Contact permission for WhatsApp calls (Meta consent)

WhatsApp Business Calling requires the contact themselves to explicitly authorize your business to call them. Without that permission, Meta won't connect the call even if your number is active and the agent dials correctly.

Requirements

• A connected WhatsApp channel in Omnifox.
• An existing conversation with the contact (you can't request permission from a number you've never messaged).
• Meta must have outbound calling enabled for that specific WhatsApp Business number (some newer numbers don't have it yet).

How consent works

1. From the chat, Omnifox sends the contact an official Meta call-permission request (an interactive message).
2. The contact replies Accept or Decline directly in their WhatsApp.
3. If accepted, Omnifox stores the permission as "granted" and checks it automatically before the call button becomes active.
4. Permission isn't permanent — Meta attaches an expiry; once it passes, the status flips back to "expired" and you need to request again.
5. The contact can revoke it at any time from their own phone, with no warning to you.

States you'll see

Not requested, Pending, Granted, Rejected, Expired, Revoked.

Example

An agent tries calling a customer for the first time. Omnifox sees there's no active permission, fires off the request, and shows "Awaiting response" in the chat header. The customer accepts from their phone two minutes later, and the call button unlocks on its own — no manual step needed.

Tips

• Don't resend the request right away: Meta allows only one request per contact every 24 hours.
• If a customer declines, wait until they ask to be called before trying again.

Troubleshooting

• Error when requesting permission: the WhatsApp Business number doesn't have outbound calling enabled yet — contact Omnifox support.
• Permission shows "Expired": that's expected, just send a new request.
• Customer says they accepted but it's still "Pending": Meta's confirmation can take a few seconds to arrive; refresh the chat.