WhatsApp (Personale and Aziendale)
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Translated from the Italian guide. Narciso itself is in Italian, so the names of buttons, menus and fields are shown exactly as they appear on screen, with a translation in brackets where it helps.
Narciso has two types of WhatsApp, which are also kept apart in the conversations (labels «WhatsApp Personale» and «WhatsApp Aziendale» when both are linked; with only one type linked the label is simply «WhatsApp»). The two types are completely separate channels: unlinking one does not touch the contacts and messages of the other.
Which of the two you can use depends on your account: Narciso activates them. Normally WhatsApp Aziendale is active and WhatsApp Personale has to be requested at [email protected] (Support).
Contents
The WhatsApp card#
| Types active for your account | What you see | Click |
|---|---|---|
| None | Faded card, tooltip «Canale disabilitato dall'amministratore» (Channel disabled by the administrator) | Red warning «Il canale di comunicazione scelto non è disponibile per il proprio account» (The chosen communication channel is not available for your account) |
| Only one | WhatsApp logo (the «Business» one if it is Aziendale) | Goes directly to the linking of that type, or to the Scollega/Ricollega (Unlink/Link again) panel if it is already linked |
| Two | WhatsApp logo | Opens the choice below |
«Scegli la modalità WhatsApp»#
Two cards side by side, with Indietro (Back) at the top left:
| WhatsApp Personale | WhatsApp Aziendale | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | «Porta il tuo WhatsApp Web nel gestionale: usi il tuo numero di sempre e continui a gestirlo anche dallo smartphone senza interruzioni.» (Bring your WhatsApp Web into the management software: you use your usual number and keep managing it from your smartphone without interruptions.) | «Usa un nuovo numero dedicato solo al gestionale per invii massivi e promozioni. Consigliato per proteggere il tuo numero personale dai ban di Meta.» (Use a new number dedicated only to the management software for bulk sending and promotions. Recommended to protect your personal number from Meta bans.) |
| i dot | «Perché usarlo?» (Why use it?): it is free and ideal for 1-to-1 client support; it should be used together with Aziendale | «Perché è consigliato?» (Why is it recommended?): Meta's rules forbid personal numbers for bulk sending. It shows the Meta rates for Italy: marketing about €0.061 per conversation, service/utility about €0.035 (first 1000 service conversations per month free) |
| Button | Collega (Link), or Scollega (Unlink) if already linked | same |
The rates are those written by the program and are indicative: Meta sets them. The box of the i dot closes with a click anywhere on the page. This screen has no «Ricollega»: if a type is linked you can only unlink it. After Annulla (Cancel) in the unlinking confirmation you return to the grid.
WhatsApp Aziendale#
A WhatsApp Business number with Meta's official interface, dedicated to Narciso. Suitable for bulk sending and promotions. It is not the number you use on your phone every day.
What you need
- A WhatsApp Business account on Meta with at least one registered number.
- Access to that account.
- Pop-ups allowed.
- A number different from the one Narciso uses to verify users (reserved: it is refused).
Steps
- Open the links window and choose WhatsApp Aziendale (Linking channels).
- Follow the procedure with login on Meta (Linking with login on the provider's site).
- Under «Scegli il numero WhatsApp» (Choose the WhatsApp number) the list of the WhatsApp Business numbers of your Meta accounts appears (verified name and number): select one and press Continua (Continue).
- Narciso turns on message reception on Meta and saves. «Numero WhatsApp Business collegato con successo» (WhatsApp Business number linked successfully) appears.
Behaviour
- The number is linked to the active location. If it is already active in another location of your salon, the location is added without calling Meta again (Multiple locations and shared channels).
- If it is linked to another salon on Narciso, it is refused with «Questo account è già collegato a un altro account Narciso. Scollegalo da lì prima di collegarlo qui.» (This account is already linked to another Narciso account. Unlink it from there before linking it here.)
- Incoming messages appear as «WhatsApp Aziendale» conversations. Meta's rules on the 24-hour window, message templates and costs are Meta's: only the linking is described here.
- If Meta makes the access invalid, the number switches off with no warning: the card turns grey again and messages do not go out (When a link breaks on its own).
WhatsApp Personale#
Your usual WhatsApp, brought into Narciso like a «WhatsApp Web»: you use your number and keep using it from the phone too. The bridge is the Narciso Hub, a physical device installed in the salon's network and always on (Connectable devices).
What you need
- A Narciso Hub assigned to the active location, switched on, connected to the network and «online». One Hub per location.
- The phone with WhatsApp. The «WhatsApp Personale» type must be active on your account.
- The number to link, not already linked to another salon on Narciso.
Step 1: the number#
The «Collega WhatsApp» (Link WhatsApp) screen, with Indietro at the top left: «Inserisci il numero WhatsApp da collegare a questa sede.» (Enter the WhatsApp number to link to this location.)
- The «Numero WhatsApp» (WhatsApp number) field starts on the +39 (Italy) prefix. The prefix selector has a search («Cerca paese o prefisso...» (Search country or prefix...), «Nessun paese trovato» (No country found) if there is no match); a click outside closes it.
