> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.eat-now.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# WhatsApp calls

> Receive your guests' WhatsApp calls in EatNow, answer from your browser and let the voicemail take over.

Your guests can call you from WhatsApp, with the call button in your conversation or on your profile. The call rings in EatNow: you see who is calling, their profile and their next booking, and you answer from your browser. If nobody answers, the voicemail takes the message, which shows up transcribed in the conversation.

<Note>
  WhatsApp calls are being rolled out. Ask your EatNow contact to turn them on.
</Note>

## Requirements

* **A number dedicated to the Cloud API.** Meta does not offer calls on numbers connected through the WhatsApp Business app (coexistence). Use a dedicated number, such as a virtual number: our team can help you set it up.
* **A limit of at least 2,000 customers a day.** Meta keeps calls for numbers allowed to message at least 2,000 different customers a day. This limit rises on its own as you keep talking with your guests without reports.
* **A valid payment method** on your WhatsApp Business account, even though incoming calls are free.

The **Calls** tab checks all of this with Meta and tells you what is missing.

## Turn calls on

1. Open **Settings → Integrations**, then **Manage** on the WhatsApp card.
2. Go to the **Calls** tab.
3. Turn on **Receive WhatsApp calls**.

**Show the call button** decides whether the button shows in the conversation and on your profile. Hidden, guests can no longer call you on their own.

<Info>
  On the guest's side, WhatsApp can take up to 7 days to show the button. To see it right away on a test phone, open the conversation with your restaurant, then its info page.
</Info>

Incoming calls are **free**: Meta only charges calls made by the business, and EatNow makes none.

## Answer from the dashboard

When a guest calls, a card shows up at the top right of every dashboard page:

* the guest's name and number, their visits, no-shows and last visit if they are already a customer;
* their next booking, one click away;
* **Pick up**, **Voicemail** (to send them straight to the voicemail), and shortcuts to note a booking or open the conversation.

The browser asks for the microphone the first time. If a colleague picks up, the card shows who took the call.

## Answer from the EatNow app

On phones and tablets, the EatNow app shows the same card and lets you pick up, switch to the loudspeaker and mute the microphone.

**App closed or phone locked**, the call shows on the phone's own call screen, like a regular phone call:

* every phone signed in to the restaurant rings, except those where **Ring this phone** is off;
* the first one to pick up takes the call, and the others stop ringing;
* **declining** on one phone only stops that phone: the others keep ringing, and the guest is not sent to the voicemail.

Each phone's settings are in **Settings › WhatsApp calls**: ring this phone, vibrate, the phone's call screen (off, a call only rings in the open app), and access to notifications and the microphone.

## Ringtone and notifications

The dashboard **rings** while a call is waiting. It stops when someone picks up, when the voicemail takes the call or when the guest hangs up.

* **Chrome blocks sound** until you click in the page. If the card shows **Turn the ringtone on**, click it: the ringtone then works for every call.
* **Tab in the background**: allow notifications (button on the card, or the **On this device** block of the Calls tab). A call then shows even when you're on another tab, and the EatNow tab title blinks.
* **Mute a station**: the bell on the card, or the **On this device** block. It's a per-browser setting: the till can stay quiet while the front desk rings. The call card still shows.

## The voicemail

The voicemail is not on by default, but we strongly recommend it: without it, every call that rings out counts against you at Meta (see [below](#meta-alerts)).

In the **Calls** tab, **Voicemail** section:

1. Pick the **delay** before the voicemail takes the call (0 to 30 seconds). At 0, it takes it right away and the call no longer rings in EatNow.
2. Write your **greeting**. A text is suggested, with your name and in your language.
3. Pick a **voice**, then **Generate and listen** to hear it.
4. **Save**.

The voicemail also takes the call when you click **Voicemail** on the card. Meanwhile, the card shows **On voicemail** and no longer offers to pick up.

The message the guest leaves lands in their **WhatsApp conversation**, attached to the call, with its transcript. If the AI agent is on, it can reply in writing.

<Tip>
  Avoid promising a callback in your greeting: replying by message, in the conversation the call opened, is often the simplest.
</Tip>

## Message after a missed call

Turn on **Message after a missed call** in the Calls tab. If nobody answers and the guest leaves no voicemail, they get your **Missed call** template about 90 seconds after the call, with the booking link (or the link to their upcoming booking).

Nothing goes out if the guest wrote to you in the meantime, or if you already replied. It's free: the call opens the 24-hour conversation window. The history is in [Missed calls](/missed-calls/introduction).

## Meta alerts

Meta watches the share of calls that go **unanswered** and guests' **negative feedback** (blocks, reports). When it is too high, Meta warns, then sanctions:

| Alert | What it means | What to do |
| - | - | - |
| Too many unanswered calls | Warning | Turn the voicemail on, or hide the call button if you can't answer |
| Negative feedback | Warning | Guests blocked or reported the number after a call |
| Call button hidden | Sanction, no end | Turn the voicemail on, then **Show the button again** in the Calls tab |
| Calls cut | 7-day sanction | Calls come back on their own; messages work as usual |

These alerts show at the top of the Calls tab, and the team is told (**Meta alert on WhatsApp calls** notification, by email, push and in the notification center). See [team notifications](/notifications/team-defaults).

The Calls tab also shows the **calls of the last 7 days**: answered, taken by the voicemail, unanswered. If many calls go unanswered, it warns you before Meta does.


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