Ticket transfer notification via WhatsApp API

The scenario sends the client a personalized WhatsApp template when a support ticket is transferred to another department.

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Use case overview

The scenario sends the client a personalized WhatsApp template when a support ticket is transferred to another department. The message includes the client name, ticket number, and the department or team that will handle the case. A static URL button opens the ticket status page.

Template example

Hello, {{1}}! Your request #{{2}} has been transferred to the specialized department: {{3}}. Specialists in that department will continue working on your inquiry.

Request status

{{1}}
customer name
{{2}}
ticket or case number
{{3}}
target department or team name (e.g. billing, technical support, claims)
“Request status”
button — fixed in the Meta template

WhatsApp Business API for ticket transfer notification

When to use it

Reach for this scenario when a support ticket moves to another department or queue and the client should know which team owns the case next — especially when there is no open WhatsApp chat and only an approved template can go out first. It fits helpdesk teams routing from L1 to billing, technical, or legal queues, enterprise support with transparent handoffs between regional or specialist teams, and agencies wiring transfer webhooks from Zendesk, Freshdesk, or CRM routing rules.

Less confusion when a new team takes over

Customer name, ticket number, and target department arrive as three body variables in WhatsApp, so the client understands why a different team may contact them instead of wondering if the case was dropped.

Reach clients with no open chat

The transfer event triggers an approved template send, so the update can go out when free-text is not allowed because the conversation window is closed.

No manual transfer updates

The helpdesk fires the transfer event, the system resolves the phone and routing fields, and the template goes out with the three body variables — no agent retypes ticket number or department for each handoff.

Self-service ticket status

A static URL button fixed in the Meta template opens the ticket status page, so the client can check progress without calling back for an update.

Delivery logged in helpdesk or CRM

Delivery result is written back after send, so routing teams see whether the transfer notice reached the client on the same ticket record.

Workflow

Trigger
The helpdesk transfers the ticket to another department and fires a transfer event.
event · triggered
Capture event
The system resolves the recipient phone number and routing fields.
phone: "+…"
Build & send
A personalized template message is built with three body variables and a static URL button.
POST /sendTemplate
Delivered
The client receives the WhatsApp notification with ticket number and department name.
delivered
Status tracked
Delivery result is logged; errors are handled according to platform rules.
status: "read"

Technical implementation

Prerequisites

1MSG API Key · How to get API Key
WhatsApp Business account · How to Connect WABA
WhatsApp Template · How to Approve WABA Template
Customer opt-in · How to Manage Customers Consent

Code examples

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# === Configuration (replace "___" placeholders) ===

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

TEMPLATE_NAME="___"                        # approved template name
TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE="___"                   # template namespace (required — send fails without it)
TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE="___"                    # template language code, e.g. "en"



# === Test data ===
TEST_PHONE="___"                 # client phone in international format
TEST_CUSTOMERNAME="___"         # {{1}} customer name
TEST_TICKETNUMBER="___"         # {{2}} ticket number
TEST_DEPARTMENT="___"         # {{3}} department name

PHONE_NORM="$(printf '%s' "$TEST_PHONE" | tr -cd '0-9')"

for pair in "CHANNEL_ID=$CHANNEL_ID" "API_TOKEN=$API_TOKEN" \
            "TEMPLATE_NAME=$TEMPLATE_NAME" "TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE=$TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE" \
            "TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE=$TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE" "TEST_PHONE=$TEST_PHONE" \
            "TEST_CUSTOMERNAME=$TEST_CUSTOMERNAME" \
            "TEST_TICKETNUMBER=$TEST_TICKETNUMBER" \
            "TEST_DEPARTMENT=$TEST_DEPARTMENT"; do
    val="${pair#*=}"
    if [ -z "$val" ] || [ "$val" = "___" ]; then
        echo "Missing configuration value: ${pair%%=*}" >&2
        exit 1
    fi
done

if [ -z "$PHONE_NORM" ]; then
    echo "Error: phone number has no digits after normalization" >&2
    exit 1
fi

URL="${API_BASE_URL%/}/${CHANNEL_ID}/sendTemplate"

# params carries body ONLY. Button text is fixed in the Meta template — no button param.

# {{1}} customer name → ${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}
# {{2}} ticket number → ${TEST_TICKETNUMBER}
# {{3}} department name → ${TEST_DEPARTMENT}
read -r -d '' PAYLOAD <<JSON || true
{
  "phone": "${PHONE_NORM}",
  "template": "${TEMPLATE_NAME}",
  "namespace": "${TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE}",
  "language": { "policy": "deterministic", "code": "${TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE}" },
  "params": [
    {
      "type": "body",
      "parameters": [
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_TICKETNUMBER}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_DEPARTMENT}" }
      ]
    }

  ]
}
JSON

RESPONSE="$(curl -s -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST "$URL" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}" \
    -d "$PAYLOAD")"

HTTP_CODE="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | tail -n1)"
BODY="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | sed '$d')"

case "$BODY" in
    *'"sent":true'*) ok=1 ;;
    *) ok=0 ;;
esac

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" -ge 200 ] && [ "$HTTP_CODE" -lt 300 ] && [ "$ok" -eq 1 ]; then
    echo "Message sent to client."
    echo "API response: $BODY"
else
    echo "Send failed. HTTP status: $HTTP_CODE" >&2
    echo "$BODY" >&2
    exit 1
fi

Response and delivery status

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 (looks like wamid.…) to correlate delivery callbacks.

200 OKResponse

{
  "sent": true,
  "message": "Sent to [email protected]",
  "description": "Message has been sent to the provider",
  "id": "wamid.HBgLMzgwNjM5..."
}

sent
Accepted for sending — not yet on the customer's phone
id
Store it; delivery callbacks and hookInfo are keyed on this

Delivery statuses and webhooks →

Common errors

Status	API response	Cause	Fix
200	Message was not sent: template is not defined	namespace, template or language is missing from the request body.	Send all three. Take namespace and the exact template name from GET /templates; language is an object: {"policy": "deterministic", "code": "en"}.
200	template name (…) does not exist in <language>	The template is approved in a different language than the one requested.	Use the exact language code the template was approved in (for example es_MX is not the same as es). Check it in GET /templates.
200	Message was not sent: provide chatId, phone, bsuid, or username	No recipient the channel could resolve.	Pass exactly one recipient: phone (country code plus number, digits only), chatId (for example [email protected]) or bsuid.