Opening the compose flow
With a contact record open in Intercom, click the Reach extension icon to open the side panel.
On the Home screen, click Send WhatsApp.
Reach opens the template browser pre-scoped to the contact’s phone number and the Octopods WhatsApp channel that can send to it.
If the contact has several eligible WhatsApp channels, Reach shows a channel picker first. Otherwise the template browser opens immediately with the single matching channel selected.
Browsing templates
The template browser shows every approved template on the selected channel, grouped into sections:
Recently used by you — templates you have recently sent.
Your created templates — templates you created (if any).
All templates — everything else available on the channel.
To narrow the list:
Use the Search templates… box to filter by name or content.
Tap a category chip (All, Marketing, Utility) to filter by WhatsApp template category.
Note: Templates that are paused or rejected by Meta do not appear in the browser. See the WhatsApp Business Platform section for how template approval works.
Configuring the message
Tap a template to open the Configure screen. The header shows the template name, its category badge, and the number of variables you need to fill.
Depending on the template, you fill in some or all of the following:
Header variable — a single text value for a text header, or a media file for an image, video, or document header.
Body variables — one input per
{{1}},{{2}}, placeholder in the template body. Reach auto-fills these from the contact’s CRM data when it can and shows a fallback value where it cannot.Footer variable — a text value, if the template has a footer variable.
Button URL suffix — the dynamic suffix that gets appended to a Call-to-Action URL button, if the template has one.
Media uploads. For templates with a media header, drag a file into the upload zone or tap to select one:
Media type | Allowed formats | Maximum size |
Image | JPEG, PNG | 5 MB |
Video | MP4 | 16 MB |
Document | 100 MB |
Reach shows a preview of the file once it uploads successfully.
Conversation toggle. At the bottom of the Configure screen, a checkbox controls whether a new CRM conversation is created when the message goes out. Checked, the label reads Start new conversation in Intercom; unchecked, Send without conversation in Intercom. Turn it on if you expect the recipient to reply and want the reply routed into your inbox; turn it off for one-way notifications. If a conversation already exists for this contact, the checkbox becomes a disabled note showing the existing conversation number — the message is added to that thread automatically.
Review and send
Tap Review & send. Reach opens the Review message screen with a rendered preview exactly as the recipient will see it.
Scroll to check the To, Template, Category, and Channel values.
Tap Send via WhatsApp.
The button shows Sending… while the request is in flight.
Delivery confirmation
After a successful send you land on the Message sent screen with a live delivery timeline. Statuses progress from Queued to Sent to Delivered, and finally Read when the recipient opens the message. Reach polls for status updates for up to one minute; if no update arrives in that window it shows Status updates may be delayed.
If you checked the conversation checkbox, Reach shows a Conversation created in Intercom notification so you can jump into the new thread.
When the send fails
If the provider rejects the message, Reach replaces the screen with Message not sent and shows an error detail card:
A short reason headline (for example, “Recipient not on WhatsApp”, “Template paused”, “Marketing template rate-limited”).
A description of what went wrong.
A suggested next step.
You have three recovery options:
Try resend again — retry the same configuration.
Try again — go back to the Configure screen to edit the template or recipient.
Back to Home — abandon the send.
For a full list of WhatsApp error reasons and fixes, see Troubleshooting Failed Proactive Messages.
What’s next
See the WhatsApp Business Platform section for how to get templates approved