How connections work
What WhatsApp, email, SMS, payment and storage connections do, which messages use which channel, and what happens when one is not connected.
A connection tells the system which outside service does a job for your agency: who delivers your WhatsApp, email and SMS messages, which gateway takes card payments, and where files are kept. Each connection uses your own account with that service, so messages come from your number or address and money goes to your own account. When a connection is off, the system still works: messages are kept in a log instead of being sent, and payments are recorded by hand.
What each connection does
| Connection | What it does | When it is off or not set |
|---|---|---|
| Sends booking confirmations, receipts, reminders and trip page codes | Click to chat: WhatsApp opens on your own phone or computer with the message ready | |
| Sends team invitations, password resets, quotations and confirmations | Emails are written to the message log only. Team invitations and password resets go out from the system's own email when it is available | |
| SMS | Sends trip page codes and short reminders | Text messages are written to the message log only |
| Online payments | Lets customers pay payment links by card, Apple Pay, BenefitPay, KNET or mada | Manual: customers see your instructions and you record payments yourself |
| File storage | Keeps passports, tickets, slips and logos | The platform's own storage |
A new agency starts with WhatsApp on Click to chat, email and SMS off, payments on Manual and files on the platform's storage.
"Logging only" and "Off": nothing reaches the customer
When email or SMS is Off, or set to Do not send, keep a log (status Logging only), the system still prepares every message exactly as it would send it, then writes it to the message log with the status Logged only. Nothing leaves the system.
This is useful while you set up: you can see in Settings → Data and logs → Message log what would have gone out. But a customer waiting for a trip page code receives nothing.
Team invitations and password reset links for your staff are the exception. When your agency's email is not
connected, the system's own email sends them, with a closing line saying the email comes on behalf of your agency.
The message log shows the provider platform:smtp. Only when neither is connected are they logged, not emailed.
For example: Mariam invites a new colleague while the agency's email is not connected. The invitation window says it was emailed from the system's email, because the agency's email is not connected. It also shows the invitation link, so she can copy it and send it on WhatsApp herself.
Click to chat
Click to chat does not send anything by itself. When you send a message from a booking, WhatsApp opens on your device with the customer's number and the text ready, and you press send. The message log shows Ready in WhatsApp.
Because a person must press send, messages the system sends on its own do not go out with Click to chat. A receipt after an online payment goes by email instead when email is connected; otherwise it is logged as Failed and the booking's owner gets a task to send it. A trip page code sent on WhatsApp never reaches the customer. To send these, connect WhatsApp Business Platform (Meta) or Twilio WhatsApp, or connect SMS or email.
Which messages use which channel
You choose the channel each time you send from a booking or a quotation, or when a customer asks for a code. A message goes out only when the channel is connected and a template exists for that message, channel and language in Settings → Message templates. New agencies get these templates:
| Message | Channels with a template |
|---|---|
| Booking confirmed | WhatsApp, Email |
| Payment receipt | WhatsApp, SMS, Email |
| Transfer not confirmed | WhatsApp, SMS, Email |
| Payment reminder | WhatsApp, Email |
| Quotation sent | |
| Documents ready | |
| Renewed passport needed | |
| Trip page code | SMS, WhatsApp |
| Account sign-in code | SMS, WhatsApp, Email |
| Account invitation | WhatsApp, SMS, Email |
| Chat reply | WhatsApp, Email |
| Team invitation | |
| Password reset |
To send a message on another channel, add a template for that channel first. The receipt sent after an online payment or an approved transfer, and the "transfer not confirmed" message, go on the channel chosen in Settings → Preferences → Send online payment receipts by; a customer without a mobile gets them by email, one without an email by WhatsApp.
Plan limits
Messages sent through a real provider (an SMTP server, Twilio, an SMS gateway or the WhatsApp Business Platform) count towards your plan's monthly WhatsApp, email and SMS limits. Sign-in codes, invitations and password resets always go out and do not stop at the limit. Messages that are only logged or opened with Click to chat do not count.
Online payments and your gateway
- Manual (bank transfer or pay at office): no card payments. The payment page shows the instructions you write on the card, and you record each payment yourself.
- Test gateway (no real money): a pretend payment page to try the whole flow. No money moves.
- A real gateway (Tap, Stripe, Credimax, AFS, another bank on the Mastercard Gateway, BENEFIT): customers pay on the gateway's secure page and the money goes to your own merchant account. The payment is recorded on the booking by itself, and refunds to the card go back through the same gateway.
Each real gateway has a Mode: Sandbox (test) uses the gateway's test keys and test cards, Live charges customers for real. The Webhook address lets the gateway tell the system about a payment even if the customer closes the page; the system also asks the gateway again every few minutes about payments it is still waiting for.
The payment methods customers and staff see (cash, bank transfer, card machine, online) are set separately in Payment methods.
Payment accounts per branch
A branch can take payments into its own gateway account, in its own currency. For example, a Bahrain branch on BENEFIT in BHD and a Saudi branch on Tap in SAR. Payment links, payment pages and refunds of a booking use the account of the booking's branch; branches without their own account use the agency's gateway. See Give a branch its own payment account.
File storage
By default files are kept on the platform's storage. You can choose your own S3-compatible bucket (AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces or MinIO) instead. New files go to the storage set now; files saved earlier stay where they were saved and keep opening.
Keys and passwords
Secret details (passwords, tokens, keys) are stored encrypted. After you save, the screen shows dots instead of the value. To change one, type the new value; to keep it, leave the dots. Changing the provider clears the fields.
Related articles
- ConnectionsConnect WhatsApp, email, SMS, online payments and file storage, test each one, and give branches their own payment account.
- Message templatesThe words of every message customers and colleagues receive, per channel and language, with booking details filled in and a live preview.
- Payment methodsSet how customers can pay you: cash, bank transfer with your IBAN, cheque, card machine or online, where each method is offered and what customers see.
- Data and logsDownload all your agency's data, see every message the system sent, and read who changed what and when.
- The customer did not receive the WhatsApp or SMS messageWhy a confirmation, receipt, reminder or trip page code did not reach the customer, how to read the message log, and what to fix first.