Connect WhatsApp, Google Maps and telephony

What it’s for

fone4table connects to three external services from Settings → Channels and integrations:

• WhatsApp Business: switches on the WhatsApp assistant, WhatsApp notifications to your customers, the Messages menu and, if Meta allows it, WhatsApp calls.
• Google Business Profile: adds a Book button to your restaurant’s listing on Google Maps, which leads to your online booking page, and lets you ask your customers for reviews.
• Telephony (call forwarding): when the phone assistant can’t resolve a call, or the customer asks to speak to the restaurant, it passes the call to your phone or to your PBX. This can be done in two ways.

All three are optional and you can connect and disconnect them whenever you like. Only admins can do this.

Before you start

• Sign in as a user with the Admin role.
• For WhatsApp, have your own WhatsApp Business number to hand, along with a Meta account with access to your business. fone4table uses your number; it doesn’t give you one.
• For Google, sign in with the Google account that owns or manages the listing for your restaurant on Google Maps.
• Allow pop-ups in your browser for this page: both Meta and Google opens their sign-in in a separate window.
• For call forwarding, decide where you want to receive the calls: on a phone number (mobile or landline) or on a PBX extension. For the PBX, you will first need to ask your telephony provider for some details (see below).

Connect WhatsApp Business

1. Go to Settings → Channels and integrations → WhatsApp.
2. On the WhatsApp Business card, tap Connect WhatsApp Business. Before you connect, the card shows the Estimated monthly cost (billed by Meta) based on your Average daily bookings; move the slider to work out yours.
3. In the Meta window, sign in and choose your account and your WhatsApp Business number. If the window doesn’t load, check that your browser isn’t blocking it.
4. When you’ve finished, the card changes to Connected and shows the name and number.

With WhatsApp connected:

• The WhatsApp assistant replies to your customers’ messages, and conversations it can’t resolve arrive in Messages (it appears in the side menu, in the Communications group).
• Booking notifications go by WhatsApp first and, if that’s not possible, by email.

How much it costs

Meta bills for it, not fone4table. Enquiries, voice notes and calls started by the customer have no Meta charge. Confirmations, reminders and review requests do. The card shows an estimate before you connect.

Check the setup steps

Once connected, the card shows the Setup steps. Go through them, because some depend on Meta and not on you:

• Number active on WhatsApp: if Meta hasn’t activated it, disconnect and connect again.
• Business name approved: if Meta rejects it, change it in WhatsApp Manager.
• Business verified by Meta: only you can do this, with your company’s documents, in Meta Business Suite (How to verify your business link).
• Messaging limit of 2,000 or more: customers per day you can message. Meta raises it when you verify your business.
• WhatsApp calls: tap Enable calls when it’s available. It requires the 2,000 limit.

Tap Check again to refresh the status with Meta.

Switch on reminders (optional)

In the same section, switch on Automatic booking reminders, choose 1, 2 or 3 reminders in Reminders before the booking and the Time between reminders (every 2, 4, 6, 12 or 24 hours, counted back from the booking time).

Connect Google Maps (Google Business Profile)

1. Go to Settings → Channels and integrations → Google.
2. Tap Connect Google Business Profile.
3. In the Google window, sign in with the account that owns or manages your restaurant’s listing and grant the permissions it asks for.
4. If you have several listings, choose the right one and tap Use this restaurant.
5. When you’ve finished, you’ll see Reservation button active and the Open in Google Maps option, which takes you to your listing so you can check the button.

With Google connected:

• Your Google Maps listing shows a Book button that goes to your online booking page, and bookings that come from Google are identified as such.
• Changes to opening hours that you make in the Calendar are sent to Google Maps. If this fails, you’ll see Google Maps hours could not be updated.

If you change the booking link

If the button stops working or you change the Booking link (in Settings → Brand), tap Repair booking button on the Google card. Also update the link on your website and social media.

Ask for reviews on Google (optional)

With Google connected, switch on Request reviews on Google Maps in the same section. When a booking is completed, the customer receives a WhatsApp message (or an email) with a link to leave their review.

Connect telephony: forward calls to the restaurant

When the phone assistant can’t resolve a call, or the customer asks to speak to the restaurant, it can pass the call to a person. This is set up in Settings → Channels and integrations → General, under Automatic fallback call forwarding, by opening Forwarding destination. There are two ways to connect it (plus None, which never forwards: unresolved calls stay in the Inbox so you can call back).

