As of December 7, WhatsApp will set new and strict conditions for parties (companies, institutions and governments) that use the service for business purposes. That can be figured out communication on the WhatsApp website.

 

Municipality of Westervoort would have already received an email from WhatsApp about the termination of the use of their regular WhatsApp number. In communication with the municipality, WhatsApp states that the company 'no longer wants to collaborate with or be used by governments and/or political organisations'.

WhatsApp says it is working to combat unlawful use of the platform. “WhatsApp is a private messaging platform originally developed to help people exchange messages with friends and family. Over time, we saw that people also like to exchange messages with companies,” said one Verkaring of the messaging service. WhatsApp now offers two business applications for this purpose: the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business API, i.e. a mobile app and a coupling point for exchanging messages with other systems, such as those for webcare. In addition, WhatsApp will use "all available resources" - including legal action - to prevent violation of the terms of service.

“No service channel for municipalities after December 7”

Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) previously concluded that from 7 December 2019 it will no longer be possible for municipalities to use WhatsApp as a service channel without a business account. According to VNG, suppliers of Whatsapp services are working on devising legal alternatives for using Whatsapp as a service channel. “Municipalities should therefore indeed take into account that from this date WhatsApp can no longer (temporarily) be used as a service channel,” said VNG's statement to Customercontact.nl.

Frank Bruijninckx, partner of HowAboutYou which collaborates with 260 municipalities, among others, recognizes the search, but thinks it has now found a workable solution together with various government authorities. “For a few weeks now, WhatsApp has indeed stated on its website that as of December 7, services from companies and institutions will only be allowed via the official business applications of WhatsApp itself. In the case of a business application, this concerns, on the one hand, the WhatsApp Business app (a mobile app) and the official one on the other API with which WhatsApp can be linked to webcare solutions.”

Some industries excluded

Unlike the consumer version, when downloading the business version, companies and institutions must indicate, among other things, the sector in which they are active. Just like companies, governments can already use the WhatsApp Business app. But for larger organizations, the use of the API is necessary: ​​it allows messages to be brought to systems, so that several people can work simultaneously on answering questions.

Most commercial companies were already welcome on the API and are busy connecting before December 7 at the latest. But there are also branches that will not be allowed, such as gambling, eroticism and collection agencies. The API comes with a price tag, with which WhatsApp is finally taking steps towards a revenue model. It is expected that in the course of next year governments will also be welcome to the version that can handle larger flows of messages, the API.

Consequences of the new WhatsApp policy for governments

The new policy therefore creates a few complications for governments in the short term. In the first place, as mentioned, governments are not expected to be allowed access to the official WhatsApp Business API until the spring of 2020. This means that government organizations must choose before December 7 whether they switch to the business mobile app or temporarily stop until the API is available. “For example, governments can switch to live chat. You also have options to run the service on servers located within the EU. However, I expect that a large proportion of government institutions will temporarily switch to the WhatsApp Business app – although they will not yet be able to integrate with a KCC application, for example,” says Bruijninckx.

A second disadvantage is that the WhatsApp Business app is only intended for solo use. One way to have several employees alternately work on answering apps is to use the app in combination with a laptop and switch it. Only when WhatsApp is linked to a customer engagement platform via an API can a multi-user scenario be realized again.

Mandatory response within 24 hours

A third complication is that WhatsApp prescribes to business users that both the organization and the sender use the API responds within 24 hours. “That will be an interesting challenge for organizations that do not offer any service during the weekend,” says Bruijninckx.

And finally, as mentioned, WhatsApp will charge for the use of the official API. “The sum of all these points may mean that governments – because their options are limited for the time being and will face higher costs in 2020 – will definitely leave the channel. That would be a shame, because both residents and employees find WhatsApp a very nice form of contact,” says Bruijninckx.

Customer Experience, Featured