Tech Provider program overview
As an ISV (Independent Software Vendor) using Twilio, you can join Meta's Tech Provider program to simplify the WhatsApp onboarding process for your customers. Your customers can onboard to WhatsApp fully self-service, access their WhatsApp Business Accounts within Meta's system, and register WhatsApp senders programmatically.
When you join the Tech Provider program as an ISV, you'll integrate Meta's Embedded Signup into your application so that your customers can provide the WhatsApp assets you'll use for messaging within a few minutes, without leaving your application. You can see an example of Embedded Signup in the Twilio Console, where our own direct customers use WhatsApp Self Sign-up to onboard their brands.
The following steps describe the resulting general workflow for your customers to onboard to WhatsApp:
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Your customer chooses a phone number to use on WhatsApp or you assign them a Twilio number automatically.
(information)Phone number options
Phone number selection or assignment must happen before your customer starts the Embedded Signup flow, so that you can get the full phone number as required later by the Twilio Messaging API Senders resource.
The WhatsApp Tech Provider Program supports both Twilio phone numbers and non-Twilio phone numbers on WhatsApp.
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Your customer clicks Login with Facebook in your application to open the Embedded Signup popup.
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In the popup window, the customer follows the Embedded Signup flow, including the following:
- Create or select a Meta Business Portfolio.
- Create a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA).
- If the customer isn't using a Twilio SMS number assigned by you, then they must verify ownership of their phone number with Meta using a one-time password (OTP) verification.
The window closes when the customer completes the flow.
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Your application registers your customer's WhatsApp Sender using the Twilio Messaging API Senders resource and the subaccount credentials assigned to the customer. Your application won't need to call any Meta APIs.
Embedded Signup flow subject to change
Meta provides the Embedded Signup flow and might make changes to the flow from time to time. For up-to-date information about Embedded Signup, see Meta's Embedded Signup documentation.
Meta messaging limits apply for all WhatsApp messaging.
To join the Tech Provider program as an ISV, you'll need to complete the following tasks:
- Create a Meta app and have it approved by Meta.
- Accept Twilio's request to link your Meta app to Twilio (called a Partner Solution).
- Complete a technical integration using Meta's SDK and Embedded Signup feature, and onboard WhatsApp senders using Twilio's Senders API.
Steps 1 and 2 usually take 3-4 weeks to complete. The time to complete step 3 depends on your development capacity.
To join the Tech Provider program and integrate with Twilio and the WhatsApp Business Platform, follow the WhatsApp Tech Provider program integration guide.