Communication channels

Overview#

Channels are the numbers and accounts Gene App sends and receives messages and calls on: WhatsApp, email, SMS, Messenger, Instagram and CloudTalk. You connect them on the tabs of Settings > Communication, which sits next to Calendars in Settings. Connected conversations appear in the Inbox, and Gene App can reply on them.

• Always available: WhatsApp and Email.
• Only when enabled for your account: Phone, CloudTalk, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram and Providers. CloudTalk is enabled for every workspace today; see CloudTalk.
• Lead sources (Website, Meta Ads, Google Lead Ads, TikTok Lead Ads, Portals, Webhooks) are a separate Settings item, Lead Sources, covered in Lead Sources.

Every connect card is named after the product it connects, as that product names itself. When more than one route connects the same thing, the provider comes after it: WhatsApp via Meta, WhatsApp via Twilio, WhatsApp via 360dialog, iMessage via Sendblue, Phone via Twilio.

Which section you need#

How the channels differ#

Each channel plays by its own rules. The one that matters most is the 24-hour window: whether Gene App can send a free message, or has to wait for the lead to write first.

• WhatsApp via the Meta API: past the window, everything Gene App sends on its own (a reply, a welcome or follow-up step, an appointment reminder, a campaign or flow step) goes out as a template.
• WhatsApp via QR: the number stays online as a linked device, so there is no window. The trade-off is that WhatsApp itself can rate-limit, restrict or unlink a linked number, so number health matters far more here than on the Meta API.
• Messenger and Instagram: every send is a reply; you cannot start a conversation cold.
• Email: what matters instead of a window is a verified sending domain, so first-touch emails send reliably and land in the inbox rather than spam.

When the window has closed#

Gene App checks the relevant window before every send.

• A message you send from the Inbox (WhatsApp via the Meta API): past the window it opens Outside the 24-hour window. This submits your wording to Meta as a template and sends it once approved, usually within minutes.
• A campaign or flow step (WhatsApp via the Meta API): the step becomes one template for everyone it reaches, with each contact's details filled in.
• A step that starts or ends with a merge tag: it cannot be a template under Meta's rules. It is skipped for leads outside the window, and the reason is recorded.
• A team alert to a teammate's own WhatsApp (from Settings > Notifications): on a number connected through the official API (Meta or Twilio), past that teammate's own 24-hour window it goes as that alert's Team alert template. Each alert (new lead, appointment booked, hand-over, task created and so on) has its own utility template with fixed wording, the lead's name and one detail, and an Open in Gene button. Gene App submits an alert's template when someone switches that WhatsApp alert on (or the first time the alert needs it). While it is in review, or if WhatsApp rejects it or files it as anything but utility, that alert is emailed instead; it is never sent as a marketing template. On a QR number it is always a normal message.
• Messenger and Instagram: a closed window shows in the conversation as the reason Gene did not reply.

Choosing how to connect WhatsApp#

There are two ways to connect a WhatsApp number. Both land in the same Inbox and Gene App replies on both, and you can run both at the same time: a Meta API number and one or more QR numbers on one workspace. With a Meta API number connected, the QR option sits under More ways to connect. See Which number replies for how Gene picks the number.

WhatsApp via the Meta API#

The recommended path. It connects your WhatsApp Business number through the official Meta API: one sign-in and Gene App can send and receive on your number.

• Connect WhatsApp: starts the Meta sign-in flow to link your WhatsApp Business Account. Shows Reconnect once linked.
• Advanced setup (manual credentials): a disclosure for entering credentials by hand: App ID, App Secret, WhatsApp Business Account ID, Phone Number ID, Facebook Page ID, Webhook Verify Token, and a Long-Lived Access Token. Most accounts use the one-click sign-in instead.
• Disconnect: after a confirmation, Gene App stops sending and receiving on that number until you connect again. A connected Messenger or Instagram keeps working.
• Change number: runs the same Meta sign-in and replaces the stored number with the one you pick.
• Already using the WhatsApp Business App? (only where enabled, and only while nothing is connected): Keep my Business App connects the number you already run in the WhatsApp Business App without moving it off. Your team keeps chatting from their phones, Gene App works on the same number, and your last 6 months of chats come across. The card shows the import's progress, and chats appear as they arrive. If the import fails, Retry import works within 24 hours of connecting; after that the number has to be disconnected and connected again.

