Yes. With Landline to WhatsApp from Outsource Digital, your customers can WhatsApp your existing office landline number, and voice calls to that number keep working normally. You do not need a new number, and nobody has to hand out a personal cellphone number.
Outsource Digital offers Landline to WhatsApp for businesses across South Africa: it runs on the official WhatsApp Business Platform, an AI assistant answers each message (after hours too), and the chat is routed to the right department, where a staff member chats with the customer one-on-one.
Why would a customer WhatsApp a landline?
Because many customers would rather send a WhatsApp than make a phone call. Your office landline is the number they already know: the one on your signage, your invoices and your website. With Landline to WhatsApp they message that number, the business number, and not somebody's personal cellphone.
Do I need a new number?
No. Landline to WhatsApp works on your existing office landline number. Customers keep the number they know for calls, and now they can message it too.
Will phone calls to the number still work?
Yes. Voice calls to your office landline number keep working normally. Calls still ring on your office phone system, and WhatsApp messages to the same number are answered on WhatsApp.
Who answers the WhatsApp messages?
It works in five steps:
- Your customer sends a WhatsApp to your office landline number.
- An AI assistant with a knowledge base about your business answers the message, including after hours.
- The customer is asked a few short questions about their query.
- The message is routed to the right department: sales, service or accounts.
- A staff member in that department chats with the customer one-on-one on WhatsApp.
So sales, service and accounts each get their own conversations, and the customer reaches the right person without phoning the switchboard first. It works like a normal call to the switchboard, but on WhatsApp.
Does it answer after hours?
Yes. The AI assistant answers WhatsApp messages to your office number after hours too. The customer gets an answer when they message, not the next morning.
Is it the official WhatsApp?
Yes. Landline to WhatsApp from Outsource Digital runs on the official WhatsApp Business Platform, on your existing office landline number.
What is wrong with using a staff member's cellphone?
Many small businesses end up with customers messaging one person's personal cellphone. The customer then has a private number instead of the business number, and the conversation sits on that one phone. With WhatsApp on the office number, customers message the business, and the right department picks up the chat.
Does it work with my office phones and AI receptionist?
Yes. Landline to WhatsApp works alongside your office phone system and your AI receptionist from Outsource Digital. The AI receptionist answers the calls your team cannot get to, and Landline to WhatsApp handles the messages to the same number. If you are moving to a new phone system, South African landline numbers can be moved between providers (number porting), so customers keep calling and messaging the number they know.
Who is it for?
Any business whose customers already try to WhatsApp it: shops, workshops, practices, schools, agencies and offices that take enquiries all day. If your customers keep asking "Can I WhatsApp you?", this lets them do it on your own business number.
What does the video show?
The short video above answers the question in this guide: yes, you can WhatsApp an office landline number. Most people think a landline number can only take calls, but with our hosted phone systems your business number can run WhatsApp too. Customers message the number they already know, the one on your website, your invoices and your signage, with no new number and no sharing of a personal cellphone number: the same number for calls and chats, all in one place. What is said is written out under the video, and the video also has its own page: can you WhatsApp your office landline number?
How do I get it?
WhatsApp us on 011 466 8510. Tell us your office landline number and we will explain how we set it up for you. We do the set-up, so you do not need to be technical. Read more on the Landline to WhatsApp page, or see our office phone systems.
Frequently asked questions
Can customers WhatsApp my office landline number?
Yes. With Landline to WhatsApp from Outsource Digital, customers WhatsApp your existing office landline number. You do not need a new number.
Will voice calls to my landline still work?
Yes. Voice calls to your office landline number keep working normally.
Who answers the messages?
An AI assistant with a knowledge base answers first. Each message is then routed to the right department, and a staff member there chats with the customer one-on-one.
Is it the official WhatsApp service?
Yes. It runs on the official WhatsApp Business Platform.