More and more telecoms providers list “WhatsApp Business” as a feature of their plans. That sounds like a service they run for you, but in most cases it only means you can register the landline number yourself in Meta’s free WhatsApp Business app. The provider supplies the number, and WhatsApp decides the rest.

You can do the same with a CallFactory number, and we are happy to explain how. We do think it matters that you know what you do and do not get, how WhatsApp itself looks at business use, and when an official WhatsApp partner is the better choice. If you want to see what your number costs first, take a look at our pricing.

Three ways to use WhatsApp for business

WhatsApp has two products of its own for businesses, alongside the ordinary app you use privately. The difference decides which rules apply to you.

Ordinary WhatsApp (Messenger) is made for contact between people. WhatsApp’s UK terms of service ask you to register with your current mobile phone number and rule out any non-personal use of the service unless WhatsApp authorises it. The Help Centre puts it the other way round: if you are not a business, you do not need the separate business app. If you are a business, you belong in the business products.

The WhatsApp Business app is free and, according to WhatsApp, built for small businesses. You may register a mobile number or a landline number that you own, receiving the verification code by phone call. The terms for the Business app allow business use only, not personal use.

The WhatsApp Business Platform is intended for medium and large businesses that handle many conversations, work with several agents or want to connect WhatsApp to their own systems. You arrange it through Meta’s Cloud API or through an official WhatsApp partner, and since 1 July 2025 you pay per message sent.

What a telecoms provider actually supplies

A telecoms provider that is not an official WhatsApp partner supplies a phone number that can receive a verification call from WhatsApp. That is where it ends: no WhatsApp traffic runs over the provider’s platform, there is no contract with Meta and so nobody can guarantee that your account stays active. That applies to us, and to every other provider that is not connected to the Business Platform.

WhatsApp also decides for itself which numbers it accepts. The Help Centre lists VoIP numbers, toll-free numbers (such as 0800), premium-rate numbers and personal numbers as types that cannot be registered, and extension numbers behind a switchboard do not work either. Whether a geographic or 03 number is accepted depends on how WhatsApp assesses that specific number, so the simplest approach is to test it.

A practical tip for verification: WhatsApp calls your number and reads out a code. Temporarily point your routing straight at a phone you answer yourself, so a welcome message or menu does not intercept the call.

How WhatsApp itself looks at business use

In the terms for the Business app, Meta keeps the right to limit, throttle, suspend or terminate an account, depending on the breach. Once your account is terminated, you may not create a new business account without its express written permission. In its messaging guidelines, WhatsApp names unofficial clients, bulk messaging and auto-messaging among the reasons to suspend an account temporarily or permanently.

A banned account shows a message saying the phone number cannot use WhatsApp. According to WhatsApp, only WhatsApp can ban or unban an account, and if you see no option in the app to request a review, the ban is final. The number printed on your invoices and website can then lose its WhatsApp, while calls carry on working as normal.

The direction Meta is taking is clear. The Business Platform charges per message, the Business app is gaining paid add-ons through Meta One, and in June 2026 Meta announced a business AI agent that will move to a paid subscription. Businesses that use WhatsApp seriously for customer contact increasingly end up on paid, official routes.

The 24-hour rule and message templates

On the Business Platform, a 24-hour customer service window opens as soon as a customer messages or calls you. Within that window you can reply freely, and those replies are free. If you want to message a customer later, you need a pre-approved message template, and marketing templates are always charged.

The free Business app does not apply this window in the same way, but it is sensible to plan for it now. If your use grows into the Business Platform, you will work with this rule, and customers expect a reply within a working day in any case.

Who answers the messages?

With us, a phone number can ring for several colleagues at once, so whoever is free picks up. WhatsApp works differently: a Business app account runs on one phone with up to four linked devices. Linked devices are logged out if the main phone is not used for more than fourteen days, and broadcast lists only work on that main phone.

So agree in advance who manages the main phone, who answers the messages and what happens when that person is on holiday or off sick. Messages do not pass through our platform, so our routing, queue and opening hours only apply to phone calls. If your team wants to use WhatsApp as a full customer channel, with a shared inbox and integrations, the Business Platform through an official partner is the right route.

Usernames: keep calls and WhatsApp separate

Since late June 2026 you can reserve a username on WhatsApp, which will become available country by country over the coming months. A customer can then find you by a name rather than a number. A phone number is still needed to register for now, and on a business profile both the username and the number are visible.

With usernames you arrange your business identity on WhatsApp directly with WhatsApp, rather than through your telecoms provider’s phone number. For WhatsApp that makes sense, because it learns more about your business than just a number: your business name, your profile and how customers find you. For you, it means your WhatsApp channel depends less on which number you use.

That is also what we recommend: keep the path for phone calls and the path for WhatsApp separate. A phone number is intended first and foremost for voice calls, and as an operator we see that the telecoms industry is not happy about numbers increasingly being tied to WhatsApp. Publish your landline number for calls and your username for messages, so a ban or change at WhatsApp never affects how customers reach you by phone. You can read more in our article on WhatsApp usernames.

How to choose the right route

If you use WhatsApp now and then for a customer question, and it is not a problem if the channel drops out occasionally, you can register your CallFactory number in the free Business app. Test it during the 7-day trial, agree who answers the messages and bear in mind that WhatsApp sets the rules.

If WhatsApp is a channel your revenue depends on, for example for appointments, orders or customer service, choose the Business Platform through an official partner. Ask the provider for proof of its partnership with Meta and check WhatsApp’s Partner Showcase, bearing in mind that Meta says the list is not exhaustive. Your phone number can stay with us alongside it, so your reachability by phone never depends on decisions made by another platform.