Phone number acquisition

To use the WhatsApp messaging channel, you’ll need a phone number that meets WhatsApp’s requirements for its Cloud API or On-Premises API.

You must acquire your phone number yourself, as Braze won’t provision the number for you. You can either purchase a physical phone with a SIM card through your business phone provider or use one of our partners: Twilio or Infoblip. You must have your own Twilio or Infobip account because this cannot be done through Braze.

WhatsApp API requirements

Your phone number must meet these WhatsApp API requirements:

• Owned by your business
• Have a country and area code (such as a landline and cell numbers)
• Able to receive voice calls or SMS
• Accessible during account setup (to receive verification codes)
• Not a short code
• Not previously used with the WhatsApp Business Platform
• Not connected to a personal WhatsApp account

Acquiring a Twilio phone number

Step 1: Buy a phone number from the Twilio console or API

1. From the Twilio console, go to Develop > Phone Numbers > Manage > Buy a number. If you don’t see this option, select Explore Products, scroll to Super Networks, then select Phone Number > Buy a number.
   
   
   
   

2. Enter your desired area code or locality (if you have one). Find a number, then select Buy.
   
   
   
   

3. After purchasing your phone number, go to Active Numbers and select the phone number you just purchased.
   
   
   
   

Step 2: Configure your phone number

Follow Twilio’s instructions to set up your Twilio phone number to receive the verification code through email using only Twilio Voice. Do not follow the instructions in other steps.

1. In the Twilio console, go to the Active Numbers page and select the phone number you purchased.
2. Go to the Voice Configuration section and in the Configure with dropdown, select Webhook, TwiML Bin, Function, Studio Flow, Proxy Service.
3. In the A call comes in row, select Webhook and set the URL to https://twimlets.com/voicemail?Email=YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS, replacing YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS with your email address.
4. In the Twilio console, go to 2. Link WhatsApp Business Account with your number > 2. Copy the phone number you register, and select Copy next to the phone number.
5. In the Self Sign-up window, on the Add your WhatsApp phone number page, select Add a new phone number and paste the phone number.
6. Select Phone call as the verification method, then select Next.
7. You receive the verification code in your email within 10 minutes.

Step 3: Complete the embedded sign up workflow

1. After Twilio is configured, go to your Braze dashboard > Technology Partners > WhatsApp and select Begin integration or Add WhatsApp Business Account, whichever shows up, to trigger the embedded sign up workflow.
   
   In the Add a phone number for WhatsApp step, select Phone call for how you’d like to verify your phone number.
   
   
   
   

2. Wait a few minutes for the verification code to send to your email inbox, then enter the verification code and complete your setup.

Acquiring an Infobip phone number

1. In the Infobip console, go to Channels and Numbers and select Numbers.
   
   
   
   

2. Select Buy Number > the country where you want to send messages > SMS.
   
   
   
   

3. Depending on your selected country, you might need to complete an additional registration process (such as selecting a 10 DLC or toll-free option for US phone numbers). Be sure to select the available option.
   
   
   
   

4. Select the available offer, then proceed through the rest of the steps and wait for your request to be processed. You can check the status by going to Numbers > My Request.
   
   
   
   

5. Depending on your selected country, wait for the Infobip team to contact you for registration details (such as for 10DLC in the US).
   
   

6. When your phone number is ready in Infobip, go to your Braze dashboard > Technology Partners > WhatsApp and select Begin integration or Add WhatsApp Business Account, whichever shows up, to trigger the embedded sign up workflow.
   
   In the Add a phone number for WhatsApp step, select Text message for how you’d like to verify your phone number.
   
   
   
   

7. Check Infobip’s analyze logs in their customer portal for the verification code, which could take a few minutes to appear, then enter the verification code and complete setup.