Send a WhatsApp message with failover

In this example you will send a WhatsApp message that fails over to sending an SMS.

In the Workflow object, message objects can be placed in any order to suit your use case. Each message object must contain a failover object, except for the last message, as there are no more message objects to failover to.

NOTE: The first time you send a message to a user, WhatsApp requires that the message contains a template. This is explained in more detail in the Understanding WhatsApp topic.

Example

Ensure the following variables are set to your required values using any convenient method:

Key Description
NEXMO_APPLICATION_ID The ID of the application that you created.
FROM_NUMBER The phone number you are sending the message from.
TO_NUMBER The phone number you are sending the message to.
WHATSAPP_NUMBER Your WhatsApp Number.

NOTE: Don't use a leading + or 00 when entering a phone number, start with the country code, for example 447700900000.

  • cURL
  • Node

    • Prerequisites

    Create an application
    If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

    Write the code

    Add the following to send-whatsapp-message-with-failover.sh:

    Copy to Clipboard 
    curl -X POST https://api.nexmo.com/v0.1/dispatch \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer '$JWT\
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d $'{
    "template":"failover",
    "workflow": [
      {
        "from": { "type": "whatsapp", "number": '$WHATSAPP_NUMBER' },
        "to": { "type": "whatsapp", "number": '$TO_NUMBER' },
        "message": {
          "content": {
            "type": "text",
            "text": "This is a WhatsApp Message sent via the Dispatch API"
          }
        },
        "failover":{
          "expiry_time": 600,
          "condition_status": "read"
        }
      },
      {
        "from": {"type": "sms", "number": '$FROM_NUMBER'},
        "to": { "type": "sms", "number": '$TO_NUMBER'},
        "message": {
          "content": {
            "type": "text",
            "text": "This is an SMS sent via the Dispatch API"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }'

    View full source

    Run your code

    Save this file to your machine and run it: 

    bash send-whatsapp-message-with-failover.sh

    Prerequisites

    Create an application
    If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.
    Install dependencies

    npm install nexmo

    Write the code

    Add the following to app.js:

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    const Nexmo = require('nexmo')

const nexmo = new Nexmo({
  apiKey: NEXMO_API_KEY,
  apiSecret: NEXMO_API_SECRET,
  applicationId: NEXMO_APPLICATION_ID,
  privateKey: NEXMO_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH
})

nexmo.dispatch.create("failover", [
  {
    "from": { "type": "whatsapp", "number": "WHATSAPP_NUMBER"},
    "to": { "type": "whatsapp", "number": "TO_NUMBER"},
    "message": {
      "content": {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "This is a WhatsApp Message sent from the Dispatch API"
      }
    },
    "failover":{
      "expiry_time": 600,
      "condition_status": "delivered"
    }
  },
  {
    "from": {"type": "sms", "number": "FROM_NUMBER"},
    "to": { "type": "sms", "number": "TO_NUMBER"},
    "message": {
      "content": {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "This is an SMS sent from the Dispatch API"
      }
    }
  },
  (err, data) => { console.log(data.dispatch_uuid); }
])

    View full source

    Run your code

    Save this file to your machine and run it: 

    node app.js

    Try it out

    When you run the code it will attempt to send a message via WhatsApp. If this fails then a message will be sent via SMS to the destination number.