Plan requirement
| Subscription | Suite Team or higher |
| Access | Admin |
A Zendesk Talk number can be used for WhatsApp, with a verification step that has one awkward moment.
Why you might
One number for calls and WhatsApp is simpler for customers and easier to publish. Where you already have a Talk number people know, using it for WhatsApp too avoids introducing a second.
Prepare the number first
Two settings have to be out of the way, and skipping them is why the step fails.
- Turn off greetings and route calls to voicemail. The PIN arrives as a missed call you read back afterwards.
- Temporarily disable your IVR menu. The automated call does not press buttons or respond to menu prompts, so it has to reach the destination without any interaction.
Also check the number accepts calls from the United States: that is where the activation calls come from.
The verification
- Start the WhatsApp setup and enter the Talk number.
- Choose the voice option. A Talk number cannot receive WhatsApp activation PINs by SMS.
- Let the call go to voicemail. The PIN repeats several times in the recording.
- Play the voicemail back, take the PIN and enter it during activation.
Afterwards, put your greetings, IVR and voicemail back, and call back anybody who reached voicemail while it was diverted.
Do not try to answer it
This is the part people get wrong, because it looks like a call you should pick up. The call does not wait for anybody to answer. It dials, reads the PIN several times and ends, which is exactly why the documented approach is voicemail rather than a waiting agent.
The pressure is at the other end: the PIN expires. Have the person doing the activation ready, and agree in advance how the code gets to them the moment the recording lands.
Both channels then work
Calls continue to arrive in Talk and WhatsApp messages arrive as messaging tickets. They are separate channels on one number, and each needs its own routing and hours.
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