# How to add WhatsApp to Global Shop Solutions > Source: https://netray.co/integrations/global-shop-whatsapp > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Integrations ## Short answer Global Shop Solutions has no native WhatsApp channel, so the usual path is a small middleware service that reads the ERP (ODBC or a licensed API, depending on your version), sends approved template messages through the WhatsApp Business Platform, and writes confirmations back through a controlled import. Keep the first release read-only and notification-only. ## System Global Shop Solutions ## Capability whatsapp ## Intro Most Global Shop Solutions customers are job shops and make-to-order manufacturers: machining, fabrication, aerospace and defense suppliers, electronics. Their customers and suppliers already chat on WhatsApp, especially outside the US, and buyers keep asking where an order is. Today a CSR opens Sales Order Entry, checks the job, and types the answer by hand. WhatsApp adds value where a short, timely message beats an email: a ship notification with a tracking link, a confirmation request to a subcontractor, a quote approval from a customer's mobile phone. It adds risk where free-form messages leak pricing or drawings. Because many Global Shop installs are on-premises Windows servers with a Pervasive/Actian-style database underneath (confirm for your release), the design question is less about WhatsApp and more about how an internet-facing messaging service safely reaches a LAN-only ERP. ## Use Cases ### Shipment notices to customers **Description:** When a shipper is posted for a sales order, send a template message with the PO number, ship date and carrier tracking link to the contact on file. ### Order status on demand **Description:** A customer messages a PO number and gets back the current job stage, promise date and any hold reason, read from the order and job tables. ### Subcontract outside-process confirmations **Description:** Message a plating, heat-treat or NDT vendor when a PO for an outside operation is released and capture a yes/no confirmation of the due date. ### Quote approvals **Description:** Send a quote summary and a Reply 1 to approve button; a reply creates a task for the estimator rather than changing the quote automatically. ### Late-job escalations to sales **Description:** When a job's scheduled completion slips past the promise date, alert the account owner in WhatsApp with the new date and a reason code. ## System Surface Database access: on-prem releases have historically stored data in a Pervasive/Actian Zen (PSQL) style engine reachable via ODBC. A read-only ODBC login is the common route for status lookups. Confirm engine and version with your admin. Vendor APIs and web services: Global Shop Solutions has offered integration options in newer releases. Ask your account team which interface and licence apply to your version rather than assuming one. Export and scheduled reports: the report writer and scheduled exports to CSV or Excel can drop shipment and order data on a share for a middleware job to pick up. Customer and contact data: contact phone numbers live on customer and ship-to records. Many are not stored in international format, so plan a normalisation step. Write-back paths: import utilities or the vendor's supported interface for notes and activity records. Avoid direct SQL inserts into transactional tables. ## How It Works ### Register WhatsApp Business Platform access **Detail:** Use the Cloud API directly through Meta or via a business solution provider. Verify the business, add a phone number not tied to a personal WhatsApp account, and create message templates for each use case. ### Capture opt-in **Detail:** Store a consent flag and timestamp per contact. Add a field or an external table; do not overload a free-text notes field. Business-initiated messages outside the 24 hour window must be approved templates. ### Build a bridge service next to the ERP **Detail:** A small service on the same network reads shipped orders or status changes through ODBC or the supported interface on a schedule, and calls the WhatsApp API outbound over HTTPS. No inbound firewall hole to the ERP is needed. ### Handle inbound messages via webhook **Detail:** Meta posts replies to a public endpoint. Put that endpoint in a DMZ or cloud function that only enqueues messages, and let the on-prem bridge pull them. ### Map replies to safe actions **Detail:** A status question runs a read query. A confirmation creates a task or note for a person. Anything that changes dates or quantities needs human approval. ### Log everything **Detail:** Keep a message ledger with template, contact, order key and delivery status so support can answer what was sent and when. ## Example Flows ### Ship notice with tracking **Trigger:** A packing list is posted for a sales order. **Steps:** - Bridge