WhatsAppBetaInfo, the online newspaper that investigates the new releases of WhatsApp, recently announced that WhatsApp is testing the possibility of being able to associate up to 4 devices at the same time.
Index
- How will WhatsApp’s multi-device functionality work
- Will opening WhatsApp on multiple devices at the same time be a solution for companies?
- What companies that use WhatsApp really need for their business
- WhatsApp Business vs. WhatsApp Business’s APIs: what are the differences?
- WhatsApp for teams? Here are the alternatives
From what has been reported, WhatsApp will soon be available in a multi-device version, although this feature is still under work-in-progress and there are no news about the launch date of this new feature.
It seems that in the new version of its app, WhatsApp will insert the possibility of associating new devices, so that the same account can be used by multiple devices, meaning other smartphones or computers (through WhatsApp Web or WhatsApp Desktop).
To date, in fact, a WhatsApp account can only be opened by one device at a time, which makes it very limiting, especially for companies that use it as a sales channel or for customer support.
At the same time, more and more users want to communicate with your business through WhatsApp, with the expectation of obtaining immediate, personalized and comprehensive answers.
If also your company wants to adopt a conversational approach through instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Messenger, you will need to understand how to make the most of their potential by identifying the correct strategy, in order to satisfy the largest number of users, in the most efficient way possible.
The launch of this new feature by WhatsApp, apparently, is not designed for business users of the famous messaging app, but for ordinary users.
It could be used within the family, in case you want to give children the possibility to communicate via a shared WhatsApp, or for the elderly who are not capable of creating an individual account.
However, the use of the same WhatsApp account on multiple devices could appear as a great advantage even for companies that have sales teams, and are currently forced to use multiple WhatsApp accounts, typically one for each agent, and that consequently often lose control over what is communicated to customers.
Will this new feature therefore be a solution for companies that want to structure their communication with their customers through WhatsApp Business?
Probably not: let’s see why.
Although with this new feature, companies will potentially have only one shared account with 4 collaborators at the same time, the use and organization of messages can be complicated and confusing.
In fact, since the multi-device function is designed for those users who want to open their WhatsApp account in a simple way from multiple devices, when the account is managed by several people at the same time it will not be possible in any way to identify who is taking care of a particular customer, who is handling a chat or replying to a message.
This means that only companies with a very limited volume of messages (up to 10 contacts per day) will be able to take advantage of this new feature, while all those realities where WhatsApp is used systematically when communicating with customers, it will still be necessary to rely on external platforms that allow you to organize the flow of chats.
Having clarified the ways in which the WhatsApp Business app can be used from multiple devices at the same time, we must ask ourselves what are the possible solutions that a company may decide to implement.
If your company does not have a structured sales network or a support team and needs to respond to a very limited number of messages, then the multi-device function mentioned above could be the ideal solution.
If, on the other hand, multiple sales or support agents have to collaborate within your company, then the best solution is WhatsApp Business’s APIs.
WhatsApp Business’s APIs allow you to send and receive WhatsApp messages through external platforms, designed for companies that want to use this channel to communicate with the customer.
As mentioned earlier, even in its future multi-device version, the native WhatsApp app has various limitations.
The main one being the fact that it is not possible to understand by whom the message was actually sent. It is also not possible to automatically assign conversations to different agents or assign a tag to chats.
If you have a company with a structured sales network and a large amount of daily messages that you have to manage, it is therefore not recommended to use the native application of WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. You will have to resort to third-party solutions that allow the management of a WhatsApp account by exploiting WhatsApp Business’s APIs: let’s find out what the possible solutions are.
In this regard, there are some paths that companies can follow to manage their WhatsApp channel, without the limits of the default interface.
Below we want to suggest two solutions that companies can choose to manage their WhatsApp channel, without having to run into the limits of the native app.
1) Callbell: is the solution, suitable for companies of any size, and offers the possibility of managing a team of up to 100 agents.
The interface allows you to automatically assign chats to the first available operator, with the ability to use response templates, tags and many other features created to facilitate the collaboration of a sales or support team.
Furthermore, the platform is also available in a mobile version with which it is possible to manage chats directly from any smartphone. Everything that happens within the account is summarized in the analytics module, which allows you to constantly monitor the statistics relating to the chats with the customers.
In addition to WhatsApp, Callbell also integrates with Facebook Messenger. You can create a free Callbell account from here.
2) Zendesk: it is a suitable solution for large companies. The management of conversations takes place through a ticketing system, thus allowing the management of a very large volume of requests. The solution is therefore suitable for those companies with 100+ agents that need to collaborate within a single system, more oriented towards mere customer service than a collaboration-oriented live chat system like Callbell.
These are the two recommended solutions for shared management with the same WhatsApp number by multiple agents at the same time. If you need support in evaluating and choosing the platform, do not hesitate to contact our team through the WhatsApp button that you find below on the right.
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Frequent Questions
How will WhatsApp's multi-device functionality work?
At the moment, in fact, a WhatsApp account can only be opened by one device at a time, which makes it particularly limiting, especially for companies that use it as a sales channel or for customer support.
At the same time, more and more users want to communicate with companies via WhatsApp, expecting to get immediate, personalized and detailed answers.
If your company wants to adopt a conversational approach also through instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Messenger, you will need to know how to make the most of its potential, identifying the correct strategy to satisfy the greatest number of customers, in the most efficient way possible. For this reason, you must use Callbell to serve all your customers from the collaborative interface of WhatsApp.
Will opening WhatsApp on multiple devices at the same time be a good solution for companies?
Using the same Whatsapp account on multiple devices could be a big advantage for companies that have sales teams and are currently required to use multiple accounts, typically one for each agent, frequently losing control over what is being communicated to the customers.
Therefore, if companies can get have the option to open WhatsApp on multiple devices, thus being able to satisfy all the requests from their customers with a single WhatsApp number and multiple agents, it would be an excellent solution in terms of efficiency and speed of service.
About the author: Hello! I am Alan and I am the marketing manager at Callbell, the first communication platform designed to help sales and support teams to collaborate and communicate with customers through direct messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram and Instagram Direct
