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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.routiq.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Beta — available on request. WhatsApp setup requires a Meta Business account, a verified WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), and Meta’s approval of your message templates. We help you through this. Email us to enable.
Meta’s January 2026 rule change. As of January 2026, Meta has banned free-form chatbot conversations on WhatsApp Business. Robyn’s WhatsApp behaviour is intentionally bounded to comply: pre-approved templates for outbound (confirmations, reminders, recall), structured reply parsing for inbound (YES / NO / RESCHEDULE), and instant human hand-off for anything outside those flows.
Why this matters. WhatsApp is the dominant patient channel in many markets (UK, Europe, parts of the AU South-Asian diaspora, all of LATAM). Where SMS is too transactional and email too slow, WhatsApp is where patients actually reply. Despite Meta’s restrictions, bounded WhatsApp flows still beat SMS for confirmation rates by 10-30%.

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What Robyn can do on WhatsApp (post-January 2026)

Outbound: appointment confirmations

Pre-approved Meta template. Patient replies YES / NO / RESCHEDULE — Robyn parses and acts.

Outbound: reminders

Pre-approved template, sent at your configured cadence before each appointment.

Outbound: recall sequences

Lapsed-patient reactivation. Pre-approved template; reply opens a 24-hour conversation window.

Inbound: structured reply parsing

Patient replies to a Robyn template — Robyn parses YES/NO/RESCHEDULE/STOP within the 24-hour window.

Inbound: free-form messages

Patient sends an unsolicited free-form message → Robyn acknowledges, captures details, escalates to your team. Robyn does not free-form chat on WhatsApp.

Opt-out compliance

STOP / DELETE — recognised across all languages, instantly removes the patient from WhatsApp outbound.

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What your patient sees

Robyn (WhatsApp template): Hi Sarah, this is Routiq from Bondi Physio. Just confirming your appointment Friday 9 May at 2:00pm with Dr Lin. Reply YES to confirm, NO to cancel, or RESCHEDULE to change. Reply STOP to opt out of WhatsApp messages.
Patient: Yes Robyn: Great — see you Friday. If anything changes, just message us back.

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Setup

1

Email us to start the beta

hello@routiq.ai — subject “WhatsApp Beta”. We’ll set up a 30-min onboarding call to walk you through Meta’s setup.
2

Create a Meta Business and WhatsApp Business Account

Meta requires a verified business identity. We send you the exact steps:
  1. Create / claim Meta Business Manager
  2. Add your business documents for verification
  3. Create a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) inside Meta Business Manager
  4. Add Routiq as a Solution Partner via the Meta dashboard
Verification typically takes 2-7 business days.
3

Provision a WhatsApp number

You can either:
  • Migrate your existing clinic mobile number to WhatsApp Business — preserves the number patients already know
  • Use a new number — provisioned through Routiq
A WhatsApp number can’t be used for normal calls/SMS once migrated, so most clinics use a separate dedicated number.
4

Submit message templates for Meta approval

Robyn ships with pre-built templates for confirmations, reminders, and recall in your language. Meta reviews each template (typically 24-48 hours) before they can be used.Custom templates can be submitted via Settings → Channels → WhatsApp → Templates.
5

Configure escalation

Decide what Robyn does when a patient sends an unsolicited free-form message (which Meta requires Robyn not to chat-respond to):
  • Email notification — your team gets the message via email
  • Forward to clinic line — patient gets a call back
  • Auto-acknowledge — Robyn sends a polite holding message and notifies the team
See Human Escalations.

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Pricing

WhatsApp messaging is billed by Meta on a per-conversation basis (not per-message). Conversations are categorised:
CategoryPrice guide (AU, indicative)
Utility (confirmations, reminders)~AUD $0.04 / 24h conversation
Marketing (recall, promotional)~AUD $0.10 / 24h conversation
Authentication~AUD $0.05 / 24h conversation
Service (patient-initiated)Free (Meta-funded)
Live pricing per region in the Outbound → Usage dashboard. Routiq passes through Meta’s costs at zero markup.

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Common questions

Meta’s January 2026 rules ban free-form AI chatbots on WhatsApp Business to combat spam. The rules permit structured templates (confirmations, reminders) and human-in-the-loop responses, but not unbounded AI dialogue. Routiq complies by design — Robyn handles bounded flows and escalates everything else.
Yes — Meta’s number-porting flow migrates an existing mobile number to WhatsApp Business. Caveat: once migrated, that number can no longer receive normal calls/SMS. Most clinics provision a dedicated number instead.
Robyn doesn’t reply free-form. She acknowledges the message (“We’ve received your message and will be in touch shortly”) and escalates to your team via email or call.
Typically 2-7 business days for the WABA verification, plus 24-48 hours per message template review. We help you fast-track where possible.
No — once a number is migrated to WhatsApp Business, it can’t be used for SMS. If you want both channels, you’ll need separate numbers.

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Next

SMS channel

For free-form patient conversations and regions where SMS is dominant.

Appointment confirmations

Two-way confirmation flows that work over WhatsApp templates.