The chart app, WhatsApp announced it will begin beta testing a new, cloud-based version of its WhatsApp Business API.
The cloud based version is hosted on the parent company Facebook’s infrastructure.
With the shift to the cloud, the setup time for integrating with the API will drop from weeks to only minutes, the company claims.
The main aim is for businesses can quickly transition to WhatsApp’s API platform to communicate with their customers who have opted in to receive their messages.
According to TechCrunch, the company has been steadily building out its Business API over the past couple of years to become one of the key ways the otherwise free messaging app will generate revenue from its service.
Businesses today pay WhatsApp on a per-message basis, with rates that vary based on the number of messages sent and region. Currently, tens of thousands of larger businesses have adopted the existing (non-cloud based) API, including brands like Vodafone, Coppel, Sears Mexico, BMW, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Iberia Airlines, Itau Brazil, iFood and Bank Mandiri, among others.
This older version of the API will continue to be supported and WhatsApp doesn’t have any current plans to force them to shift over to the new cloud-based version at this time. Both APIs are free to use.
Businesses that are using the WhatsApp Business API will work with a solutions provider like Zendesk or Twilio, which help facilitate integrating the API with the customer’s backend systems.
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