value that helps to identify the customer’s carousel selection in which an action is performed.
To create another response, enable the Create Another check box. The new response belongs to the same library by default. However, you can select a different library if necessary.
Click Save. When you save the response of the media carousel message template, Genesys Cloud validates the template structure and displays the result of validation along with error description in the responses list. Fix the errors and then resubmit for Meta’s approval. Different statuses involved in the template approval are:
- Accepted – Submitted successfully.
- Error – Template format is incorrect; fix required before successful submission.
- Rejected – Rejected by Meta. If the template is rejected by Meta, you must create a new template and submit it to Meta, the existing template cannot be resubmitted.
- Approved – Ready to use.

Notes:

The Namespace ID field is no longer required by WhatsApp and does not need further Canned Response configuration.
The Template Name and Language fields are not editable after you have saved the response, however, you can edit other Message and Button contents.
Header images must be of the type image/jpeg, image/png, image/webp and cannot exceed 5 MB in size. Images that you save as part of the canned response deliver when the message routes to the users. Agents cannot edit images (or agentless API clients) when they use and send the template message as part of a WhatsApp interaction. Only canned response administrators can make edits.
Configured template message variables, or substitutions from your approved WhatsApp template appear as pill buttons when you save the message. To update the names, descriptions, and default values for template variables, click these buttons.
If you configure variable parameters as part of your Header, Body, and URL Buttons, ensure that the variable and parameter names differ for each section. Genesys recommends that you insert variable names, instead of using variable numbers, to distinguish them across different sections of your message template. For example: Use {{order_id}} instead of {{1}}, or use {{first_name}}, {{last_name}} instead of {{1}}, {{2}}, and so on.
- If you make template message variable names “agent_name,” “customer_name,” or “agent_alias,” Genesys Cloud populates them with related conversation values. Variable names can include only alphanumeric characters and underscore as a special character. Variable names must be in lowercase and cannot exceed 20 characters.
- Custom substitutions can pre-populate template message variables. A custom substitution overrides a configured default value, if provided. Agents can modify the automatically populated value.
WhatsApp imposes a limit of 10 total buttons per template. If you configure more than 10 buttons in your canned response, the template message will fail to deliver.
Header text or the Link URL field of a URL Button can only contain a single variable parameter. Adding more than one variable parameter and substitutions in these fields will result in the template message to fail delivery.
In the Media Carousel template, Genesys Cloud converts all the variables inserted as part of template definition into positional variables before submitting to Meta. Therefore, the variable names can be user-friendly with the combination of lower and uppercase letters, and numbers.

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