The 24-hour window and templates#

Meta only allows free-form messages within 24 hours of the lead's last message. Inside the window Gene App replies normally. Outside it, WhatsApp blocks free text, so Gene App submits a pre-approved template for the follow-up. It sends it once Meta approves it and the message is still relevant. A first message to a number that has never written to you also needs a template.

Language: the template is written in the lead's language and submitted to Meta under that language, the same way a welcome template is, so a Dutch lead gets a Dutch follow-up. It follows Languages Gene replies in on the Sales agent page: a lead's language that is not on your list, or not known yet, gets your first listed language (with All languages, an unknown language stays English). It is also English when the language is one WhatsApp templates do not support.

Category: Gene's follow-ups in a conversation the lead started (the AI's follow-ups, its reply when a known lead sends a new inquiry, and the welcome flow's later steps) are submitted as Utility templates, like the welcome itself, because they answer something the lead asked about. As Utility, WhatsApp does not show the lead the "offers and announcements" opt-out prompt under them. If Meta rejects one as not Utility, Gene App submits the same words again as Marketing, so the lead still gets the message. If Meta approves one but moves it to Marketing, Gene App records it as Marketing. Templates your team writes in the Inbox, monthly updates and project pushes are Marketing.

Reused, not duplicated: Meta caps a WhatsApp Business Account at 6,000 templates, so Gene App does not submit a template the account already has. When the same wording in the same language and category is already approved or in review on the connected account, Gene App uses that one instead of creating a duplicate. Only text-only templates are reused this way: a template that also has media, a header, a footer or buttons is never sent in place of a plain message (welcome, Inbox or follow-up), even when its words match.

Named and counted: templates Gene App creates are named for what they are, for example gene_welcome_website_forms_step1_utility_… (the source, the step of the flow, the category), which is what WhatsApp Manager lists. The Template library shows them by purpose instead ("Welcome · Website Forms"), one row per message with its languages by name, and shows how many of the 6,000 the account is using.

One-offs are cleaned up: when a single message written for one lead goes out past the 24-hour window (one you send from the Inbox, or a reply Gene writes), its wording is submitted as a template for that one message. Gene App deletes it from your WhatsApp account a few minutes after the message is delivered or read, so it leaves the Template library and stops counting toward the 6,000.

These one-offs are the only templates Gene App deletes. Welcome, follow-up, flow and library templates, the Team alert templates, and set messages reused for every lead such as appointment reminders, are never deleted.

Switching accounts: every template is submitted to the WhatsApp Business Account that is connected at that moment. If you switch accounts, welcome templates the new account does not have are submitted to it again automatically.

When you get stuck#

• A follow-up is stuck waiting: it is almost always the 24-hour window. The template has to clear Meta review before it can send.
• Token expired or revoked: sends stop and a banner appears on the Communication page with a Reconnect link (your CEO team group is also notified). Reconnect through the Meta sign-in to restore it.
• Billing required: a WhatsApp Business Account needs a payment method on Meta's side. Without one, Meta stops sending after the free tier (about 5 messages).
  • What you see: the card shows a Billing required banner, and Gene App pauses AI sending on this channel so it does not keep retrying into a wall. Messages you send by hand still go out, so you can verify the fix.
  • To fix it: add a payment method in Meta's Billing hub (Open Meta billing on the banner links there and lists the steps), then press I added it, resume. The next message confirms it with Meta; if billing is still missing, the pause comes back.
  • You do not have to use the button: the first message that actually reaches a lead (for example one you send by hand) clears the pause on its own, and paused conversations resume automatically.
• Display name needs approval (error 131037): Meta rejects the send with "WhatsApp provided number needs display name approval before message can be sent". This happens when the display name leads see on this number is not currently approved.
  • Not only a first-time thing: Meta can ask for approval again on a name it already approved, so a number that has been sending fine can start failing on this later.
  • What breaks: every affected send fails until it is fixed. There is nothing wrong with the connection itself.
  • To fix it: in WhatsApp Manager, resubmit (re-sync) the display name for this number. The Display name row under Business verification (Meta) shows whether it is currently approved.
  • Alert: after 3 sends in a row fail this way, Gene App also notifies you in-app so it does not go unnoticed.