- Continua stays off until the number, prefix included, has at least 8 digits; the number is accepted if it has 8 to 15 (spaces, hyphens and any initial «00» are cleaned up). While it works it says «Verifica in corso...» (Checking...).
What Narciso checks after «Continua»#
In this order:
- There must be an active location («Nessuna sede attiva selezionata.» (No active location selected.)).
- The number must be valid («Inserisci il numero WhatsApp con il prefisso internazionale.» (Enter the WhatsApp number with the international prefix.)).
- At most 10 checks every 10 minutes per salon: beyond that, «Troppi tentativi. Riprova tra qualche minuto.» (Too many attempts. Try again in a few minutes.)
- Where the number already appears:
- another salon on Narciso: refused with «Questo numero WhatsApp è già collegato a un altro account Narciso. Scollegalo da lì prima di collegarlo qui.» (This WhatsApp number is already linked to another Narciso account. Unlink it from there before linking it here.) (without saying which);
- another location of your salon: no QR and no Hub, the number is shared with the active location and the window closes straight away, with no messages;
- never linked: you move on to the QR.
- There must be the Hub of this location; otherwise the purchase notice (below) appears and the window closes.
- The Hub must be online: otherwise the red notice «Il Narciso Hub di questa sede risulta offline. Verifica che sia acceso e connesso alla rete, poi riprova.» (This location's Narciso Hub appears to be offline. Check that it is on and connected to the network, then try again.)
- The communication channel with the Hubs must be active; otherwise «MQTT Broker non connesso. Riprova più tardi.» (MQTT Broker not connected. Try again later.) (a technical message: the connection with the Hubs is not available at the moment).
- If the Hub has a number also used by other locations, the confirmation below appears before going on.
Once the checks are passed, Narciso remembers the expected number for 15 minutes, makes the Hub disconnect any old session and, shortly after, asks it to generate the QR.
Confirmation «Numero condiviso con altre sedi»#
Questo hub è collegato a un numero usato anche da [sedi]. Collegando un altro numero, [quelle sedi perderebbero / quella sede perderebbe] il numero attuale.
(This hub is linked to a number also used by [locations]. If you link another number, [those locations would lose / that location would lose] the current number.)
Buttons Annulla and Conferma e continua (Confirm and continue); with the keyboard Invio (Enter) confirms and Esc cancels. If you confirm, the other locations are unlinked from WhatsApp Personale (Unlinking a channel) and you go on.
Step 2: the QR#
«Generazione QR Code in corso dal dispositivo IoT...» (Generating QR Code from the IoT device...) appears and then the card with the QR (generated in your browser), «Aggiungi qui il tuo Whatsapp Web» (Add your WhatsApp Web here), «Scannerizza il QR CODE da Whatsapp per collegarti» (Scan the QR CODE from WhatsApp to link) and «Usa l'app di WhatsApp sul tuo telefono per inquadrare questo codice.» (Use the WhatsApp app on your phone to scan this code.)
On the phone, open WhatsApp, go to the option to link a device (usually in the settings, «Dispositivi collegati» (Linked devices)) and scan the QR. If WhatsApp regenerates the code, the one on screen updates by itself.
If the circle spins endlessly, the Hub may have switched off after the request: press Indietro, check that it is on and try again.
Step 3: outcome#
- Success: the window closes by itself, with no notice. The WhatsApp messages of the number arrive as «WhatsApp Personale».
- Number different from the one indicated: red box «Il numero scansionato non corrisponde a quello indicato. Riprova con il telefono giusto.» (The scanned number does not match the one indicated. Try again with the right phone.) The link is not made.
- Number of another salon (discovered at scanning): red box «Questo numero WhatsApp è già collegato a un altro account Narciso. Scollegalo da lì prima di collegarlo qui.», and the Hub is disconnected from the number.
- The «expected number» check lasts 15 minutes: if you scan after that, the check is not made.
- Closing the window with the QR on screen does not cancel the operation: if you then scan, the link is completed anyway, but the page does not update until you reload it.
- Other generic error: «Errore di comunicazione con il dispositivo IoT.» (Communication error with the IoT device.); if the attempt check is not available: «Servizio temporaneamente non disponibile. Riprova tra poco.» (Service temporarily unavailable. Try again shortly.)
If the Narciso Hub is missing#
If no Hub is registered for the location, the window closes and a yellow notice appears: «Per gestire i barcode, devi prima acquistare Narciso Hub. Contatta qui l'assistenza per maggiori info» (To manage barcodes, you must first buy Narciso Hub. Contact support here for more information). The text talks about «barcode» because it is the same notice used for the barcode readers. The qui link opens WhatsApp with a message already written. Purchase, registration and assignment of the Hub to the location are done by support, not from Narciso (Connectable devices).
When the number unlinks by itself#
If the linked device is removed on the phone, or the Hub loses the connection, the number shows as not linked: the card turns grey again and, if you try to reply, the disconnected-channel warning appears with «Riconnetti» (Reconnect). There is no amber notice (it is only for Facebook and Instagram): if WhatsApp messages stop arriving, check the card. To restore it, repeat the steps from the beginning, with a new QR (When a link breaks on its own).
Unlinking#
See Unlinking a channel. After unlinking WhatsApp Personale, it is also worth checking in the WhatsApp app on the phone, among the linked devices.