WhatsApp Business Calling
An AI voice agent on the number your customers already have
A customer taps call on your WhatsApp Business number and the agent picks up — a spoken conversation, in the caller’s language, with the chat right behind it for anything easier read than heard.
No phone line, no SIP trunk, no IVR tree — the call lives inside WhatsApp.
The short version
The same agent that runs your WhatsApp chat also answers the voice call — one knowledge base, one set of tools, one number.
Inbound calls are answered on the spot, at any hour. Outbound calls can be placed from the dashboard or the API with a stated reason — and WhatsApp’s permission rules sit underneath all of it, which is worth understanding before you plan a campaign.
The rules of ringing someone
A business cannot simply start dialling WhatsApp numbers. The customer decides who may call them — step through how the gate actually works.
Outbound calls, gated by the customer
How WhatsApp’s call permission works — described plainly, not as a growth hack.
Step 1 of 4
WhatsApp requires the customer to grant your business call permission before you can place a call to them. No permission, no outbound ring — the dial button is not yours to press.
The gate, written out
01
Permission before the first ring. WhatsApp requires the customer to grant your business call permission before you can place a call to them. No permission, no outbound ring — the dial button is not yours to press.
02
Every outbound call carries its reason. Calls are placed from the dashboard or the API with a stated objective — an appointment reminder, a confirmation, a follow-up on a form. The agent opens by saying who it is and why it is calling.
03
It talks, and it can be talked back to. Unlike a recorded reminder, the caller can ask questions mid-call and the agent answers from your knowledge base and connected tools.
04
Declined, ended, or withdrawn. The customer can decline the call, end it, or withdraw call permission afterwards. Inbound calls need none of this — the customer started it, so the gate is already open.
The chat sits behind the call
Some answers are easier to read than to hear — a tracking link, a price, an address. The agent can drop them into the same WhatsApp chat while the call is still running. Step through one.
One inbound call
Simulated example
Caller
Hi — I tapped call on your WhatsApp. Where is my order? It is 48219.
Agent
Let me check 48219 for you.
Agent
It is out for delivery today before 7 pm. A tracking link is easier to read than to hear — I have just sent it into this chat.
Caller
Got it, thanks.
Agent
Anything else I can help with?
- Sent into the chat behind the call
The chat on the same number
Your order 48219 is out for delivery — track it here: your store’s tracking link
If you already run a WhatsApp Business number, you are most of the way there
Create a voice bot
Sign up free and configure a call bot — system prompt, voice, language, and the tools it can use mid-call.
Pick a call model
A direct voice-to-voice model for the lowest latency, or a cascaded transcribe → LLM → speech pipeline. Fallback tiers can be set so a call does not drop if a model is briefly unavailable.
Link your WhatsApp Business number
Connect the number you already run. Inbound calls to it are answered by your agent; outbound calls can be placed from the dashboard or the API.
Go live
Customers call your WhatsApp number and the agent picks up. No phone line, no SIP trunk, no IVR tree.
Where a WhatsApp call earns its place
E-commerce
Order calls answered on the spot
Customers tap call on your WhatsApp to ask where an order is or how a return works. The agent looks it up live, answers, and drops the tracking link into the chat behind the call.
Clinics & services
Booking calls at any hour
Patients call to book, reschedule or confirm after hours. The agent reads the real calendar, takes the slot, and sends the details into the chat — then can place the reminder call the day before.
Reminders
Outbound reminders that talk back
Where call permission has been granted, an outbound call can converse instead of playing a recording — state the reason, answer questions, offer a payment link in the chat, and end cleanly.
Against the ways a reminder usually reaches someone
| A recorded reminder line | A human on the phone | CallMissed on WhatsApp | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers on your WhatsApp number | — | — | ✓ |
| Talks back instead of playing a menu | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Available at 2 am | ✓ | ~ | ✓ |
| Understands Indian languages and Hinglish | ~ | ~ | ✓ |
| Sends links and payment options into the chat mid-call | — | — | ✓ |
| A written transcript of every call | — | ~ | ✓ |
| You pay for | Line charges | A salary | Talk minutes |
Voice and chat, one number
The agent behind the call is the same one that answers your chat — shared knowledge base, shared tools, shared escalation rules. A customer can message and call the same number and get a consistent answer either way.
Prefer calls over the ordinary phone network instead of WhatsApp? The voice agent product covers Twilio, Exotel, Plivo, Ozonetel and any SIP trunk, and the chatbot side lives on the WhatsApp product page.
WhatsApp calling, asked plainly
What is WhatsApp Business Calling with an AI agent?
WhatsApp Business Calling lets businesses make and receive voice calls inside WhatsApp — no phone line or SIP trunk. With CallMissed, an AI voice agent answers those calls or places them, holds a natural spoken conversation in the caller’s language, looks things up in your knowledge base, and can send links or messages into the same chat.
Can the AI both answer and make WhatsApp calls?
Yes. Inbound calls to your WhatsApp Business number are answered by the agent. Outbound calls can be placed from the dashboard or API with a stated objective, and are permission-gated: the customer must have granted your business call permission, per WhatsApp’s rules.
How natural does the conversation feel?
You can choose direct voice-to-voice models that listen, reason and speak in one model, giving roughly half-second time-to-first-audio and barge-in — the caller can interrupt mid-sentence. A cascaded transcribe → LLM → speak pipeline is also available, with fallback tiers so a call does not drop if a model is briefly unavailable.
Which languages are supported on WhatsApp calls?
The speech stack understands 22 Indian languages plus English, with Hinglish and mid-sentence code-switching, and speaks eleven of them — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malayalam, Odia and English. There is no "press 1 for Hindi" step.
Can the agent send a message during a call?
Yes. When a caller asks for something easier to read than to hear — a tracking link, a price, an address, a payment option — the agent sends it into the WhatsApp chat behind the call, so the customer has it in writing while still on the line.
How is WhatsApp calling priced?
You pay per minute of talk time in fractional credits — no per-call minimum and no seat fees. WhatsApp does not charge for user-initiated inbound calls; you pay for the AI usage of the conversation. Outbound business-initiated calls are billed per minute — see the pricing page for current rates.
Do I need a separate phone number or telephony provider?
No. WhatsApp calling runs over your existing WhatsApp Business number — no separate DID, SIP trunk or telephony provider. If you also want calls over the ordinary phone network, the voice agent works with Twilio, Exotel, Plivo, Ozonetel and any SIP trunk separately.
How is this different from a WhatsApp chatbot?
A chatbot handles text chat; calling handles voice on the same number. With CallMissed they share the same underlying agent — the same knowledge base, tools and escalation rules — so a customer can message or call and get a consistent answer either way.
What happens if the AI cannot handle the call?
You define the escalation rules. The agent tells the caller a colleague will ring back and files a callback request carrying the reason and a short summary — it does not bridge a live caller to a person. It can also take a message, and it ends the call cleanly when the conversation is genuinely done.
Is WhatsApp Business Calling available in India?
Yes — CallMissed is built for Indian businesses: hosted in India, billed in rupees, tuned for Indian languages and accents. WhatsApp Business Calling works on a verified WhatsApp Business number, and our team helps with the setup.
Put an agent on your WhatsApp calls
Open a free account, configure the voice bot, and have a call with it before you connect a number. Pay per minute of talk time.