WhatsApp calling

Take and make WhatsApp voice calls in the same softphone your team already uses for phone calls — routed, recorded and logged exactly like a phone call.

TL;DR

What it is — WhatsApp Business Calling on your WhatsApp business number. Customers tap the call button in your WhatsApp chat and the call rings your team through your voice menus, departments and agents. Agents call customers back on WhatsApp from the chat, once the customer has allowed calls.

Who it's for — teams that already talk to guests on WhatsApp and want the call to happen in the same thread, from the same number, without a separate phone line.

Top outcome — one number and one conversation for messages and calls: the call card, the recording, the transcript and the outcome all land in the customer's WhatsApp chat.

At a glance


Plan tier	Lodgestory Voice accounts with a connected WhatsApp Official channel.
Who can manage	Account Owners and Admins turn calling on, choose where calls ring and set calling hours. Any team member with a voice extension can take and make WhatsApp calls.
Incoming calls	Free for your business. Routed like a phone number: a voice menu, a department, a person, voicemail, an AI voice agent, business hours, a message or an external number.
Outgoing calls	Need the customer's permission first (see Call permissions). Billed by Meta per call minute to your WhatsApp Business account. Not available for business numbers in the United States, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam and Nigeria.
Works with	Browser softphone, desk phones and follow-me phones for incoming calls; browser softphone or your own phone for outgoing calls. Recording, transcripts, hold, transfer, listen-in, dispositions and call reports all work.
Meta requirements	A WhatsApp Official number with a messaging limit of at least 2,000 customers a day; a valid payment method on the WhatsApp Business account for outgoing calls.
API	Calls carry `channel: "whatsapp"` on the call webhooks and in the Voice API; see API.

How to find it

Sidebar: Settings → Calling → [your account] → WhatsApp calling.

Direct URL: https://lodgestory.com/crm/settings/calling/{accountId}/whatsapp

📸 [SCREENSHOT: whatsapp-calling-settings.png — one card per WhatsApp number with eligibility checks, the on/off switch, where calls ring and calling hours]

What is WhatsApp calling?

The problem it solves

Guests already message you on WhatsApp. When a conversation needs a voice call, today it jumps to a phone number they don't recognise, from a line that isn't in the chat, with no record next to the messages. Callers on WhatsApp who tap the call button reach nobody.

What you get

One number, one thread. Customers call the same WhatsApp number they message. Every call appears as a card in that chat.
Your existing routing. Voice menus, departments, sticky agents, calling hours, voicemail and AI voice agents apply to WhatsApp calls with no new setup.
Calls from the chat. An agent calls the customer on WhatsApp from the chat header, from the browser or their own phone.
Permission handled for you. Lodgestory shows whether a customer allows calls, asks for permission in one click, and blocks a call Meta would refuse.
The same reporting. WhatsApp calls sit in the Calls page with a WhatsApp badge and a channel filter, in call reports, webhooks and automations.

Customer scenarios

Pre-arrival help. A guest taps Call in your WhatsApp chat about check-in; the Front Desk department answers in the browser.
Callback on a lead. A sales agent asks for call permission in the chat, the guest taps Allow, the agent calls back on WhatsApp.
After hours. Calling hours hide the call button at night; callers who still get through follow your business hours and reach voicemail.

Core concepts

Term	Meaning
User-initiated call	The customer calls your WhatsApp number. Free.
Business-initiated call	Your agent calls the customer on WhatsApp. Billed by Meta; needs permission.
Call permission	The customer's consent to receive your WhatsApp calls — temporary (7 days) or permanent.
Callback permission	When on, a customer who calls you automatically allows you to call them back.
Calling hours	The hours the WhatsApp call button is offered to customers. Outside them customers are directed to message you.
Where calls ring	The routing for the WhatsApp number: a voice menu, department, person, voicemail, AI voice agent, business hours, message or external number.

Quick Start — turn on WhatsApp calling

Step 1 — Check eligibility

Open Settings → Calling → [account] → WhatsApp calling. Each WhatsApp Official number shows its messaging limit, whether it can receive calls, and whether outgoing calls are available for its country.

📸 [SCREENSHOT: whatsapp-calling-eligibility.png]

Step 2 — Choose where calls ring

Pick a voice menu, department, person or another destination — the same choices a phone number has.

Step 3 — Turn it on

Select Turn on. Lodgestory configures the number with Meta and connects it to your voice account. Calls can reach your team within a few minutes.

Step 4 — Set calling hours (optional)

Add weekly hours, holidays and your time zone; choose whether the call button is shown and whether callers allow callbacks automatically.

Step 5 — Make a test call

Call your business number from WhatsApp on a personal phone. The call card shows a WhatsApp badge while it rings.

How it works

A customer taps Call in your WhatsApp chat.
Lodgestory receives the call on your WhatsApp number and routes it through the destination you chose.
The agent's softphone rings with a WhatsApp badge and the customer's chat already linked.
The call is recorded (and transcribed, if your account transcribes calls), and the call card lands in the chat.

For outgoing calls, the agent opens the customer's chat, checks the permission badge on the Call button, asks for permission if needed, then selects Call on WhatsApp.

