WhatsApp Business API for specialist handoff — share contact card

Use case overview

This scenario sends a WhatsApp contact card with sendContact during the 24-hour customer service window. The client receives the specialist name and phone without copying digits manually.

Template example

Please reach our specialist using the contact card below.

Contact name and phone are fixed in the integration contract for this handoff profile.

When to use it

• escalation to a named expert

Business value

• Support agent approves specialist handoff while the session window is open
• Backend resolves the specialist name and phone number
• sendContact delivers the vCard to the client thread
• Client saves or calls the specialist from the contact card
• Helpdesk logs the handoff event for SLA tracking

Workflow

1. An agent marks the ticket ready for specialist escalation.
2. Your backend loads the specialist display name and phone number.
3. sendContact delivers the contact card in the active session.
4. The client saves or calls the specialist from WhatsApp.
5. Delivery progress is reported asynchronously — typically sent, then delivered (or failed/undelivered).
6. Your system receives status via webhook (hooks[]) or polls delivery status and handles failures if needed.

Technical implementation

Prerequisites

• An open WhatsApp session window.
• 1MSG channel with sendContact access and the specialist phone in E.164 format.

Code examples

Node.js

#!/usr/bin/env node

// === Configuration (replace "___" placeholders) ===
const API_BASE_URL = "https://api.1msg.io"; // production 1MSG API base URL
const CHANNEL_ID = "___";                   // channel ID from 1MSG dashboard
const API_TOKEN = "___";                    // channel JWT token (Bearer)



// === Test data ===
const TEST_PHONE = "___";            // client phone in international format · requires open 24-hour session window

function normalizePhone(phone) {
  return String(phone).replace(/\D/g, "");
}

async function sendContactMessage({ phone }) {
  const url = `${API_BASE_URL}/${CHANNEL_ID}/sendContact`;
  const requestBody = {
    phone: normalizePhone(phone),
    contacts: [
      {
        name: {
          formatted_name: "Jane Specialist", // specialist display name (code_contract)
          first_name: "Jane Specialist",
          last_name: "",
        },
        phones: [{ phone: "+12025550199", type: "CELL" }], // specialist phone in E.164 format
      },
    ],
  };

  const res = await fetch(url, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      Authorization: `Bearer ${API_TOKEN}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(requestBody),
  });

  const raw = await res.text();
  let data;
  try {
    data = JSON.parse(raw);
  } catch {
    data = null;
  }

  if (!res.ok || !data || data.sent !== true) {
    console.error("Send failed.");
    console.error(raw);
    process.exit(1);
  }

  console.log("Message sent to client.");
  return data;
}

if (require.main === module) {
  sendContactMessage({ phone: TEST_PHONE }).catch((err) => {
    console.error("Execution failed:", err.message);
    process.exit(1);
  });
}

module.exports = { sendContactMessage };

Immediate API response (synchronous)

• HTTP 2xx and JSON "sent": true mean 1MSG accepted the message for sending — not that it already reached the customer's phone.
• Save the `id` field from the response (value looks like wamid.…). Use it to correlate delivery callbacks or polling.
• The response may also include message and description — informational only.

Delivery status (asynchronous)

• Register a webhook (POST …/webhook) so 1MSG POSTs delivery updates to your HTTPS endpoint in a separate `hooks[]` payload (sent, delivered, read, or failed/undelivered when applicable).
• Optionally poll: GET {base}/{channel}/hookInfo?messageId=<id from sendTemplate>.
• In practice, delivery often completes within a few seconds — but that is not guaranteed by the API contract.

Common errors

• Session window closed (no client message within 24 hours)
• Invalid or non-normalized phone number
• Missing or invalid message body / media URL
• Delivery failure — check status webhook and retry policy

FAQ

• Do I need a template? No — this scenario uses a session message inside the 24-hour customer service window.
• When does the session window close? If the client has not written or replied within 24 hours, sendMessage will fail until a template reopens the chat.
• How do I check delivery? sent: true only confirms acceptance. Track delivery via webhook hooks[] or polling.
• What if the message is not delivered? Log the failed/undelivered hook, verify the session window, then retry or use a template.
• Can I connect this to my CRM or backend? Yes — trigger the API call from your inbound webhook or workflow engine.

CTA

Ready to use specialist handoff — share contact card? Connect your 1MSG channel and run the code examples above.

Related

• Knowledge base
• Creating a template
• Sending a template
• SDK