# How to add WhatsApp to Macola > Source: https://netray.co/integrations/macola-whatsapp > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Integrations ## Short answer Macola has no built-in WhatsApp channel, so you add one with a small service that reads Macola's SQL Server tables (or a supported API layer), sends approved template messages through the WhatsApp Business Cloud API, and parses replies into reviewed transactions. Start with outbound status alerts, then add two-way replies where a human confirms before anything is written back. ## System Macola ## Capability whatsapp ## Intro Macola shops, whether on Macola ES or Macola 10, tend to be small and mid-sized make-to-order manufacturers and distributors where the sales desk and the purchasing desk live on the phone. Customers ask 'where is my order' and suppliers confirm dates by text message long before anyone types them into the system. WhatsApp is already where those conversations happen, especially with overseas suppliers and field service crews. The challenge is that Macola is a classic client-server ERP. Many installs are on-premises, some still reach the data through older client tooling, and the database table names carry the legacy module prefixes. There is no webhook framework waiting for you, so the integration has to poll or trigger from the database and own its own message state. The good news is that the useful messages are narrow: order acknowledgements, ship notices, past-due PO nudges, and supplier date confirmations. Those need a handful of reads and, at most, one reviewed write path. ## Use Cases ### Order status on request **Description:** A customer messages their order number and gets the current status, promised ship date and carrier tracking number pulled from the order header and line tables. ### Ship notices **Description:** When a shipment is confirmed in order entry or shipping, a template message goes to the customer contact with the carrier and tracking link. ### Past-due PO nudges **Description:** A nightly query finds open purchase order lines past their promise date and sends the buyer-approved template to the supplier contact asking for a firm date. ### Supplier date confirmation **Description:** A supplier replies 'ship Friday' and the service proposes a new promise date on the PO line for a buyer to accept. ### Quote follow-up **Description:** Open quotes older than a set age trigger an opted-in follow-up message to the contact on the quote. ### Service and delivery coordination **Description:** Drivers and installers send proof-of-delivery photos that are attached to the order record by reference. ## System Surface Macola's data sits in SQL Server on current versions. Order, item and purchasing tables follow module-prefixed names (for example oeordhdr and oeordlin for orders, poordhdr and poordlin for purchase orders, imitmidx for items, with _sql suffixes on some ES installs). Confirm exact names in your own schema before coding. Read access via a dedicated read-only SQL login or views is the lowest-risk path for outbound alerts. Macola ships with developer-facing options that vary by version and edition, such as web services or business-object style interfaces. Ask Exact or your reseller what is licensed on your build rather than assuming one exists. Writes should go through a supported interface or a Macola-approved import routine, not direct inserts into order or PO tables, because posting logic lives in the application. Contact phone numbers are usually in customer, vendor or ship-to records and are often unformatted; plan an E.164 cleanup step. For on-premises installs, the integration service needs an outbound HTTPS path to Meta, and an inbound webhook endpoint must be exposed through a reverse proxy or a cloud relay. ## How It Works ### Register a WhatsApp Business account and number **Detail:** Use the Cloud API directly or a business solution provider. The number cannot be tied to a normal consumer WhatsApp app at the same time. ### Define and submit message templates **Detail:** Create templates for order acknowledgement, ship notice and PO nudge. Business-initiated messages outside the 24-hour customer service window must use approved templates. ### Build the Macola reader **Detail:** A scheduled job or SQL change query selects new shipments, past-due PO lines and acknowledged orders, joins to contact records, and writes to an outbox table owned by the integration, not by Macola. ### Capture opt-in **Detail:** Store consent per contact with timestamp and source. Only message contacts with a recorded opt-in; keep this in the integration's own table. ### Send and track delivery **Detail:** Post to the Cloud API, record message IDs, and update status from the delivery webhook so retries do not double-send. ### Handle inbound replies **Detail:** Receive webhooks, match the sender to a known contact, extract order or PO numbers with simple rules first, and queue suggestions for a person to approve. ### Write back through a supported path **Detail:** Approved promise-date changes are applied using whatever Macola-sanctioned interface you have, with the WhatsApp message ID logged for audit. ## Example Flows ### Ship notice to customer **Trigger:** A shipment is confirmed for