Answer WhatsApp Business calls from your laptop browser — as a team
Customers tap the call button in your WhatsApp chat. Every available teammate's browser rings, the first to pick up talks to them, and the call is logged in the conversation — on Meta's official Calling API.
Updated October 2026
Is there a WhatsApp API for voice calls?
Yes. The WhatsApp Business Calling API is part of Meta's Cloud API. It lets a business receive and place WhatsApp calls over the internet (VoIP) on the same number it uses for messages. Meta supports two kinds of call: user-initiated, when a customer calls your business, and business-initiated, when your business calls a customer who has given permission.
The API only carries the call. Something has to ring, answer and play the audio, and that is the job of software like Mywa: calls arrive in your team's browser, so anyone on the team can answer from a laptop with a headset. Calling is voice today — Meta lists video calls and screen sharing as planned or in development.
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Customer calls you. free for the customer and free for you, per Meta's pricing.
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You call a customer. needs their permission first, and Meta charges per minute.
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Calls and chats share one thread, so the whole history sits in one place.
WhatsApp Business app on desktop vs the Calling API with a team
WhatsApp can take calls on your phone and on a linked computer through WhatsApp Desktop, and Meta began rolling out calling on WhatsApp Web in July 2026. But the Business app is still one account shared by whoever holds the devices. The Calling API is built for a team.
WhatsApp Business app (phone, Desktop or Web)
- Who answers
- Whoever has the phone or a linked computer — one shared account
- Ringing
- No routing between people
- Two calls at once
- Both reach the same shared account
- Missed calls
- Shown in that account's call history
- Calling customers
- Call any contact from the app
- Cost
- Free
Calling API with Mywa
- Who answers
- Any teammate with calling access, each in their own login
- Ringing
- Every available agent rings; optionally the chat's assigned teammate first
- Two calls at once
- Each call rings teammates who aren't already on a call
- Missed calls
- Logged in the chat, teammates alerted, optional 'sorry we missed you' message
- Calling customers
- Customers must allow calls first; Meta charges per minute
- Cost
- Customer calls free; your calls at Meta's rate, no markup
A number on WhatsApp's coexistence mode (app and API together) keeps calls in the Business app — Meta doesn't support Cloud API calling on it yet.
Calls that never wait on one person's phone
The whole team rings, the first to answer talks
An incoming WhatsApp call rings every teammate who is available, in the browser. One click answers it; everyone else stops ringing, and the chat is assigned to whoever picked up.
Your advantage: A customer who calls reaches a person, even when the usual contact is busy, on leave or away from the phone.
Every call sits in the conversation
Each call shows in the customer's chat — answered by whom, how long, or missed — and in a call log you can filter by all, missed or your own calls.
Your advantage: Whoever follows up sees the call and the messages together, so the customer never has to explain twice.
What happens when a customer calls your WhatsApp number
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The customer taps call
Meta sends the call to Mywa. Mywa opens the customer's chat (or creates the contact if they're new) and adds an 'Incoming voice call' line to it.
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Mywa picks who rings
Teammates ring if they have calling access, have 'Ring me for incoming calls' switched on, have Mywa open in a browser tab, and aren't on another call. You can ring the chat's assigned teammates alone for 5–20 seconds before it widens to everyone.
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First to answer takes it
Audio runs in the browser through the microphone. Everyone else stops ringing and sees who answered. A teammate who declines simply drops out; the call keeps ringing for the rest.
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No answer becomes a missed call
After 30, 45 (default), 60 or 90 seconds the call ends as missed and the teammates it rang get an alert. If nobody is available at all, Mywa ends the call straight away instead of letting it ring out. Mywa can also send a 'Sorry we missed your call' WhatsApp message if the customer has messaged you in the last 24 hours.
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Call back from the chat
With call-backs allowed, a customer who calls you gives you temporary permission to call them back. Otherwise ask from the chat, or with a template that carries WhatsApp's 'Allow calls' prompt once the 24-hour window has closed.