Features in depth

Incoming WhatsApp calls

Everything a phone number can do: voice menus (customers press keys on the WhatsApp dialpad), departments with ring strategies and failover, sticky agents, voicemail, AI voice agents, business hours and messages. Agents answer in the browser, on a desk phone, or on their follow-me phone — a follow-me phone shows one of your regular phone numbers, since carriers can't display a WhatsApp number.

Outgoing WhatsApp calls

From a WhatsApp chat, open Call and switch to WhatsApp. The permission badge tells you what is possible:

Badge	What it means
Allowed until …	You can call until the date shown.
Always allowed	The customer allowed calls permanently.
Not allowed yet	Ask for permission first.
Declined / Expired	Ask again later — WhatsApp limits how often you can ask.
Unavailable	Calling is off for this number, restricted by Meta, or not available in the business number's country.

Choose Browser to call from the softphone, or Phone to have Lodgestory ring your own phone first and connect the customer when you answer (needs a regular phone number on the voice account).

Call permissions

Ask in the chat. Inside the 24-hour window after the customer's last message, Request call permission sends a request with your own short message. Outside the window, pick an approved template that contains a call permission request (create one in Settings → WhatsApp Templates with the Call permission request option).
The customer's answer appears in the chat as a card — Allowed WhatsApp calls until 18 Sep, Declined WhatsApp calls — and the Call button updates immediately.
Limits set by WhatsApp: one request per customer per 24 hours and two per 7 days; the counters reset after a connected call. Unanswered calls count against you — after several unanswered calls in a row WhatsApp withdraws the permission.
Callback permission (on by default): a customer who calls you allows you to call them back.

Calling hours and the call button

Weekly opening hours (up to two ranges a day), up to 20 holiday overrides, your time zone, and whether the call button is shown at all. Changes reach customers' WhatsApp apps gradually; Lodgestory and WhatsApp apply them to calls immediately.

Calling hours are WhatsApp's own setting: they decide whether the customer sees a call button. They are separate from Business hours, which decide where a call goes once it arrives. A WhatsApp number can follow a business-hours schedule like any phone number — put it on one from the schedule's Choose numbers, or pick Business hours as the number's routing. Changing one does not change the other, so keep the two in step.

Where WhatsApp calls show up

Calls page: a WhatsApp badge on the row, a Channel filter (Phone / WhatsApp), and the WhatsApp call details in the call's detail sheet.
Chat: call cards and permission cards in the customer's WhatsApp chat.
Call card: a green WhatsApp label while ringing and during the call.
Reports: the Call Log report has Channel (Phone / WhatsApp) and WhatsApp Call ID columns.
Automations and webhooks: the call's channel is available everywhere a call is — call.channel in automation conditions, channel and whatsapp on call webhooks.

Roles & permissions

Action	Account Owner	Admin	Team member
Turn WhatsApp calling on or off, rotate its connection	✅	✅	—
Choose where calls ring, set calling hours	✅	✅	—
Answer WhatsApp calls	✅	✅	✅ (with a voice extension)
Request call permission, call customers on WhatsApp	✅	✅	✅ (with a voice extension)

Connections

Departments, Voice menus and Business hours route WhatsApp calls exactly like phone calls.
Calls shows WhatsApp calls with a badge and a channel filter.
WhatsApp Templates hold call permission request templates for customers outside the 24-hour window.
Automations can react to WhatsApp calls with the call's channel as a condition — for example, send a follow-up template after a missed WhatsApp call.
Webhooks carry the call's channel and WhatsApp call details.

Limits a user will run into

Outgoing calls need permission, and WhatsApp caps how often you can ask (1 per day, 2 per week per customer).
Up to 100 connected calls per customer per day on one business number.
Voice only — no video or screen sharing.
Group chats can't be called.
Outgoing calls are unavailable for business numbers in the United States, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam and Nigeria.

Errors & FAQ

Message	What to do
This number isn't eligible yet	Meta requires a messaging limit of 2,000 customers a day. Keep messaging within WhatsApp's quality rules; the limit rises automatically.
Ask the customer for permission first	Send a call permission request from the chat, or a permission template outside the 24-hour window.
Meta has restricted calling on this number	Meta pauses calling (usually 7 days) after negative customer feedback. The card shows the reason and when it ends.
Ringing your phone needs a phone number on this voice account	Call from the browser softphone, or add a phone number to the account.
Do WhatsApp calls cost anything?	Incoming calls are free. Outgoing calls are billed by Meta per minute to your WhatsApp Business account.
Does the customer see my WhatsApp number?	Yes — the call comes from your verified WhatsApp business profile.

API

Call webhooks (call.completed, call.missed, …) include channel (pstn or whatsapp) and a whatsapp object for WhatsApp calls — see the Webhooks API reference.
The Voice API and AI assistants (MCP) filter calls by channel (pstn / whatsapp) and can place a WhatsApp call for a WhatsApp Official chat (channel: WHATSAPP with the chat). The customer must already allow calls; permission is requested from the chat in Lodgestory.

Changelog

September 2026 — WhatsApp calling: incoming calls through your routing, outgoing calls from the chat with permission handling, calling hours, call permission templates, WhatsApp badges and filters on the Calls page.