Connecting through a hosted sign-up#

This variant appears only when a hosted WhatsApp sign-up (through 360dialog or YCloud) is enabled for your account.

Some accounts connect the official WhatsApp Business API through a hosted sign-up page instead of the in-app Meta popup, or have the connection set up for them by the Gene team. Either way you sign in with your Facebook business account, pick your number, and Gene App takes it from there.

Everything else on this page about the Meta API (the 24-hour window, templates, follow-ups) applies exactly the same.

Business verification (Meta)#

Verification always comes from Meta directly, never from Gene or any other software. It is done once, in your own Meta Business Manager. It raises your sending limits and shows your business name to leads instead of just a number.

Once your WhatsApp is connected via the Meta API, the WhatsApp tab of Settings > Communication shows a How your business appears on WhatsApp card with four live statuses read straight from Meta. The card states where each one stands and links the screen that changes it.

All four are Meta processes under your own account. Gene cannot submit them for you (nobody can, including other tools that claim to), but the card always shows where you stand and links the exact Meta screen for each. You can also ask Gene in the AI sidebar; it reads your live statuses and answers about your own account.

Sending status#

This one sits at the top because it matters most. The three below it are cosmetic, and a number can be fully disconnected while all three of them read fine.

Green means Meta has the number connected and code-verified. Red means every send fails, and the row names which of these it is:

• Code verification expired (or Disconnected · code verification expired): Meta's code verification for a number lapses, which disconnects it. Until it is redone, every send fails. Use Re-verify number on the row.
  • Meta sends a six digit code to the number itself, by automated voice call (works on landlines) or SMS (mobiles only), so you need someone who can answer that phone.
  • Meta sometimes also asks for the number's two-step PIN, the one set in Meta's own popup when the number was connected. Gene cannot read or reset it, so the dialog asks you for it.
  • There is nothing to click for any of this in Meta Business when the number is connected through a tech provider, which is why it is done here instead.
• Flagged, Restricted, Banned, Migrated, Pending, Not verified: Meta-side judgements about the number that no button in Gene can clear. The row links WhatsApp Manager, where Meta states the reason.
• Status unavailable right now: Gene could not read Meta just now. It deliberately says nothing rather than guessing at a disconnection.

Company verification#

The one-time paperwork check in Meta Business Manager (legal name, address, a registration document). It is free. It raises your sending limits and is required before the blue checkmark. The status belongs to the Meta Business that owns your WhatsApp account, and the card names that business.

• Not started: the row links the Security Centre.
• In review: Meta is checking the documents, usually a few business days.
• Needs attention: Meta could not verify with what was submitted and wants different documents.
• Verified.

Display name#

Whether Meta approved the business name leads see in chats. Until it is approved, and if it is declined, leads see your bare phone number instead. Fix it in WhatsApp Manager by submitting a name that matches your business.

Meta can also ask for approval again on a name it already approved. That is why a number that has been sending fine can start failing on error 131037 (see When you get stuck).

Blue checkmark#

The badge next to your business name in WhatsApp chats.

• It is not Meta Verified: on a number connected through the API, this is not the paid Meta Verified subscription. Meta only sells Meta Verified for the WhatsApp Business app, so it cannot be bought for an API number at all.
• The only route: Meta's free Official Business Account review, which you apply for in WhatsApp Manager.
• How Meta decides: it grants it on notability, meaning press coverage and public presence, not on payment. There is nothing to buy and no way to pay to speed it up.
• Order: company verification usually comes first.

Meta test numbers#

Every new Meta app is issued a free test number, in the +1 555 range, so a developer can call the API before owning a real line. If that is what got connected, Gene says so on the How your business appears on WhatsApp card.

A test number looks exactly like a connected number, but Meta caps it hard:

• It only delivers to the handful of recipient numbers you register by hand in the Meta dashboard. Every other send fails with error 131030.
• Its display name is never reviewed, so it sits unapproved no matter how many times it is resubmitted.

