One WhatsApp link for the whole world looks tidy until a German customer reaches an English-only rep, or someone messages at 2am and hears nothing back. A single destination can't be right for everyone.
Routing fixes that without making people choose from a menu. The visitor taps one link; behind it, a rule sends them to the number or channel that actually fits — their country, their language, the time of day — and to a fallback if the first choice isn't available. Here's how to set it up.
What routing actually decides
Routing chooses one thing: which destination a visitor is redirected to. It does not touch the conversation — it picks the right number or channel and sends them there.
That choice can lean on a few signals: the visitor's country, their language, their device, the current time against your business hours, and whether a given channel is switched on or paused. You set the rules; each visitor is matched to the first one that fits.
A real situation: two countries, two shifts
A B2B equipment supplier sells into the UK and Germany. English enquiries should reach the UK desk, German ones the Berlin desk — and after 6pm, both should fall back to a single on-call number instead of silence.
With one routing rule, the same link handles all of it: language picks the desk, business hours decide whether it's daytime routing or the on-call fallback. The customer never sees the logic — they just reach someone who can help.
Fallbacks: never a dead end
The most important rule is the last one. If your preferred channel is closed, paused, or out of hours, the visitor should still land somewhere — a general number, a Telegram channel, or a simple “we're closed, leave your details” lead form.
A fallback is what separates routing from a coin toss. Without one, an off-hours tap goes nowhere; with one, it always has a home.
Sharing load across a pool (Business)
If several reps share enquiries, the Business plan can rotate visitors across a pool of your numbers in a round-robin, so one person isn't buried while another sits idle. It's still your own numbers, and it's still redirect-only — the pool just decides whose turn is next.
On Free and Starter you route to a single destination with fallbacks; the automatic number pool is a Business feature.
Set up routing step by step
1. Connect the numbers and channels you want to route to — your own WhatsApp numbers, Telegram links, or pages. 2. Add rules in priority order: for example, language or country first, then a business-hours rule. 3. Set a fallback destination for when nothing else matches or your main channel is paused. 4. Attach the routing to the smart link people will tap or scan. 5. Publish, then check which routes get used in analytics and adjust the order.
Common mistakes
No fallback. The single biggest routing error — an off-hours visitor hits a dead end. Always set a last-resort destination.
Too many rules. Three or four clear rules beat a dozen overlapping ones. Keep the order obvious.
Treating routing like dispatch software. It chooses a destination and sends the visitor there. It doesn't assign jobs, track agents, or manage a queue — that's a different kind of tool.
How WA.Direct fits
WA.Direct sits in front of your numbers and applies the rule: it reads only signals like country, language, device, and time, then redirects the visitor to the right channel — or the fallback. It never reads or sends the messages themselves, and it isn't a CRM or dispatch system. The conversation lands in your own WhatsApp; WA.Direct just makes sure it lands in the right one.
- Visitors reach the right number by country or language
- A business-hours rule separates daytime from after-hours
- Every path ends in a fallback — no dead ends
- Destinations are your own connected numbers and channels
- You review which routes get used and adjust the order
- Read or send WhatsApp or Telegram messages
- Automate conversations or reply on your behalf
- Act as dispatch, ticketing, or CRM software
- Provide phone numbers — it routes to the ones you connect