Writing first
Starting a conversation from scratch, which channels allow it, and why WhatsApp asks for consent.
Write first when a conversation needs opening. Most are started by the customer; some you open yourself.
Open the pencil menu above the inbox list and pick the channel the message goes out from. Each channel shows its number or address. Wrap opens a blank message: set the recipient and write.
What you can write, and whether you can write at all, depends on the channel you pick.
Which channels allow it
Pick the channel by what each platform allows:
| Channel | Can you write first? |
|---|---|
| Yes, with an approved template and the contact's consent | |
| Yes, no restrictions | |
| No. The platform does not allow it: the customer must write | |
| Web form | No. It is an inbound, not an outbound |
If you have no channel to send from, pick Connect a channel in that menu: it takes you to Settings → Channels.
The recipient
Search among the contacts you already have, or type the handle directly: a number, an email. If the contact does not exist, Wrap creates it on send.
The recipient has to be valid for that channel. An email is no good for WhatsApp, and Wrap tells you when you pick it rather than when you send.
On WhatsApp, two requirements at once
An approved template. Pick a template before you write freely. Writing first always falls outside the 24-hour window, because the customer has not written to you.
The contact's consent. WhatsApp requires prior authorization to write first. Tick the checkbox above the recipient if the contact already gave you permission, and Wrap records it when you send.
With that checkbox you only grant permission. To withdraw it, go to the contact's record.
Without that permission the message does not go out, and the notice tells you where to record it.
On email
Write the subject and send: email has no window and no template.
If you do not send it
Wrap keeps what you wrote as a draft and leaves it in the drafts view, for you only. Discard it from there.