WhatsApp is often the channel a client actually reads. It is also the channel with the most rules, and they are WhatsApp's rules, not Joy's. The single thing worth understanding is the 24-hour rule: outside a 24-hour window, WhatsApp will not deliver whatever you happen to type — it only allows a message WhatsApp has already approved.
This guide explains when you can write freely, what the client receives when you cannot, and what WhatsApp will not do at all.
Before you start
WhatsApp appears in the send dialog only when your organisation has both text messaging and WhatsApp switched on. If either is off, WhatsApp is not in the channel list at all — an Owner turns it on in the organisation settings. The client also needs a mobile number on file and permission to be contacted directly.
Send a WhatsApp message
Open the client and select the Outreach tab.
Select New message.
Choose WhatsApp as the channel.
Pick the number to send to, if the client has more than one.
Type the message, or choose a template.
Select Send.
You will notice WhatsApp has no Allow reply toggle and no Send long text as a short link toggle. Replies are built into WhatsApp, so a reply link is unnecessary, and long messages are handled for you.
The 24-hour rule, in plain words
WhatsApp only allows a business to write freely to someone who has recently written to them. The window opens when the client sends you a WhatsApp message, and it closes 24 hours later.
Inside the window — your message goes out exactly as you typed it.
Outside the window — WhatsApp only permits a message it has approved in advance. Joy sends the approved wording, which reads roughly: You have a message from [your organisation]. Please reply to view it and continue the conversation. When the client replies, the window opens and the conversation carries on normally.
So a message sent outside the window is not lost, but the client does not see your words until they answer. If what you wrote is time-critical, send an SMS as well.
The dialog does not tell you which side of the window you are on
This is the honest limitation. The send dialog shows no window countdown and no "the window is closed" warning — the decision is made after you press Send. If it matters, look at the client's WhatsApp history on the Outreach tab: if their last inbound WhatsApp reply is more than a day old, assume the window is closed.
Messages that always use their own approved template
Some sends never use your free text, whether the window is open or not, because WhatsApp requires a specific approved template for them:
wellbeing and concern check-ins,
signposting a client to a service,
booking confirmations and booking reminders.
If one of those templates has not been set up for your organisation, the send fails and says so rather than quietly going out as something else. That is deliberate: a check-in that silently turned into a generic nudge would be worse than a visible failure.
What WhatsApp cannot carry
No attachments. There is no attachment control on WhatsApp. To send a document, use email.
No read receipts, sometimes. Many people switch read receipts off. When they have, the engagement panel says so, and no "read" will ever be recorded. A missing read receipt is not evidence the client ignored you.
When something goes wrong
Message could not be sent — the provider rejected it; the reason is shown with the message.
WhatsApp failed — sent by email instead — for a plain message where the client also has an email address, Joy falls back to email so the client still hears from you. Structured sends (check-ins, signposts, booking messages) never fall back this way.
What the client sees, and what comes back
The client sees a normal WhatsApp message from your organisation's WhatsApp number. Anything they send back arrives in Messages, appears on the client's Outreach tab, and counts towards the engagement signals. Replies also count for out-of-office: if the worker who sent the original message has an out-of-office reply switched on, the client gets it automatically on WhatsApp.