Meta Adds Voice Calling to WhatsApp & Explores AI Recommendations

WhatsApp Integrates AI into Business Tools

WhatsApp is expanding its business suite with new AI-driven functionalities. The company announced on Tuesday the introduction of voice calling capabilities for large businesses, paving the way for exploration of AI-powered voice agents within the application.

AI-Powered Product Recommendations

Furthermore, WhatsApp is investigating the potential of utilizing AI to suggest products to its users. This feature aims to enhance the shopping experience directly within the messaging platform.

Revenue Growth Through WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business, currently serving over 200 million monthly users, has become a significant contributor to Meta’s revenue. This was highlighted by Meta executives during recent quarterly earnings reports. Revenue is generated through click-to-WhatsApp advertisements and fees charged to merchants for utilizing messaging features.

While AI features are presently offered without charge, the possibility of introducing pricing once sufficient scale is achieved remains open.

Expanded Voice Call Access

Previously, only small business accounts could engage with customers via voice calls on WhatsApp. Now, larger business accounts will gain access to this functionality through the API in the coming weeks. This will facilitate both inbound voice calls from customers and outbound calls initiated by businesses.

The ability for businesses to call customers back, unavailable during prior testing, has now been implemented.

Voice Messaging Enhancements

WhatsApp also plans to soon enable customers to send and receive voice messages from businesses, further streamlining communication.

AI-Enabled Voice Agents

The introduction of voice pipelines allows companies to integrate AI-enabled voice agents, leveraging startups such as Vapi, ElevenLabs, Coval, and Phonic to manage customer service operations through WhatsApp.

Expansion of AI Chat Support

An AI-powered chat-based customer support and outreach feature, initially tested last year, is now being extended to a larger number of merchants in Mexico.

AI-Driven Product Suggestions

WhatsApp is also exploring the use of AI to power product recommendations directly on a merchant’s website. This aims to provide a more personalized shopping experience.

Several venture-backed startups are already employing AI to deliver personalized product suggestions to sellers. Meta’s AI could also handle follow-up inquiries or provide updates via WhatsApp after an initial recommendation or conversation.

Rollout Timeline

These updates are being released to business customers starting today, with a general release planned. The features will become available to the broader user base over the next few weeks.