detects newly shipped lines since the last run. - It looks up the customer contact with a consent flag. - It sends the shipment_notice template with PO, ship date and tracking URL. - It records the delivery receipt from the status webhook. **Result:** Customer sees the shipment on their phone and fewer 'where is it' calls reach the desk. ### Outside-process due date check **Trigger:** An outside-service PO is released to a plating vendor. **Steps:** - Bridge reads the PO and the linked job operation. - It sends the vendor a template asking to confirm the due date. - Vendor taps a quick-reply button or sends a new date. - Reply is logged and a task is created for the buyer to accept the change. **Result:** Buyer sees confirmed or changed dates without chasing by phone. ## On Prem If the ERP server is not allowed to reach the internet, run the bridge in a small server segment that can reach both the ERP over ODBC and the WhatsApp API outbound only. Receive webhooks in a cloud function or DMZ host that stores messages in a queue, and have the bridge pull from that queue over an outbound connection. The ERP database itself never faces the internet. Status answers can be composed by a locally hosted open-weight model if you want natural-language replies without sending ERP data to a third party, though the WhatsApp message content itself still passes through Meta. For ITAR or CUI-bound programs, do not send part numbers or drawings through WhatsApp at all; limit messages to order numbers and dates. ## Security - Use a read-only database account for status queries and a separate, narrowly scoped path for write-back. - Verify the webhook signature from Meta on every inbound request. - Never send pricing, drawings or export-controlled technical data over WhatsApp; templates should carry only references. - Authenticate the contact before returning order status, for example by matching the sending number to a known contact for that customer. - Retain the message ledger under your records policy; WhatsApp is not an archive. ## Options ### Use a no-code automation tool with an ODBC or CSV trigger **Fit:** Fine for one or two notification templates and a low volume. **Effort:** Days, but fragile if the export format or schema changes. ### Build the bridge in-house **Fit:** IT team comfortable with Windows services, ODBC and webhooks. **Effort:** A few weeks including template approval and testing. ### Work with a partner such as Netray **Fit:** You want status lookups, replies and approvals designed with ERP roles and on-prem constraints. **Effort:** Typically a scoped pilot over several weeks, read-only first. ## Pitfalls - Phone numbers stored in free text will fail delivery; normalise to E.164 before launch. - Template approval by Meta can take time and can be rejected for vague wording. - Polling too aggressively against a production ODBC connection can slow users; schedule and index sensibly. - Assuming a message was read because it was sent; use delivery and read statuses and a fallback to email. - Letting replies edit order data directly instead of creating a task for review. ## Faq ### Does Global Shop Solutions have a built-in WhatsApp feature? **Answer:** Not to our knowledge. Ask your Global Shop account team whether a messaging or notification module exists for your release. In practice most customers connect WhatsApp through a bridge that reads the ERP and calls the WhatsApp Business Platform. ### Can we reach the ERP database from WhatsApp directly? **Answer:** No, and you should not try. Messages terminate in a bridge service that you control. The bridge holds a read-only ERP login and exposes only the specific questions you allow, such as order status by PO number. ### Do customers have to opt in? **Answer:** Yes. Business-initiated messages require opt-in and must use approved templates outside the 24 hour customer service window. Capture consent when you collect the contact or on first inbound message and store it. ### Is WhatsApp acceptable for defense work? **Answer:** Treat it as a public channel. Send only non-controlled references such as order numbers and ship dates. Controlled technical data should stay in your approved systems and portals. ### Can replies update the ERP automatically? **Answer:** They can, but we recommend starting with tasks or notes for a person to approve. Date and quantity changes affect scheduling and costing, so automated write-back should come after a trial period with an audit trail. ## Search terms global shop solutions whatsapp integration, whatsapp for global shop solutions, global shop erp whatsapp, global shop solutions order status whatsapp, global shop whatsapp notifications, whatsapp business api manufacturing erp, send shipment notices whatsapp erp, global shop solutions customer notifications --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json