Introducing our new WhatsApp Integration!
Grayscale now allows you to send messages via traditional SMS, or through WhatsApp! The messages can be sent and viewed from the candidate's conversation page, giving you even more flexibility while keeping the interface as simple and familiar as possible!
What is WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is a popular instant messaging service that offers another way of reaching out to candidates. It is available internationally, except for the following countries:
China
Crimea
Cuba
Iran
North Korea
Syria
WhatsApp compliance
WhatsApp has strict compliance rules that need to be met in order to use the service.
Templates
Your first outreach to a candidate must be in the form of a template that has been pre-approved by the WhatsApp's compliance team. Once the candidate responds, you can then begin writing your own messages to send to them.
Since the approval process for templates can take some time, it's best to create several templates early on, that can meet different needs, such as for the initial outreach, or to re-engage candidates who have not responded in 24 hours, and whose conversations have become inactive or "Cold".
Warm/Cold conversations
When a candidate responds to your initial outreach (using the template), WhatsApp considers the conversation to be "Warm", or active and candidate-approved. Once a conversation is warm, you can use the textbox to write and send your own messages, just as you would with traditional SMS.
If the candidate does not respond to your outreach, or it has been 24 hours since the candidate last responded to you, WhatsApp considers the conversation to be "Cold", or inactive. Once a conversation is Cold, you will have to use a template to reach back out to the candidate. If they respond, then the conversation is considered to be Warm again, and you can again begin writing your own messages.
Sending Messages via WhatsApp
When engaging with a candidate for the first time, you'll be prompted to select a destination – SMS or WhatsApp.
Note: Whichever selection you make will be remembered the next time you open this conversation, but you can always manually change it back by clicking the phone number and changing your selection
Note: In order for a candidate to receive messages from WhatsApp, they must have a WhatsApp account with their phone number.
Follow these steps to send a message via WhatsApp:
Open the conversation for the candidate you wish to message
Click the phone number under their name, and select the phone number with the WhatsApp icon
If the conversation is cold, you'll need to select the template you wish to use
Once the conversation is warm, type your message into the text area, and click Send
Sent WhatsApp messages will show up in blue in the conversation, and SMS messages will show up in light blue
In addition to the timestamp under the message, it will also tell you if it was sent via SMS or WhatsApp
Note: If a candidate has not responded in 24 hours, the conversation becomes "Cold", and you will have to use a pre-approved template to re-engage with the candidate.
That's it! You're now able to send messages via WhatsApp!