WhatsApp messages
The WhatsApp page has three tabs — Usage, Conversations and Settings — so you can see how your messages are performing, read the conversations behind them, and manage what sends.
Why WhatsApp costs you nothing
WhatsApp charges businesses for messages — except a reply sent inside a visitor's own free 24-hour chat window, which opens when the visitor messages you first. turnda only ever replies inside that window.
The button only appears once a WhatsApp number is live for your account, on a line that uses WhatsApp, while WhatsApp is switched on and has messages left. A visitor who once replied STOP sees instead: “Message notifications are off because you replied STOP — reply join to turn them back on.”
What your customer sees when they scan the WhatsApp QR
The line's Share / Get found panel has a WhatsApp join tab with this QR code. It's two steps, and the second one is the one that counts.
- 1Scan the QROpens a turnda page with your own join questions
- 2Answer & press the buttonWhatsApp opens with their message already written
- 3Press send in WhatsAppThis is what actually opens the window and joins the line
The first page shows whatever you switched on for your join page, out of name, party size, what they need, vehicle / plate and a note.
Three things this page never asks for, and why
| What's missing | Why |
|---|---|
| A phone number box | Their number comes from the WhatsApp message they send — that's the only number turnda will ever message them on. |
| An email box | This way in is by WhatsApp, so there's no email to collect. |
| A “Who would you like?” choice | This way in can't carry a staff choice. |
If your account is live but this one line has WhatsApp switched off, the tab says so instead: “This line isn't set to message on WhatsApp.” The fix is Line settings → Notifications, not your account.
The Usage tab — is it working?
A live dashboard, updating every 15 seconds, of how your WhatsApp messages actually performed — filterable by location and time range.
| What it shows | What it means |
|---|---|
| Window-hit rate | The share of messages that landed inside a free 24-hour window — “This is what keeps WhatsApp free.” The higher it is, the more visitors joined by WhatsApp QR. |
| Delivered / Read / Failed | The headline counts. Failed is captioned “nothing sent — they kept only the tracking link.” |
| Delivery funnel | Every message that reached WhatsApp, from sent to read, and why any were refused — plus one line for a message that left and then failed to deliver. |
| Who WhatsApp actually reached | Of the updates due this period, how many got through, split WhatsApp versus Not reached. |
| Over time / By line | Sent vs delivered by day, and which lines lean on WhatsApp. |
Why a message was refused, in the delivery funnel
| What the funnel says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Free window had closed | Not sent — the window the visitor's own message opened had already shut. |
| They asked us to stop | Not sent — the visitor opted out. |
| WhatsApp paused | Not sent — this location has reached its monthly ceiling. |
| Would have cost money | Not sent — there was no free window to send inside, so turnda never pays to send it. |
A message stopped before WhatsApp was even asked — a moment switched off, no number on file, the location out of messages — isn't counted in this funnel. Those are in Did it arrive? at the bottom of the Settings tab.
The Conversations tab — the messages themselves
A read-only view of each visitor's WhatsApp thread, searchable by name or number. Nobody can type a message from here that would cost money — turnda replies automatically to real events only.
Privacy, stated at the top of the tab every time you open it
| What it says | What it means |
|---|---|
| “Private & auto-deleted” | Kept for 30 days, then permanently deleted. |
| Who can read it | Only you, and managers for their own location. |
| Opening a conversation | Access-logged. |
| A visitor's data request | Their conversation is included. |
The list on the left shows initials, name, a partly-hidden number, how many messages, which line, and when the last message was — always in your shop's own clock. There is no message preview in the list.
The mark beside a name — the state of that visitor's free window
| Mark | What it means |
|---|---|
| Window open | The free 24-hour window is still open. |
| Window closed | The window has shut — nothing more can send until they message again. |
| Last message failed | The most recent message did not go through. |
These are three different shapes, not three colours, so they still read if you're colour-blind or using a screen reader. Messages from the visitor sit on the left, ours on the right.
The tick marks on our messages
| Mark | What happened |
|---|---|
| A single tick | Sent |
| A double tick | Delivered |
| A blue double tick | Read |
| A warning mark | Failed |
- “Not sent — the free window had closed”
- “Not sent — they asked us to stop”
- “Not sent — WhatsApp is paused”
- “Not sent — it would have cost money”
A brand-new shop sees “No conversations yet.” A shop with no WhatsApp number set up sees a different message saying so — nothing can appear here without one.
The Settings tab — what sends
Three levels of switches, then the messages themselves.
| Account level | What happens | Who can |
|---|---|---|
| Turn WhatsApp on for this account | Off means no location sends, whatever its own switch says. A manager sees a plain On or Off badge instead of the switch. | Owner |
| Share the allowance across locations | Pools every location's monthly ceiling into one total, so a busy branch can use a quiet one's spare. Only appears once you have two or more subscribed locations. | Owner |
Each location has its own card, headed WhatsApp at {location}, carrying one of three badges.
The badge on each location's card
| Badge | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ready to send | Both switches are on and there are messages left. |
| Not sending | One thing is stopping it, and the card names which: off for the account, off for this location, or out of messages until the reset date. |
| Reaching nobody | On and funded, but nothing has got through for seven days — every message fell outside the customer's 24-hour window. The fix is the WhatsApp-join QR. |
A per-line switch stops that line messaging on WhatsApp and stops its join form asking for a mobile number, so nobody can opt into spending your allowance.
The moments are each on or off with wording you can edit, per language. Only the “while they're waiting” moments are here — everything about an appointment, and the review ask, is sent by email instead.
Where a moment has a timing dial — like When to send it for the heads-up — the dial sits inside that moment, not on a separate settings screen.
Your monthly ceiling — the numbers
WhatsApp updates are free, so there's no bundle to buy. What each subscribed location has instead is a safety ceiling, so a runaway line can never turn a free channel into a surprise.
| Situation | Ceiling |
|---|---|
| Each subscribed location | 1,000 WhatsApp messages a month, resetting on the 1st in the location's own time zone |
| Email and the tracking link | No ceiling at all |
| During the free trial | 200 for the whole account, for the whole trial — this does not reset each month, and only stops applying once you subscribe |
Each location draws only on its own ceiling unless you switch on Share the allowance across locations. Reach a ceiling and WhatsApp pauses until it lifts — the tracking link and lobby TV keep working regardless.
If it goes wrong
In every case below, the WhatsApp message simply does not go out and nothing is sent instead. The visitor keeps the tracking link and lobby TV, and the queue flags them Not told — call them.
| What happened | What to do |
|---|---|
| “Out of messages until the reset date” | The location reached its monthly ceiling. Share across locations, or wait for the 1st. |
| The free window has closed | The visitor's own message was over 24 hours ago, or they joined by the web form. The fix is the WhatsApp-join QR. |
| The visitor opted out | They replied STOP. The log shows them as Opted out. |
| No WhatsApp account | The number can't receive WhatsApp at all. |