There is no setting that lifts either limit. To message real leads, connect your own WhatsApp Business number in WhatsApp Manager, then reconnect it here.

WhatsApp via QR#

Connect a number you already use, on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app, by scanning a QR code. The number stays primary on your phone and keeps working there as normal. Gene App joins it as a linked device, the same way WhatsApp Web does, and keeps it online so Gene can reply around the clock.

There is no 24-hour window and there are no templates on this path: Gene App can reply or follow up at any time. What you watch instead is the number's health (see Keeping a QR number healthy).

Before you start#

• A paid plan. On the free plan the connect button is replaced by WhatsApp by QR needs a paid plan, with Choose a plan. For a Manager it opens the plan dialog right there (with the card form when no card is on file), and you can connect as soon as the plan starts. Anyone else is taken to Settings > Billing. See Lines per plan for how many numbers each plan includes.
• The phone with that WhatsApp on it, unlocked and in your hand. Linking takes about a minute.
• A Manager, if every line your plan includes is already in use. An extra line costs credits each month, and only a Manager can agree to that.

Connect a number#

1. Go to Settings > Communication > WhatsApp and click Connect your existing WhatsApp. Once you have a number connected, use Add another number under your numbers instead.
2. Pick the country your number is in. Gene App links the number from that region, which makes the link more reliable.
3. If your plan's lines are all in use, a Manager agrees to the extra line's monthly price (Agree and continue). Nothing is charged yet: see Lines per plan.
4. On your phone, open WhatsApp, go to Settings > Linked devices > Link a device, and scan the QR code on screen.
5. Wait for Connected. Right after the scan the screen reads "Code scanned, finishing the connection. This may take a few minutes." and the status shows Authenticating….

Once it is linked you can send yourself a test: enter another WhatsApp number and Gene messages it from the new line.

Log in with a code instead#

If you cannot scan the screen, link with a code typed into your phone:

1. Under the QR code, click Log in with phone number instead.
2. Enter your WhatsApp number with its country code and click Get code. Gene App shows an 8-character code.
3. On your phone, open WhatsApp, go to Settings > Linked devices > Link a device, choose Link with phone number instead, and type the code.

Codes expire after about a minute. If it does not work, click Get a new code. Back to QR code returns to scanning.

If the QR does not link#

• The QR code keeps changing. That is normal: WhatsApp refreshes it about every 20 seconds. Scan whichever code is showing.
• "Couldn't link your WhatsApp": WhatsApp did not finish linking. The code may have expired, or the number is already linked to another device. Click Try again for a fresh code.
• "Taking longer than expected": the QR code probably expired before it was scanned. A code left unscanned is released after about 5 minutes. Start over with your phone ready to scan.
• Setup failed: start the connection again from Settings > Communication > WhatsApp.
• Wrong country: the country cannot be edited once chosen. Use the ⋮ menu on the number's card and pick Change country. This disconnects the current line and starts a fresh QR in the new region.

Lines per plan#

Connecting a number by QR needs a paid plan, and each plan includes a set number of QR lines. You can go past that: every extra line is 20 credits a month on every plan, paid in Gene credits (so it costs less money on a bigger plan, where a credit is cheaper), with no card needed. The Meta API path is not limited or charged this way.

• Your count: the WhatsApp tab shows where you stand, for example "2 of 3 WhatsApp lines on your Growth plan". It counts connected numbers. A number still waiting for its QR scan is named on its own ("1 more is waiting for a QR scan.").
• Adding an extra line: Add another number shows the price next to it when the next line is a paid extra.
  • The connect screen shows the price before the QR, plus your balance when it is short of a month ("You have 8 credits. This number needs 20 a month."), with a Top up in Billing link.
  • A Manager agrees with Agree and continue, or picks Not now. You can agree even when the balance is short.
• When you are charged: agreeing charges nothing. The credits are taken once the number is connected, then on your plan's renewal date every month while it stays connected, so a QR that is never scanned, or never links, costs nothing. The first charge only covers the days until your plan renews. The number's card shows what it costs and when it is charged next, which is your plan's renewal date, for example "Extra line: 20 credits a month, next on Oct 30".
• Not enough credits: the number stays connected and its card reads Not enough credits for this number. Top up in Billing opens Settings > Billing, and Retry (Managers) tries the charge again at once. Gene App also retries every hour.
• Reconnecting is free: reconnecting a number (Reconnect on its card) is never a new line, and numbers you connected before these limits keep working.
• Disconnecting: stops a paid extra line's charge from the next month. So does a number that ends without a Disconnect (banned, or released by the provider).
  • When a number inside your plan is disconnected, a paid extra takes the free line at its next monthly charge and stops costing credits.
  • A disconnected number leaves your count, so linking it again later is a new line.