Option 1: forward to a phone number

This is the simplest way. It works if the restaurant answers on a mobile or a landline and you don’t need anything from your telephony provider.

1. In Forwarding destination, choose Phone number.
2. Type the number in Forwarding phone number. It saves as soon as the number is valid.

Option 2: connect to your PBX

This works if the restaurant has a PBX and you want the call to ring on a specific extension. For it to work, your telephony provider has to set a few things up for you. Ask them for this:

1. Your own PBX. That is, a service with its own PBX address, not just a phone line.

2. A TRUNK user on that PBX, with these characteristics:

   • It allows you to change the caller ID (CID).
   • It allows you to send an INVITE, which is the signal that starts the call to your extension.

   With a normal extension, the PBX usually shows the extension’s own number on the phone and not the number of the customer who is calling. With a TRUNK user, fone4table can pass on the customer’s number when it makes the call. Whether your phone shows it depends on how your provider has configured your PBX.

3. The connection details: the PBX address, the port, the SIP username and its password, and the extension at your restaurant that the calls should reach.

4. That it accepts SIP calls over UDP and, if it filters by IP, that it allows the assistant’s IP. If you don’t have it, write to support@fone4table.com.

If it helps, here is a message you can email to your telephony provider. Copy in support@fone4table.com and we can help you with the setup:

I need a TRUNK user on my PBX so that an external system can make calls to one of my extensions. The user must allow the CID to be changed and an INVITE to be sent. I need the PBX address, the port, the SIP username and password, and for it to accept SIP over UDP from the IP that I will give you.

Once you have the details, in fone4table:

1. In Forwarding destination, choose PBX extension.
2. Fill in PBX address, Port, SIP username, SIP password and Extension, and tap Save.
3. To remove the details, tap Remove PBX credentials and confirm. No calls will be forwarded to the PBX until you save new details.

The destination extension can’t be the one that the assistant answers: if it is, the call goes into an endless loop.

What happens with WhatsApp calls

If you have WhatsApp connected and calls switched on (the WhatsApp calls step), the phone assistant also answers the calls that customers make to the connected WhatsApp account. Once forwarding is set up, with either option, those calls reach the restaurant’s phone as if they were conventional telephony. Without forwarding set up, they stay in the Inbox.

Check that it works

• WhatsApp: the card says Connected with the name and number, and Messages appears in the side menu. Send a test message to the restaurant’s number from another phone and check that the assistant replies.
• Call forwarding: call the restaurant’s phone, ask to speak to a person and check that the configured number or extension rings. Calls are only forwarded when the restaurant is open (with a shift open at that moment).
• Google: the card shows Reservation button active. Tap Open in Google Maps and check that your listing has the Book button.

Disconnect

On the relevant card, tap Disconnect. If you disconnect WhatsApp, customer notifications are only sent by email and the Messages menu no longer appears.

Frequently asked questions

Which forwarding option should I choose, phone number or PBX? If the restaurant answers on a mobile or a landline, Phone number: you don’t need anything from your provider. If you have a PBX and want it to ring on an extension, PBX extension, with a TRUNK user that your provider sets up for you.

My telephony provider can’t create a TRUNK user. Ask them whether they offer a user or extension that allows the CID to be changed and an INVITE to be sent. If not, use the Phone number option.

I have forwarding set up and the call didn’t ring at the restaurant. Calls are only forwarded when a shift is open at that moment, and the call stays in the Inbox if nobody answers. With a PBX, also check that you saved all the details and that the destination extension isn’t the assistant’s.

The Meta or Google window doesn’t open. Your browser is blocking it. Allow pop-ups for the fone4table page and tap the button again.

I connected WhatsApp but I can’t see Messages in the menu. Check that the WhatsApp Business card says Connected. The Messages menu only appears with WhatsApp connected.

The “WhatsApp calls” step shows as blocked. You need a limit of 2,000 messages, which Meta raises when you verify your business. Complete Business verified by Meta in Meta Business Suite first.

Meta has rejected the business name. Change it in WhatsApp Manager and tap Check again.

I’ve changed the booking link and the Google button doesn’t work. Tap Repair booking button on the Google card and update the link on your website and social media.

I have several Google listings. Which one do I choose? The one for the restaurant that uses this fone4table account. If you choose the wrong one, tap Disconnect and connect again, choosing the other.

Can I ask for reviews without connecting Google? No. Request reviews on Google Maps needs Google Business Profile to be connected.