10 · Platform & settings

Channels

Set up your WhatsApp Business number(s) via Gupshup, see SMS and email provider status at a glance, and toggle overnight quiet hours for customer messages.

5 min read · updated 28/05/2026

Overview

WhatsApp is where your orders come in, so this is where you wire WhatsApp up. The Channels page connects your WhatsApp Business number through Gupshup, shows whether SMS and email are live or still in sandbox, and lets you pause customer messages overnight. Set it once, and every order confirmation, payment reminder, and reply goes out on the right number.

Where to find it

Settings → Channels, at /settings/channels. Web only — there is no mobile screen for this. It lives under Settings, but the page isn't a single Owner-only wall: the WhatsApp channel and provider-status card is open to anyone who can manage WhatsApp channels (Owner and Manager), while the Quiet hours card is Owner-only.

The page has two cards: Channels & integrations (WhatsApp + SMS + email status) and Quiet hours.

Key concepts

  • Gupshup — the WhatsApp Business provider (BSP) Neev sends through. You paste your Gupshup API key and app name; Neev uses them to send and receive on your number.
  • Channel type — each number is either B2B (selling to shops and dealers) or D2C (selling to end customers). You can run separate numbers for each.
  • Provider status — the chip on each fallback row. Configured means the provider's keys are set and live. Sandbox means messages are running in test mode, not really delivered. Off means no keys are set yet.
  • Quiet hours — an overnight window (default 22:00–07:00 IST) when customer messages pause. Transactional alerts still go out.

Common workflows

1
Connect your WhatsApp number

Open Settings → Channels. The WhatsApp Business card shows Connected or Not connected. If it's not connected, hit + Add channel, enter the phone number (like 919876543210), pick B2B or D2C, and paste your Gupshup API key and app name. Hit Create channel.

2
Check SMS and email fallback

Below WhatsApp you'll see two rows — SMS fallback (MSG91) and Email delivery (Resend). Each carries a status chip: Configured, Sandbox, or Off. Sandbox means delivery isn't real yet.

3
Add a second number

Use + Add channel again to add another number — say a separate D2C line. Each extra number shows under Other configured numbers with its own Activate / Deactivate toggle.

4
Turn a number on or off

For any extra number, hit Activate or Deactivate. Deactivating stops sends on that number without deleting it, so you can switch it back on later.

5
Set quiet hours

On the Quiet hours card, flip the switch to pause customer messages between the shown times (22:00–07:00 IST by default).

Role notes

This page splits along two permissions: WhatsApp channel management (held by Owner and Manager) and quiet hours (Owner only, since it lives under tenant Settings).

Owner can do everything here — add a WhatsApp number, paste Gupshup keys, activate or deactivate extra numbers, read SMS and email provider status, and toggle quiet hours.

Manager can manage WhatsApp channels — add a number, paste Gupshup keys, and activate or deactivate extra numbers — and can read the SMS and email provider status, because those run on the WhatsApp-channel and notifications permissions a Manager holds. What a Manager cannot do is the Quiet hours card: that toggle is gated by a tenant-settings permission reserved for the Owner. If quiet hours need changing, the Owner does it.

Tips & time-savers

Tip
Run one number for dealers (B2B) and a second for direct customers (D2C). When a line goes quiet for a season, hit Deactivate instead of deleting it — the config and its Gupshup keys stay saved, and one tap brings it back.

You don't need quiet hours to keep WhatsApp tidy — but if your customers get marketing or conversational pings late at night, the overnight window holds them and sends a summary once it ends.

Gotchas

Warning
Quiet hours only pauses customer (marketing and conversational) messages. Transactional alerts — order confirmations, payment reminders, dispatch updates — still go out at any hour. Don't rely on quiet hours to silence those.
Warning
You can't add the same phone number twice. If a number is already configured, Create channel fails with "A channel config with this phone number already exists." Deactivate or reconfigure the existing entry instead.
Warning
A Sandbox chip on SMS or email means those messages are in test mode and aren't really reaching customers. Treat Sandbox as "not live yet," not "working."

Related