See Billing for how the credits are charged.

Keeping a QR number healthy#

The risk on this path is number health, not windows. WhatsApp can slow a linked number down, restrict it, unlink the device, or ban it if it looks like spam. Pace new numbers, and see WhatsApp Health Protection for what Gene App does and does not hold back.

The connected number's card shows these states:

• Some messages are failing (amber; reads Some messages failing while a number is connecting): the connection provider saw several sends from this number fail in a short time, for example 2 out of 5 within an hour.
  • It is not a limit: it reports what happened. Gene App is not holding anything back, WhatsApp has not necessarily limited the number, and messages keep sending while it shows.
  • Common causes: messages to numbers that are not on WhatsApp, and short connection drops. If it stays, open a failed message in the Inbox to see why it failed.
  • It clears on its own: either when the provider reports the number recovered, or once Gene App sees it sending normally again. That means a day after the warning appeared, with at least 20 messages delivered since and no more than 1 in 10 failing, then or in the last day.
• WhatsApp is limiting sends (red): the provider reports WhatsApp throttling this number. Send less for now; it usually recovers on its own. Gene App never clears this one itself, only the provider can say it has lifted.
• Restricted: WhatsApp is restricting the number. Hover the warning icon for the reason and, when WhatsApp gives one, how long until it clears.
• Device unpaired: WhatsApp unlinked the device. This often precedes a temporary restriction. Reconnect to re-link.
• Banned (permanent): the number can no longer be used. Connect a different number.
• Message rejected on delivery: the recipient's WhatsApp refused the message (a wrong number or a block). Where email is connected, Gene App can fall back to email for that contact. When the refusal is about the number itself (not on WhatsApp, or no country code), Gene marks the contact Not on WhatsApp. When they left an email, their welcome moves to email if the source has Email after WhatsApp or your workspace sends email from its own verified domain, and their queued follow-ups move to email only in the first case; whatever cannot move stops. See Nurturing.

Live restriction and disconnect banners (only where WhatsApp message actions are enabled for your account):

• A restriction in force: when WhatsApp restricts a number, for example so it can't message new people until a set time, a banner under that number's card gives WhatsApp's explanation and a countdown ("Lifts in 3h 20m"), or "WhatsApp gave no end time for this." The same line shows at the top of the app (click Details to come here) and above any conversation on that number. It disappears once the end time passes.
• Can't message new people: during this restriction the number can still message people it has already chatted with. The Inbox composer warns before you write to someone new on it, because that send will fail until the restriction lifts.
• Why a number disconnected: a disconnected number's card shows WhatsApp's reason and what to do next. When reconnecting cannot bring it back (a new number is needed), the warning at the top of the app reads Details instead of Reconnect.

Reconnect on the card re-links a dropped number. Each reconnect is a fresh device pairing, and repeated re-pairing is itself something that gets numbers flagged. So it is limited to once every 30 minutes (the button reads "Try again in …" until then). If Reconnect is not offered yet, the connection is still being cleaned up; wait a moment and refresh.

Keep using WhatsApp on your phone. WhatsApp logs out linked devices when the phone itself has not been used for about 14 days, which unlinks Gene App too.

Deleted WhatsApp messages#

This appears only where WhatsApp message actions are enabled for your account, once a QR number is connected.

When someone deletes a WhatsApp message for everyone, Gene App records it (see Message bubbles and statuses). This setting on the WhatsApp tab decides what your team sees in the Inbox. It saves as soon as you pick.

• Show with a badge (the default): the text and any media stay readable, marked Deleted by sender or Deleted by us.
• Hide text: the bubble reads "This message was deleted" in place of the text and any media.

