WhatsApp adds AI capabilities to its business suite. The company announced Tuesday that it would introduce the ability for large businesses to reach customers through voice calls.
The company is also considering using AI to recommend products to users.
With over 200 million users per month, WhatsApp Business is a prominent revenue driver for Meta, as executives pointed out in revenue calls over the past quarter. The company makes money through What's ads from clicks and bills merchants for messaging features on the platform.
We are not currently charged for AI features, but we may be able to add a price tag after achieving scale.
Image credit: WhatsApp
Today, Small Business accounts can already chat with customers on WhatsApp Voice, but large business accounts still don't have the functionality. Over the next few weeks, large businesses will be able to access this feature via APIs. This allows customers to make voice calls to the business and allow businesses to bring customers back. (The latter was not available in previous tests last year, but is now.)
WhatsApp said it will soon add a way for customers to send and receive voice messages from businesses.
By enabling voice pipelines, businesses can set up AI-enabled voice agents through startups like VAPI, ElevenLabs, Coval, Phonic, and more to run customer service on WhatsApp.
Additionally, AI-powered chat-based customer support and outreach capabilities that began testing last year are expanding to more merchants in Mexico.
WhatsApp also enhances product recommendations on AI on merchants' sites.
Image credit: WhatsApp
Today there are multiple venture-backed startups using AI to promote individual product proposals for sellers. Similarly, Meta said that after the initial recommendation or conversation, AI can answer follow-up questions and provide updates via WhatsApp.
Updates are rolling out to business customers starting today with a general release, reaching a wider user base in the coming weeks.