Customers (CRM)

WhatsApp groups

Overview

Duwam does not read a group because your number is in it. It reads a group because an admin enabled it. A group that is not enabled is not read at all: no members, no messages, no events. What is read from an enabled group lives on its own, away from one-to-one customer conversations.

Groups run on the same link the number uses — WhatsApp Web, linked by scanning a QR code (unofficial). They do not go through Meta's official WhatsApp API.

How do I enable a group?

1. Open Settings → Channels → WhatsApp → "Customer service & auto-replies". The "WhatsApp groups" card shows only while the number is connected.
2. Press "Refresh list". Duwam fetches groups only when you press it; it never asks WhatsApp on its own.
3. Turn on the switch next to the group. Its members are pulled at once, and you see how many.

The counter at the top reads "Enabled: n of 10". The limit is ten enabled groups for the whole company, main number and lines together. An eleventh is refused.

A row may carry these badges: "You are admin", "Community", "No longer a member", "Read through another line", and the number of new contacts from the last import.

What happens when I turn a group off?

Duwam stops reading it. What was already read stays: the members that were pulled and the saved messages. The group stays in the tab read-only, with a line saying it is not enabled or the number is no longer in it.

Employee-line groups

Every linked employee line has a "WhatsApp groups" button on its card that opens the same card for that line's groups. The ten-group limit is shared with the main number.

• A group enabled from a line shows "Via employee's line" and the line's name in the list and the conversation head.
• What you send to it leaves from that employee's number and counts against that line's daily budget.
• The line's owner reads and writes in the line's groups without being added as a follower.
• If both numbers are in the same group, it belongs to the line that enabled it first; on the other it shows "Read through another line" and its switch is disabled.
• Archiving the line silences its groups.

How do I pull members into contacts?

"Members & import" — on the settings card or in the group head inside the tab — opens a window showing "Members", "Visible numbers", "Hidden numbers" and "Already contacts", then a table with "Name", "Number" and "Name source" (saved by you, from WhatsApp, or none). The table shows the first 500 members.

1. Under "Who to import?" choose "Saved name", "Any name" (the default) or "Everyone, even nameless".
2. "Tag for imported contacts (optional)" — prefilled with the group's name, up to 60 characters.
3. Press the import button, which carries the count. The result says how many contacts were added and how many existing ones were linked.

How pulling works:

• No duplicates: matching is by number. An existing contact only gains the group membership — its name, owner, source and tags stay as they are.
• Source: a new contact's source is "WhatsApp group · group name", and its record shows "Member of". The contacts table has a "WhatsApp group" column and filter.
• Hidden numbers are neither imported nor guessed. A number appears once its owner writes in the group, or once WhatsApp tells the line about it; the window says so when you open it.
• No marketing consent is recorded for imported members, so campaigns skip them.
• "Export CSV" exports the members without importing them.

The "Groups" tab

Conversations → "Groups" — the third tab, after "Inbox" and "Employee lines".

• Who sees what: the company admin sees every enabled group. An employee sees only the groups they follow, and a line's owner sees that line's groups.
• The list: the last message starts with "You:" or its sender's name, media shows as a word, and each row carries its unread count. It refreshes every ten seconds while visible.
• The head: member count, "Followers", "Can send", and a Follow / "Unfollow" button. For the admin: "+ Add a follower", the "Send permission" list, and "Members & import".
• The speaker above the message: the sender's name above the first bubble of each run — the name saved by you first, then their WhatsApp name. Click it to open the contact. Someone who is not a contact can be added by the admin in one click, with this group as the source.
• Media is downloaded and shown, and "Older messages" fetches what came before.
• The ⋮ menu on a message: "Copy text" for everyone, "Reply" for people who can send.

How do I write in a group?

The company admin writes, so does anyone the admin grants "Send permission" → "Allow to send" (they become a follower automatically), and a line's owner in that line's groups.

1. Type in the box; type @ to mention a member.
2. Enter sends, Shift+Enter adds a line.
3. To attach, use "Attach file" — an image, video or document, with your text as its caption.

• Reply: "Reply" from the ⋮ menu quotes the message, and it arrives in WhatsApp as a reply.
• Mentions (@): only members who have a name are listed — numbers are never exposed. While the list is open, Enter or Tab picks, the arrows move, Esc closes. Up to 20 mentions per message.
• Length: up to 4,000 characters.

Under the box: your message reaches every member, and there is no auto-reply or AI agent in groups.

When you cannot send (the reason shows under the conversation): the group is admins-only and your number is not an admin there, the group is not enabled, or you do not have the permission.

Protecting the number: a gap of two and a half seconds between two messages to the same group, 20 messages an hour per group, and 60 an hour for the company, on top of the number's daily cap. Each limit says when you can send again.

Groups report (admin)

"Report" at the top of the list opens the "Groups report" for the last 7 or 30 days: group, members, joined in the period, hidden numbers, already contacts, added from the group (period / all), and deals after joining, with those won. A group enabled during the period carries a star: its members at enabling time do not count as new joiners.

Notifications and retention

• No bell for every message. A follower gets one notification per group until they open it.
• A mention of the company number (@) in a group reaches the company admins.
• Retention: group messages are deleted after 90 days, and no more than 20,000 are kept per group. They are not in backups.

What groups do not do

• They stay out of the inbox: no auto-reply, no AI agent, no auto-assignment, no "stop" keyword, no campaigns, no response-time reports.
• But automations can write in them: the "Send to WhatsApp group" action with the "Schedule" trigger — text only, 3 a day per group and 10 a day for the company, never in quiet hours. See Automations & integrations.
• Not the official WhatsApp API: they run only on the number linked by QR.
• The employee-notifications number has no groups card.

FAQ

Q: I don't see the "WhatsApp groups" card. A: It shows on the customer-service number while it is connected. If it is disconnected, re-link it first from WhatsApp notifications.

Q: I enabled a group and its old messages are missing. A: That is by design. Reading starts when the group is enabled.

Q: An employee says they can't see the group. A: Employees see only what they follow. Add them from the group head → "+ Add a follower", or give them "Send permission", which makes them a follower.

Q: Why do some members have no number? A: WhatsApp hides some members' numbers from the rest of the group. The number appears once its owner writes in the group or WhatsApp tells the line. Duwam never guesses a number.

Q: Will my campaigns reach the people I pulled from a group? A: No. No marketing consent is recorded for them.

Quick reference

Related articles

• Inbox — one-to-one customer conversations
• Employee WhatsApp lines — employees' numbers and their inboxes
• Contacts & companies — the "WhatsApp group" source and filter
• Automations & integrations — the "Send to WhatsApp group" action
• WhatsApp notifications — linking the number