Three things clinics call “WhatsApp Business”
- The WhatsApp Business app. A free app from Meta that runs on a phone, made for small businesses. A person reads and answers every message.
- The WhatsApp Business Platform, often called the WhatsApp Business API. Software connects to the clinic’s number through Meta, so a program can answer patients. The version Meta hosts itself is called the Cloud API.
- Meta’s verified badge, which many people still call the green tick. It is separate from both, and you don’t need it to take bookings.
Patients see the same thing in every case: a chat with the clinic’s number in their own WhatsApp. What changes is who, or what, answers.
The WhatsApp Business app at a clinic
The app is free and works like ordinary WhatsApp, with tools for a business: a business profile with your address and hours, quick replies for answers you type often, greeting and away messages, labels to sort chats, and a catalogue. You can also open the same account on a few linked devices, such as a computer at the desk.
Every booking still goes through a person. A patient asks for a time, someone checks the register, replies, and writes the booking down. For a clinic with a few bookings a day and someone always near the phone, that can be enough.
Where the app runs out for appointments
- It doesn’t know your open times. Whoever answers has to check the register or the diary before every reply.
- It can’t stop a double booking. If two people answer chats, or a phone call and a chat come in together, the same time can be given twice.
- Nobody confirms at night. A patient who messages at 11 PM waits until someone opens the app in the morning.
- Replies depend on who holds the phone. Busy hours mean slow answers, and changes and cancellations arrive as more messages to handle by hand.
The WhatsApp Business Platform (API)
On the Platform, the clinic’s number is connected to software instead of the app on a phone. Booking software like TurnDesk can then show patients only the times that are really open, confirm a booking straight away, and let patients change or cancel in the chat. The clinic’s staff work from a dashboard on a computer or phone.
A few things work differently from the app:
- It sits in a Meta business account. The number belongs to a WhatsApp Business account inside a Meta business portfolio. With TurnDesk, that is the clinic’s own: the owner signs in with Meta in a window Meta runs and chooses the clinic’s business and number.
- Meta reviews the display name that patients see, and gives the number a quality rating and messaging limits.
- Who writes first matters. When a patient messages the clinic, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and the business can reply freely inside it. To start a conversation, a business must use a template message that Meta has approved. TurnDesk’s booking assistant replies to patients who message the clinic.
Meta’s own overview is on the WhatsApp Business Platform page.
Can one number run both?
With TurnDesk, no. The clinic’s number can’t be in use in the WhatsApp Business app at the same time as TurnDesk.
Meta does offer a way for some software to share a number with the Business app (Meta’s developer pages call it onboarding WhatsApp Business app users). It comes with limits, and TurnDesk doesn’t support it.
So moving the number means it stops working in the app on the front-desk phone. Plan it before the day:
- Tell your staff when the switch happens and how they’ll see bookings from then on.
- Save anything you need from the old chats on the phone first.
- Pick a quiet day for the switch.
- Decide how patients reach you for anything other than booking (see the last question below).
Some clinics keep their current number in the app and put bookings on a second number instead. That avoids the move, but patients have to learn a new number. Talk to us before you decide and we’ll help you plan it.
What Meta decides, not your software provider
- The display name. Patients see your clinic’s name in the chat once Meta approves it.
- Business verification, when Meta asks for it.
- The quality rating and messaging limits of the number.
- The verified badge. Meta decides who gets it. Patients can book without it.
No software provider can promise these or say how long Meta will take. Be careful with anyone who does.
What it costs
The WhatsApp Business app is free.
On the Platform, Meta charges per message for template messages, at a rate that depends on the template’s category (marketing, utility or authentication) and the patient’s country. Ordinary replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are free. Meta’s rules and rates change, so check Meta’s pricing page for the current ones.
Software providers charge separately for their own service. TurnDesk agrees its pricing with each clinic in writing before anything is charged.
Side by side
| Compared on | WhatsApp Business app | Business Platform with booking software (TurnDesk) |
|---|---|---|
| Who replies to patients | A person, by hand. | The booking assistant, straight away, at any hour. |
| Knows your open times | No. Staff check the register. | Yes. Patients only see days and times that are open. |
| Double bookings | Possible when two people give out times. | A time that is full can’t be booked again. |
| Changes and cancellations | More messages for staff to handle. | Patients change or cancel in the chat; the freed time goes back on offer. |
| Where staff work | The phone, or a few linked devices. | A web dashboard, each staff member with their own account. |
| Setup | Install the app and fill in the profile. | The owner connects the number through Meta; the clinic sets its hours in the dashboard. |
| Meta reviews | None to start. | Display name, quality rating and messaging limits. |
| Cost | Free. | Meta’s per-message charges for templates, plus the provider’s own pricing. |
| The same number in the app | Yes, it lives there. | Not at the same time. |
The first column describes the WhatsApp Business app in general. The second describes TurnDesk as it works today.
Questions to ask any provider before you move your number
- Is it Meta’s official platform? TurnDesk: yes, Meta’s Cloud API.
- Whose Meta business account holds the number? TurnDesk: the clinic’s own.
- Do we share any password? TurnDesk: no. The owner signs in with Meta in Meta’s own window.
- Where is patient data stored? TurnDesk: its database is hosted in Mumbai, India. The Privacy Policy sets out the details.
- Can patients choose between doctors? TurnDesk: not yet. WhatsApp booking runs for one doctor per clinic number.
- Can we get our data out and leave? TurnDesk: write to hello@turndesk.in to ask for an export or deletion of your clinic’s data.
Thinking of moving your clinic’s number?
Write to us with your clinic’s name and city, the number you use today and how patients book now. TurnDesk sets up each clinic with you, helps you plan the switch, and agrees pricing in writing before anything is charged.
To read more first, see how WhatsApp appointment booking works for a clinic, WhatsApp booking for doctors with their own clinic, or how TurnDesk is set up and the common questions on the TurnDesk home page.
Questions about the app and the Platform
Can we use the WhatsApp Business app and TurnDesk on the same number?
No. With TurnDesk, the number can’t be in use in the WhatsApp Business app at the same time. Talk to us before you switch and we’ll help you plan it.
Do we need the green tick or verified badge to take bookings on WhatsApp?
No. The badge is something Meta decides, separately from booking. TurnDesk doesn’t provide it, and patients can book without it.
When will patients see our clinic’s name in the chat?
Once Meta approves your display name. Meta decides that and how long it takes, so no provider can promise a date.
Is the WhatsApp Business API free?
The WhatsApp Business app is free. On the Business Platform, Meta charges per template message, by category, and ordinary replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are free; check Meta’s pricing page for the current rules. TurnDesk agrees its own pricing with each clinic in writing before anything is charged.
Do we have to give TurnDesk our Facebook or Meta password?
No. The owner signs in with Meta in a window Meta runs and chooses the clinic’s business and number. No password is shared with TurnDesk.
Can patients still message our number about other things?
Replies come from the booking assistant, which only handles booking. Typed questions bring back the menu, “Talk to clinic” shows the menu again, and staff can’t read or reply to messages in the dashboard, so tell patients how to reach you for anything else.