Message reactions for Telegram bots and WhatsApp Business API
Operators can now see customer reactions directly in Chat2Desk and respond to them on behalf of the company, without switching to the messenger app. It makes everyday conversations easier: sometimes a single reaction is enough to show that a message was received and understood.
To add a reaction, hover over a message and pick the emoji you need from the panel. Customer and operators reactions are shown separately. In Telegram, all operators together can leave one reaction per message; in WhatsApp, the limit is one reaction from the customer and one from the company.
Reaction notifications are configured in Account > Notifications and sounds, just like notifications for new messages. Reactions are also available through webhooks: the message_reaction event lets you track who reacted and how, which is useful for automation.
The feature works for Telegram bots and WhatsApp Business API (360dialog, Gupshup, Meta Cloud API) and applies only to messages sent after the update.
A new user identification system in WhatsApp
WhatsApp is gradually moving away from the phone number as the main customer identifier. Each user is now assigned an internal ID, and the phone number may simply not be included in a message. Without adapting to this change, incoming messages from such customers would stop reaching the right dialogs.
Chat2Desk already supports the new standard for direct WhatsApp connections and for the GupShup and 360dialog providers. The system automatically recognizes customers by the new identifier and also saves their username, so a customer's @handle in WhatsApp appears in their profile card when available.
Existing dialogs are not affected. In rare cases, when a customer already exists in your database by phone number and a new message arrives without it, a duplicate dialog may be created due to limitations on the WhatsApp side. In Chat2Desk, you can merge them manually using the unified customer card.
Parameter validation in WhatsApp Business API templates for Gupshup
Customers with WABA Gupshup connected now get parameter validation when sending HSM templates. Previously, if an operators left some variables empty, the customer received a message with literal {{1}} or {{2}} instead of the intended value.
The system now checks that all parameters are filled in before sending: if there are fewer than the template requires, sending is blocked with an error, and if there are more, the extra ones are ignored.
Assigning chats only to operators with the "Working" status in the Self-service menu
Previously, when the self-service menu transferred a chat to an operator, it did not take the operators' working status into account. Outside business hours, chats could be assigned to offline operators who only replied the next morning, which could affect the response time metric.
Now the Transfer chat to an operator step includes an Assign only to operators with the Working status checkbox. When it's active, a chat won't be assigned to anyone in the group outside business hours, even if all operators are offline. The customer stays in the queue, and the statistics are not affected. You can enable the setting in Automation > Self-service menu.
