Give someone WhatsApp access

When you need this

• A parent, resident or other contact wants to use your WhatsApp assistant from their phone, to check a balance or get a statement.
• Someone's invitation has expired, or never arrived.
• Someone should no longer use the assistant: they moved, or the phone belongs to someone else now.

Only people you invite can use the assistant. Nobody can sign themselves up, and an invitation only works from the phone number you invited. A school can invite only a student's billing contacts: the parents who receive the invoices, the same people the school texts about fees. The screens call the person a Parent (schools), a Resident (estates) or a Contact; this page says person.

To see everyone at once and invite many people together, see Who can use WhatsApp.

Steps

Invite someone

1. Open the person's page (for example Parents in the menu, then the parent), and the App access tab.
2. Find the WhatsApp access card, under App login. It shows Not invited.
3. If they have more than one mobile number, choose the one they use for WhatsApp under Number to invite. Only mobile numbers are offered.
4. Press Invite.

They get one SMS, paid from your SMS credit:

Your school's name invites you to WhatsApp. Tap https://wa.me/… and send it, or send JOIN code to +….

What the person does

1. They tap the link in the SMS. WhatsApp opens with JOIN and their code already typed.
2. They press send.
3. The assistant replies: Welcome, (their first name). This number is now set up for (your name) on WhatsApp. How can I help? At a school it adds Powered by SchoolKeeper, a Modial Technologies product. under it; at an estate, Powered by EstateKeeper, a Modial Technologies product.

The code must come from the phone you invited. If someone else sends it, or forwards the SMS to another phone, it doesn't work. The code works for 14 days.

Send the invitation again

1. On the WhatsApp access card, press Resend.

While the code still works they get the same SMS again. Once it has expired (the card says Invitation expired), they get a new code that works for another 14 days.

Take WhatsApp access away

1. On the WhatsApp access card, press Revoke.
2. Revoke WhatsApp access?: press Revoke.

They are no longer recognised on WhatsApp, and an invitation they haven't used stops working. You can invite them again later.

📷 contact-whatsapp-access – out of date: the card has moved from the Personal tab to the App access tab.

What you should see

The card says	Meaning
Not invited · No WhatsApp access yet.	Nothing sent yet.
Invited · Invitation sent to (number). It works until (date).	Waiting for them to send the code.
Invitation expired	The code is too old: press Resend.
Active · Uses WhatsApp from (number) since (date).	They are recognised on WhatsApp.

After Invite or Resend: WhatsApp invitation sent (or WhatsApp invitation sent again). After Revoke: WhatsApp access revoked.

If something goes wrong

You see	What to do
WhatsApp invitations aren't available for your school yet. (or community, practice), with no status beside WhatsApp access	WhatsApp isn't switched on for you yet. Ask Modial.
Invite is greyed out, with Add a mobile number to this (person) first.	They have no mobile number. Add it to their details, save, then press Invite.
This contact has no mobile number to invite	The same, if the number was removed while the page was open: add it, save, then invite.
That number isn't one of this contact's mobile numbers	Save the number on the person first, then choose it.
This contact already has a WhatsApp invitation for this number. Use Resend to send it again	Press Resend instead.
This contact already has WhatsApp access on this number	Nothing to do: they can already use it.
Only a student's billing contacts can be invited to WhatsApp (schools)	The contact doesn't receive invoices for any student. Switch on Receives Invoices for them on the student's Parents tab, then invite them.
The invited number is no longer on this contact. Invite them again	The number was taken off the person. Invite them again on the number they use now.
The invitation is saved, but the SMS didn't go: check your SMS credit, then press Resend.	Top up your SMS credit, then press Resend.
(Name) uses this number on WhatsApp now. When this (person) sends the code, (name) will lose WhatsApp access on it.	Two people share the phone. Only one of them can use WhatsApp from it: when the new person sends the code, the number moves to them. If that's wrong, press Revoke.
The person says WhatsApp answered This number isn't set up to use this WhatsApp service. Ask your school office for a WhatsApp invitation. (at a school: This number isn't set up for SchoolKeeper on WhatsApp. Ask your school's office for a WhatsApp invitation.)	The code was wrong, expired, already used, or sent from a different phone. Check the card: press Resend, and make sure they send it from the number you invited.
The card went back to Not invited with WhatsApp stopped for (number) when the number was taken off.	Someone removed that number from the person's details. Invite them again if they still use it.