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Setting Up Viber Business Messages

Request and activate a Viber Business Messages (VBM) channel on your Intercom workspace for branded enterprise messaging.

Written by Tarek Khalil

What VBM is

Viber Business Messages (VBM) is Viber’s enterprise messaging product, separate from the self-serve Viber bot. VBM gives you:

  • A Service ID — the branded sender your customers see, with your business name, logo, and a verified badge.

  • Approved message templates for proactive outreach, with header images, body text, variables, and buttons.

  • Higher volume and better deliverability than self-serve Viber bots.

  • Reporting and analytics at the Service ID level.

VBM is a request-based channel. Unlike a Telegram bot or a Twilio number — which you can wire up in minutes — VBM requires Octopods to provision your Service ID with Viber’s backend. Activation takes several business days while the request is reviewed and the Service ID is provisioned on Viber’s side.

Before you start

Gather the following before you start the request:

  • Company information — legal company name, website, country of registration.

  • Business details — industry, expected message volume per month, and the use case you plan to send (for example, order confirmations, support replies, delivery updates).

  • Brand assets — the display name you want on the Service ID, a logo (PNG or JPG, square), and a short business description.

  • Admin access to the Octopods workspace.

Step 1: Open the VBM request form

  1. Open the workspace you want to add VBM to.

  2. Click the option to add a new channel.

  3. In the Add a Channel modal, select Viber Business Messages (or VBM).

  4. The VBM request form opens. It has three sections: Company Information, Business Details, and Channel Settings.

Step 2: Fill in Company Information

Provide your business details:

  • Company name

  • Company website

  • Country of registration

  • Legal contact — usually the person responsible for Viber’s agreement on your side.

Step 3: Fill in Business Details

  • Industry — pick from the dropdown (for example, retail, banking, travel).

  • Monthly volume — estimate the number of messages you plan to send per month. Viber uses this to plan capacity.

  • Use case — a short description of what your messages look like (for example, “Order confirmations and shipping updates for an online store”).

  • Territories — the countries where your customers live. VBM availability varies by country.

Step 4: Fill in Channel Settings

  • Service name — the branded name that appears in the recipient’s Viber chat list. Usually your business name.

  • Logo — upload the square logo image you want on the Service ID.

  • Business description — a short paragraph shown on the Service ID’s profile page in Viber.

Step 5: Submit the request

  1. Review everything for typos. The service name and logo will appear in every message recipients see, so double-check both.

  2. Click Submit (or Request Channel).

  3. Octopods shows a confirmation message and creates the channel in your channel list with a Pending Verification status.

The request now goes to Octopods’s provisioning team and to Viber. Expect several business days for activation while the request is reviewed and your Service ID is set up.

Step 6: Activate when ready

When your Service ID is ready, Octopods:

  • Updates the channel status to Connected.

  • Generates a channel API key you’ll use when sending VBM messages via the API (for example, from your own backend or through the Octopods VBM endpoint).

  • Sends a notification to the teammate who submitted the request.

Open the channel detail page to view the API key and the Service ID Viber assigned to you.

Step 7: Send your first VBM message

  1. Create at least one VBM template and submit it for approval. See Managing VBM Templates.

  2. Wait for the template to be approved.

  3. Send a message using the API endpoint. See Sending VBM Messages via API.

Managing your VBM channel

  • Service ID settings (display name, logo, description) can be updated after activation, but some changes require re-approval from Viber. Submit updates through the channel detail page.

  • API key rotation is available from the channel detail page. Rotate the key if you suspect it’s been exposed; anyone with the key can send VBM messages as your Service ID.

  • Monthly reporting — VBM message volume and delivery metrics are visible from the workspace usage page.

Common issues

  • Request stuck in Pending Verification longer than you expected — contact Octopods support with your workspace name. Viber occasionally requests additional information that doesn’t surface in the form.

  • Templates rejected — Viber has strict content guidelines for VBM templates. Avoid promotional language in transactional templates and vice versa. See Managing VBM Templates for more guidance.

  • “Outside sending territory” — your request specified territories that don’t match the recipient. Update the channel settings to include the correct country.

What’s next

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