Property and letting
Listing questions, viewing bookings, document checklists for applications, and a follow-up after every viewing.
WhatsApp Automation · South Africa
WhatsApp Automation in South Africa, Connected to the Systems You Run On
There is no shortage of WhatsApp platforms that let you build a bot. The harder part is what happens after the customer replies: the viewing that has to land in an agent’s diary, the order status that lives in WooCommerce, the lead that belongs in your CRM. That is the part we build.
On the official WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API). Designed and delivered online by our team in Mauritius, two hours ahead of South Africa.
From $9 a month plus usage. See pricing →- Wired into your CRM, calendar or store
- Opt-in built into every flow
- A person can take over any chat
Demo conversation (fictional business and customer)
- Customer: Hi, is the 2-bed in Observatory still available? Could I view it this week?
- Letting agency assistant: Hi! Yes, the 2-bedroom flat in Observatory is available from 1 November. Viewing times this week: • Thursday 17:30 • Saturday 10:00
- Customer: Saturday 10:00 please. I’m Thandi.
- Viewing booked in the agent’s calendar, lead added to the CRM
- Letting agency assistant: Booked ✅ Saturday 10:00, 2-bed in Observatory, Thandi. You’ll get the exact address and a reminder on Friday. Reply here to change the time.
Demo conversation (fictional business and customer)
Test our WhatsApp AI assistant yourself.
Try it on WhatsAppPlatform or built for you
A WhatsApp platform, our app, or a workflow built around your business
Searching for WhatsApp automation in South Africa mostly turns up API platforms and bot builders. They are useful tools. The question is who does the work of connecting them to how your business actually runs.
A WhatsApp API platform on its own
You get access and a builder. Your team does the rest.
- Your team designs the menus and conversation flows
- Connecting to your CRM or booking tool is usually your job, or a developer’s
- Data often stays inside the platform unless someone exports it
- Fine if you have someone in-house to own it
Artover Chat, set up yourself
Our own app, for businesses that want to start this week.
- Connect your WhatsApp number in minutes
- AI answers from your own business information
- WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram in one shared inbox
- Connects to Google Calendar and Google Sheets
- Billed in US dollars by PayPal or card, which works from South Africa
A workflow Artover builds for you
For when WhatsApp has to talk to the software behind the business.
- We map the conversations your team repeats every day
- We connect WhatsApp to your CRM, booking system, WooCommerce store or internal software
- Messages create, update or look up real records
- We write the Meta templates and the handover rules with you
- We keep improving the flows after launch
Many projects start on Artover Chat and add a custom integration once the first flow has proved itself.
Workflows
Three workflows, each one tied to a real system
What the automation does after the customer’s first message. These are examples of the kind of flow we build, not client projects.
Is the 3-bed in Durbanville pet friendly? Can I see it Saturday?
- Answers from the listing details, including the pet policy
- Asks the two or three qualifying questions you choose
- Offers viewing slots from the agent’s calendar
- Books the viewing and creates the lead in your CRM
- Viewing booked, lead in CRM
Hi, where is my order? I ordered on Monday.
- Matches the customer by WhatsApp number or order number
- Reads the live status from your WooCommerce store
- Replies with the status and courier tracking if there is one
- Hands delivery complaints to a person
- Status sent, no one had to look it up
Can I book a check-up with Dr Naidoo next week?
- Checks free slots in the practice’s booking system
- Books the appointment the patient picks
- Sends a reminder the day before as an approved template
- Moves or cancels it if the patient replies
- Booked, reminder scheduled
Example flows. Yours are designed around your own systems, rules and wording.
Where it fits
Businesses where WhatsApp carries most of the conversation
Sectors where customers tend to message first and expect a quick answer. Use cases, not a client list.
Clinics and practices
Appointment requests, reminders and directions. Clinical questions always go to your staff, never to the AI.
Retail and e-commerce
Stock questions, order confirmations and delivery updates sent straight from your store.
Salons and beauty
Free slots from your calendar, booking in one reply, reminders, and rebooking invitations for clients who agreed.
Service and trade businesses
Quote requests with photos and address collected up front, job confirmations and “technician on the way” updates.
Education and training
Course enquiries, enrolment steps, fee reminders and class updates for students or parents.
AI, automation, people
What the AI decides, what the system does, what your team keeps
AI
Reads the message
Customers don’t write in keywords. “Still got the Obs flat? can view sat” has to be understood as a viewing request.
- Works out what the customer wants
- Answers from your own information, not the internet
- Follows the language the customer writes in; languages are tested with you before launch
Automation
Does the work in your systems
Once the request is clear, fixed rules take over. This is the part a bot builder usually leaves to you.
- Looks up stock, orders or free slots through an API
- Creates the booking, lead or ticket
- Sends approved templates on schedule: reminders, updates, follow-ups
Human
Your team stays in the loop
The assistant hands over instead of guessing, and the whole team works from one shared inbox.
- Complaints, refunds and disputes
- Anything medical, legal or financial
- Negotiations on price or terms
- Any customer who asks for a person
Integrations
The WhatsApp Business API, connected to what you already use
If a tool has an API or webhooks, WhatsApp can usually be connected to it. When there is no API, browser automation can sometimes fill the gap. If you have no booking tool at all, we can set up a simple calendar behind the flow.
- HubSpot
- Zoho CRM
- Salesforce
- Pipedrive
- Odoo
- WooCommerce
- WordPress
- Booking systems with an API
- Google Calendar
- Google Sheets
- Sage, QuickBooks, Xero
- Stripe, PayPal
- Your own internal software
POPIA
POPIA and WhatsApp marketing: what the workflow has to respect
The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) sets conditions for processing personal information, including processing limitation (collect only what you need, for a lawful reason) and security safeguards (protect what you hold). It is enforced by the Information Regulator.
