How the pieces fit together
WhatsApp business messaging is organized in three layers, all managed through Meta:
Meta Business Portfolio (formerly Business Manager) — the top-level container for your company’s presence on Meta’s platforms. One portfolio can hold many WABAs.
WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) — a single WhatsApp identity tied to your business. Each WABA has its own business name, template library, and timezone. One portfolio can own multiple WABAs (for example, one per brand or region).
Phone numbers — the actual numbers your customers message. Each WABA can hold multiple phone numbers, and each number has its own display name, quality rating, and messaging limits.
When you connect WhatsApp to Octopods, we discover every WABA you have permission to access and every phone number under each one. You then decide which phone numbers to activate as channels in your Octopods workspace.
What a WABA contains
Each WABA carries a few key attributes you’ll see referenced throughout Octopods:
Business name — the legal or brand name associated with the account.
Template namespace — a unique identifier Meta assigns to your account that scopes all your message templates. Templates from one WABA cannot be used by another.
Timezone — used by Meta for scheduling and reporting.
Business verification status — Meta’s signal of how far along your business verification is.
Health status — whether the WABA is currently able to send messages, and if not, why.
Business verification statuses
Meta tracks the state of your business verification on every WABA. The verification status directly affects your messaging limits, access to Official Business Account status, and eligibility for certain features. You’ll see one of the following values:
Not verified — Meta has not verified the business yet. Messaging limits and feature access are restricted until you complete verification.
Pending — you’ve submitted verification and Meta is reviewing it.
Pending — need more info — Meta needs additional documentation. Check your Meta Business Portfolio for the request and upload what they ask for.
Pending submission — verification was started but not yet submitted. Return to Meta Business Portfolio to finish it.
Verified — verification is approved. You get full feature access, including eligibility for the Official Business Account badge and higher messaging limits.
Expired — a previously granted verification has lapsed. Resubmit to restore full access.
Failed — verification failed. Review the reason inside Meta Business Portfolio and resubmit.
Ineligible — the business does not currently qualify. Address the underlying issue before reapplying.
Rejected — Meta rejected the verification. Review the rejection reason and reapply with corrections.
Revoked — Meta revoked a previously granted verification. Messaging access may be restricted until the underlying issue is resolved.
Note: Business verification happens inside Meta Business Portfolio, not inside Octopods. Octopods reflects the current status so you know where your account stands, but all documentation and appeals are handled on Meta’s side.
Why this matters in Octopods
Every WhatsApp phone number you connect to Octopods belongs to a WABA, and the WABA determines which message templates that number can send. When your team sends a proactive WhatsApp message or a broadcast, Octopods uses templates from the WABA that owns the sending number.
Knowing how WABAs, phone numbers, and templates relate to each other makes the rest of WhatsApp setup in Octopods easier to follow.
What’s next