Either way Gene treats the message as taken back and never quotes it to the lead.

One WhatsApp number per agent#

This appears only when one number per agent is enabled for your account. It is off by default, and it needs connecting by QR.

Each salesperson connects their own WhatsApp number, and the leads on it are theirs. Every agent number is a QR line, so it counts toward the lines your plan includes (see Lines per plan).

• My WhatsApp (My Profile): where an agent connects their own number with Connect my WhatsApp (scan a QR, or log in with a code), sees whether it is live, and reconnects or disconnects it. Agents can only manage their own number.
• Who owns each number (Settings > Communication > WhatsApp): every connected number shows its owner, or Shared (workspace).
  • A manager changes it with the Assigned to picker, and can add a number for someone with Connect a line for a team member. Each person holds one number.
  • Only teammates who have accepted their invite and signed in can be picked. When nobody qualifies yet, the picker says "Nobody can have a line yet" instead of listing anyone.
  • A number named after its owner takes the new owner's name when it changes hands, and is called WhatsApp once it is shared. A name you typed stays.
• Team page: each member shows WhatsApp connected, WhatsApp linking, WhatsApp disconnected or No WhatsApp, so you can see who still has to connect.
• New leads: a new lead who messages an agent's number is assigned to that agent. A lead who already belongs to someone else keeps their owner, and is answered on the number they wrote to.
• Which number sends: replies, Gene's answers (voice notes included) and automated messages go out on the number the conversation is on, otherwise on the lead owner's own number. A new lead whose agent has no number yet is put on a shared number when there is one, never on another agent's.
• Alerts to your phone: a new-lead alert to an agent's own WhatsApp goes out on a shared number when there is one, otherwise on another number in the workspace. It never goes from the agent's own number, since WhatsApp cannot message itself. When the agent's own number is the only one, the alert is skipped.
• Connection warning: the WhatsApp warning at the top of the app shows an agent the state of their own number, and its Reconnect link opens My WhatsApp on My Profile. Managers, anyone given Manage channels, and anyone without a number of their own see the workspace's, with Reconnect opening Settings > Communication > WhatsApp.
• When someone leaves: deactivating or removing a team member (on the Team page or by asking Gene), or changing their role to Tech or External Partner, turns their number into a shared workspace number. The number and its conversations stay, and nothing has to be reconnected.

People on each number (number teams)#

This appears only when number teams are enabled for your account, on top of one number per agent. It is off by default.

Several people can work the same WhatsApp number, and each of them sees every lead on it. A number can also be kept to only those people.

• Who can see this number (on each number's card, Settings > Communication > WhatsApp):
  • Everyone in the workspace (the default) leaves visibility as it is.
  • Only selected people and roles means a lead on this number is seen only by the people and roles on it, the person the lead is assigned to, and managers.
  • Managers always see every number. Agents or assistants who otherwise see every lead no longer see the leads on a selected number they are not on.
• Roles (shown with Only selected people and roles): tick All agents or All assistants to open the number to everyone in that role, on top of the people picked by name.
• People on this number: a manager picks who is on the number. Each setting saves as you change it, and everyone else sees them read-only.
  • The person in New leads go to is always on it. When New leads go to changes, the previous person comes off the number, unless a manager put them on it by name.
  • Someone who leaves the workspace, or moves to Tech or External Partner, comes off every number.
• What they see: everyone on a number, by name or by role, sees every lead on it, even with Restrict lead visibility on (see Team), plus their own leads as before.
• Which number a lead is on: the number the lead first wrote to.
• New leads go to (the picker that reads Assigned to without number teams): new leads on the number go to this person. Choose Take turns and new leads rotate among the people on the number instead, and on a number opened to a role, among everyone in that role too.
• In the Inbox: when the workspace has more than one WhatsApp number, each conversation row and the thread header show which number replies go out from (see Which number replies).

WhatsApp calls in the browser#

Calling works on numbers connected with WhatsApp via QR. Every workspace sees Call; without such a number it opens "Calling needs a Gene WhatsApp number", with a link to this tab.

With calling on for a number, you can ring a contact on WhatsApp from Gene App and talk through your computer's microphone and speakers. Calling is a paid add-on you turn on per number.