Section 69 is the one that matters most for WhatsApp. Direct marketing by any form of electronic communication needs the person’s consent, unless they are an existing customer whose details you got during a sale, the marketing is for your own similar products or services, and they were given a chance to object when the details were collected and in every message since. Each marketing message must also tell the recipient how to stop them. WhatsApp’s own rules point the same way: customers must opt in before a business messages them.
We design the flows around these requirements. Whether your business as a whole meets POPIA is for you and your advisers to confirm; what we build makes the right thing the easy thing.
How opt-in, templates and Meta pricing work on WhatsApp →- Opt-in captured at a clear moment: a form, an order, a booking or the first chat
- A record of when and how each customer agreed
- Opt-out by a simple reply, applied straight away
- Promotions kept separate from booking and order messages
- Only the fields each flow needs, with access limited to the people who need them
Working from Mauritius
How a project runs from two hours ahead
We are based in Cybercity Ebene, Mauritius. We have no office or staff in South Africa, and we don’t need one for this work: Mauritius is on UTC+4 and South Africa on SAST (UTC+2), so your mornings are our early afternoons and the working days overlap comfortably. The same remote setup works whether you are in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria or a smaller town.
- 01
Discovery call, online
A free video call to see where WhatsApp messages come from, what your team repeats, and which system holds the answers.
- 02
Flow and template design
We write the conversation flows, the Meta templates and the handover rules, and agree them with you in writing.
- 03
Connection to your systems
We connect WhatsApp to your CRM, booking tool, store or internal software, working with whoever manages those tools on your side.
- 04
Testing with your team
We test real conversations with you before launch, including the languages your customers use, then go live and adjust from what customers actually write.
Pricing
Simple pricing: one monthly plan plus a wallet
Connect your WhatsApp number to Artover Chat yourself, in a few minutes. You pay a fixed monthly subscription, and you add credit to a Usage Wallet that pays for AI replies and WhatsApp messages as you use them. Messenger and Instagram can be connected too, at no extra subscription.
Artover Chat
$9/ month
No setup fee, no contract. Cancel any time.
- AI assistant that answers from your own business information
- Your WhatsApp Business number on the official platform
- Facebook Messenger and Instagram messages in the same inbox, included
- Shared inbox: your team takes over any conversation
- Leads, bookings and reminders
- Replies in English, French and Kreol Morisien
- Web app and mobile app
Usage Wallet
Top up from $5 ($10, $25, $50, $100, $200). Each AI reply and each message you send is deducted as it happens, and you see every charge. Set a low-balance alert or automatic top-up so your assistant never stops.
Pay in US dollars with PayPal or a card, or in Mauritian rupees by bank transfer.
Create your account and connect WhatsApp. Try your assistant free with 25 test messages before you subscribe.
Estimate your monthly cost
Move the sliders to match your business.
Customers who message you
Customers who write to you on WhatsApp
Meta doesn’t charge for these messages: you pay only for AI replies
Messages you send first (WhatsApp)
Booking reminders, order and payment updates
Only to customers who agreed to receive them
- Subscription
- $9.00
- WhatsApp usage
- $3.51
- Messenger and Instagram usage
- $0.00
- Estimated total per month
- $12.51
A $10 top-up covers about a month.
Need custom integrations (booking system, WooCommerce, CRM)? Those are quoted separately after a free discovery call. Request a consultation →
WhatsApp automation in South Africa: FAQ
Do you work with South African businesses from Mauritius?
Yes. Projects run online: discovery call, design reviews and testing happen over video and in a shared workspace. Mauritius is two hours ahead of South Africa, so our working days overlap. We have no South African office or staff, and we say so up front.
How is this different from a WhatsApp API platform?
A platform gives you access to the WhatsApp Business API and a builder; designing the flows and connecting them to your systems is left to you. We do that part: we design the conversations and connect WhatsApp to your CRM, booking system, WooCommerce store or internal software, so messages create and update real records.
Does WhatsApp marketing need consent under POPIA?
Under section 69 of POPIA, direct marketing by electronic communication needs the person’s consent, with a narrow exception for existing customers receiving marketing about your own similar products or services who were given a chance to opt out. WhatsApp also requires customers to opt in. We build opt-in, consent records and simple opt-out into the flows; confirming your overall POPIA position is for you and your advisers.
What does Meta charge for WhatsApp messages to South African numbers?
Meta charges per delivered template message, and the rate depends on the message category (marketing, utility or authentication) and the recipient’s country calling code. South Africa (+27) has its own rate on Meta’s rate card. Replies within 24 hours of a customer’s message are free. Our guide explains how the pricing model works.
Can we keep our current WhatsApp Business number?
Often, yes. A number used in the WhatsApp Business app can usually be connected to the WhatsApp Business Platform while you keep using the app on your phone, which Meta calls coexistence. We check what applies to your number before setup.
Which languages can the AI reply in?
The assistant follows the language the customer writes in. English is the usual starting point; we test every language you need with you before launch rather than promise it in advance.
Can we pay from South Africa?
Yes. Artover Chat is billed in US dollars by PayPal or card. It is a monthly plan plus a usage wallet that pays for AI replies and WhatsApp messages as you use them; current prices and a cost simulator are in the pricing section of this page. Custom integrations are quoted separately after a free discovery call.
Which systems can WhatsApp connect to?
Anything with an API or webhooks: CRMs such as HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Odoo, WooCommerce and WordPress, booking systems, accounting tools such as Sage, QuickBooks and Xero, and your own internal software. If a tool has no API, browser automation is sometimes an option.
Show us the system WhatsApp should talk to
Tell us where your customers’ messages end up today and which software holds the answers. We’ll suggest the first workflow worth building.