WhatsApp Business API call charges, per Meta
Calls customers make to you are free. Calls you make are charged by Meta by the country of the number you call, in six-second pulses, with lower rates as your monthly minutes grow. These are Meta's INR rates for calls to Indian numbers.
| Call | Meta's charge | How it's counted |
|---|---|---|
| Customer calls your business | Free | All user-initiated calls |
| You call a customer in India — first 50,000 min a month | ₹0.3885/min | Six-second pulses, rounded up |
| 50,001 – 2,50,000 min | ₹0.2785/min | Business-initiated minutes in the month |
| 2,50,001 – 10,00,000 min | ₹0.1759/min | Business-initiated minutes in the month |
| 10,00,001 – 25,00,000 min | ₹0.1319/min | Business-initiated minutes in the month |
| 25,00,001 – 50,00,000 min | ₹0.088/min | Business-initiated minutes in the month |
| Above 50,00,000 min | ₹0.0586/min | Business-initiated minutes in the month |
| Call permission request | Message pricing | Charged under Meta's normal message pricing |
Meta's INR rate card effective 1 October 2026 (calling rates did not change from 1 April 2026). Example: a 3-minute call to an Indian number is 30 pulses, about ₹1.17. Meta bills your own WhatsApp Business Account, which needs a valid payment method to place calls; Mywa adds no markup.
Source: Meta — Calling API pricing · Meta — Cloud API Calling
What you need to use WhatsApp calling, and where it works
Meta's rules: your number must be on the Cloud API, not the WhatsApp Business app; it needs a daily messaging limit of at least 2,000 unique recipients; and calling must be switched on for the number, because it is off by default. Customers can call you anywhere the Cloud API is available. Calling customers is available too, except for business numbers from the United States, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam and Nigeria — Indian numbers are fine.
To answer calls in Mywa's browser inbox, the number must be API-only — not a coexistence number that also stays on the WhatsApp Business app. Meta's coexistence docs say calls on such a number keep working in the phone app but aren't available through the API. If you rely on coexistence today, weigh that trade-off first (our WhatsApp coexistence guide covers it).
One practical exception: WhatsApp voice and video calls are generally blocked on UAE networks, so customers there may not be able to reach you by call. Plan on chat for them.
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Connect your WhatsApp number to Mywa as an API-only number (not coexistence), with Meta's signup inside the app.
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Settings → Calling (admins). turn on 'Allow WhatsApp calls on this number', and choose whether customers see a call button and whether call-backs are allowed.
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In the same page, set who rings first, when to stop ringing, the missed-call message and, if you like, the hours customers can call — outside them WhatsApp tells callers when you're open.
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Each teammate. Settings → Notifications → 'Ring me for incoming calls', plus desktop alerts so a call shows even when the tab is in the background.
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Use a laptop or desktop browser with a microphone (a headset helps), and allow microphone access when you take your first call.
What WhatsApp calling in Mywa doesn't do (yet)
We'd rather you know these before you sign up than after.
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Voice only. Meta lists video calls and screen sharing as planned, not available.
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Not on coexistence numbers. if your number also stays on the WhatsApp Business app, calls keep ringing in the app, not in Mywa.
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Mywa has to be open in a browser tab to ring you, and reloading or closing the tab ends the audio of a live call.
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No call recording, transcription, transfer or hold in Mywa today.
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Calling customers needs their permission. Meta allows 1 permission request a day and 2 a week per customer, and 4 unanswered calls in a row revoke the permission.
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The plan includes up to 5 team members, so up to 5 people can take calls.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, with the WhatsApp Business Calling API and a team tool. In Mywa, an incoming call rings every available teammate in their own browser login, and the first to answer takes it. A second call at the same time rings the teammates who are still free. The WhatsApp Business app, by contrast, is one account shared across a phone and linked devices.
Yes. WhatsApp can take calls on a linked computer through WhatsApp Desktop, and Meta started rolling out calling on WhatsApp Web in July 2026. If several people need to answer the same number, use the Calling API through a platform like Mywa, where calls ring in each teammate's browser and need no phone.
Yes. Meta's WhatsApp Business Calling API, part of the Cloud API, lets businesses receive calls from customers and call customers who have given permission, over VoIP on their WhatsApp number. It is voice only for now; Meta lists video and screen sharing as planned.
Calls customers make to your business are free. Calls your business makes are charged by Meta per minute in six-second pulses; to Indian numbers the list rate is ₹0.3885 a minute for the first 50,000 minutes a month, falling with volume (Meta's rate card effective 1 October 2026). Mywa adds no markup; its plan is $14.99/month (₹999 in India).
Yes, once the customer allows it. You can send a call permission request inside the 24-hour window, or a template with WhatsApp's 'Allow calls' prompt after it. A customer who calls you also gives temporary permission to call back, if call-backs are switched on. Meta limits permission requests to 1 a day and 2 a week per customer.
No. Meta's coexistence docs say that on a number shared between the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API, voice and video calls keep working in the phone app but aren't available through the API, and Meta's Calling API requires a number in use with the Cloud API, not the Business app. To answer WhatsApp calls in Mywa's browser inbox, the number must be API-only, with calling switched on and a messaging limit of at least 2,000. Mywa's WhatsApp coexistence guide explains what you give up either way.
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