an order with an opted-in contact. **Steps:** - The reader finds new shipment rows since the last watermark. - It joins order header, ship-to and carrier tracking fields. - It renders the approved template with order number and tracking link. - It posts to the Cloud API and stores the message ID. **Result:** The customer sees the ship notice within a minute of confirmation and the sales desk gets fewer status calls. ### Supplier replies with a new date **Trigger:** A supplier answers a past-due PO nudge with free text. **Steps:** - The webhook receives the message and matches the sender to a vendor contact. - A parser (or a small language model) extracts the PO number and proposed date. - A task appears for the buyer with the old and new date side by side. - On approval the date change is applied and the supplier gets a confirmation message. **Result:** Promise dates are updated from real supplier input without re-keying, and each change is traceable. ## On Prem WhatsApp itself is a cloud service, so message content always transits Meta. What stays on-premises is everything else: the Macola database, the outbox, the consent table and any language model that interprets replies. Run the integration service on a server inside your network, give it a read-only SQL login, and expose only a narrow webhook endpoint through a reverse proxy. Keep message bodies free of pricing, drawing numbers and personal data beyond what the recipient already knows. If you use a model to read free-text replies, run an open-weight model locally so supplier text never goes to a third-party API, and keep the model limited to extracting fields for human review. ## Security - Use a read-only SQL account or views for outbound reads; never give the messaging service write access to ERP tables. - Store the WhatsApp access token in a secrets store and rotate it; validate the webhook signature on every inbound call. - Record opt-in per contact and honor opt-outs immediately, including STOP-style replies. - Keep templates free of sensitive pricing or technical data, since phones are unmanaged devices. - Log every inbound and outbound message ID against the order or PO reference for audit. ## Options ### Off-the-shelf notification app or BSP workflow tool **Fit:** Good for outbound-only alerts if it can read a SQL view or a flat file export from Macola. **Effort:** Days to a couple of weeks, plus template approval time. ### Build in-house on the Cloud API **Fit:** Fits teams with a developer who knows the Macola schema and wants full control of consent and logging. **Effort:** Roughly two to six weeks for outbound plus a basic reply queue. ### Partner build such as Netray with a Macola reseller **Fit:** Fits when you want two-way replies, free-text understanding on a local model and an approved write-back path. **Effort:** Typically a few weeks for a scoped pilot, depending on the interface you have licensed. ## Pitfalls - Sending business-initiated messages without an approved template or recorded opt-in, which risks quality rating drops and number restrictions. - Polling the production database with heavy queries during order entry peaks; use indexed watermark columns and off-peak windows. - Writing directly into order or PO tables and bypassing posting logic. - Messy phone data that fails E.164 formatting and silently drops messages. - Assuming a customer reply belongs to the latest order; always require an explicit reference or confirm with the sender. ## Faq ### Does Macola have a native WhatsApp integration? **Answer:** Not that I would assume. Macola does not ship a WhatsApp channel, so you add one with a small service that reads the database or a supported interface and talks to the WhatsApp Business Platform. Ask your reseller whether a marketplace add-on exists for your version. ### Can we send WhatsApp messages from an on-premises Macola? **Answer:** Yes. The integration service runs on your network and makes outbound HTTPS calls to the Cloud API. Only the webhook for replies needs an inbound path, which you can place behind a reverse proxy or a small cloud relay. ### Do we need template approval for every message? **Answer:** Messages you start, outside the 24-hour window after a customer writes, must use approved templates. Replies inside that window can be free text. Plan a few templates up front for acknowledgements, ship notices and PO nudges. ### Can WhatsApp replies update Macola automatically? **Answer:** They can, but it is safer to queue them for review first. Parse the reply, show the proposed change to a buyer or sales rep, and apply it through a supported interface only after approval. ### Will this work on both Macola ES and Macola 10? **Answer:** The messaging side is identical. The reader changes with the schema and interfaces on your version, so budget time to confirm table names, contact fields and any licensed web service before you build. ## Search terms macola whatsapp integration, whatsapp for macola, macola whatsapp api, macola erp whatsapp notifications, send whatsapp from macola, macola order status whatsapp, macola purchase order whatsapp, whatsapp business api manufacturing erp, exact macola whatsapp, macola 10 whatsapp --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json