What calling costs#

Each number connected with WhatsApp via QR is with or without calling, your choice. Numbers on the Meta API cannot be called from.

Calling is 10 credits a month per number, on every plan (what a credit costs depends on your plan).

• Why this price: it is the provider's own price, with no margin.
• Who pays it: every number with calling on, numbers inside your plan included.

Turn calling on or off#

1. Click the Calling switch on the number on this tab, or Call on a number that does not have calling yet.
2. Both open Turn on WhatsApp calling, which says what calling gives you and its price.
3. A Manager presses Turn on calling (from the switch) or Turn on and call (from Call, which then places the call).

• When you are charged: turning it on takes the credits for the days until your plan renews, then 10 credits on your plan's renewal date every month while calling stays on. The window says how much it takes now, for example "Turning it on now takes 4 credits for the days until Oct 30."
• If the balance is short: when it does not cover what turning it on takes, nothing is turned on and the window to top up opens.
• Before the number connects: on the connect screen the Calling switch sits under the QR code, so a Manager can switch it on before scanning. It then reads "Turns on when this number connects, for 10 credits a month. Nothing is charged before then." When the number connects, Gene App turns calling on and charges the first month, the same as turning it on later. If the balance does not cover it, calling stays off and the bell says "WhatsApp calling is not on yet". Top up in Billing, then use the Calling switch on the number's card.
• Not a Manager: you see "Only a Manager can turn on calling." Ask a Manager on your team to turn it on for that number.
• Other open tabs: when this is the first number with calling in the workspace, Gene App tabs already open elsewhere start ringing for it within about a minute.
• Turning it off: use the Calling switch. It takes effect at once, with no Save, and the monthly charge stops.
  • The current month is not refunded.
  • Turning calling back on before that month runs out costs nothing until then.
• When a month is short of credits: calling turns off for that number and the bell says so ("WhatsApp calling is off on +1 …"). Top up in Billing, then turn it back on.

Make and take calls#

• Placing a call: Call (WhatsApp icon) in the header of a contact with a phone number, or Call on WhatsApp (WhatsApp icon) next to search at the top of every WhatsApp conversation. The browser asks for the microphone the first time.
  • Which number calls: the number the lead already chats with, otherwise your own number, otherwise a shared number.
  • No calling on that number yet: Call opens the turn-on pop-up instead.
  • No WhatsApp via QR number to call from (none connected, or the conversation is on the Meta API): Call opens "Calling needs a Gene WhatsApp number", with a link to this tab.
• Incoming calls: a banner at the top right shows who is calling, with Answer and Decline. It shows for everyone who can use that number: with one number per agent, an agent's own number rings for that agent and anyone who manages channels, and a shared number rings for everyone. On a number where Gene AI answers calls (below), the team is not rung.
• During a call: a small panel shows the status and time, with Mute and Hang up. The call carries on while you move between pages in Gene App. Closing or reloading the tab ends your side of it, so the browser asks first.
• Call log: the contact's Activity tab lists their recent WhatsApp calls, incoming or outgoing, with how long each lasted or how it ended (No answer, Declined, Call failed, Call dropped).
• Browser: Chrome on a computer only. Elsewhere Gene App says "Use Chrome on desktop for calls." and an incoming call can only be declined.

Gene AI answers calls#

Only on workspaces where it has been enabled. On a number with calling on, a Gene AI answers calls switch sits under the Calling switch on the number's card.

• Turning it on: a Manager flips the switch. It takes effect at once, with no Save. Anyone else is told "Only a Manager can change who answers calls on this number."
• What happens on a call: Gene AI picks up incoming WhatsApp calls on that number and answers questions about your listings and company, from what you set up on the AI page (company details, FAQ, listings). It introduces itself with the assistant name from the AI page; with no name set it opens with "Hey, you're through to" and your company name. It talks like a person on the phone, in short replies, and speaks with the voice picked for voice notes on the AI page (or a natural conversational voice if none is picked). The team is not rung. If Gene AI does not pick up within a few seconds, the call rings the team as usual.
• Links, files and meetings: Gene AI cannot send anything or book a meeting during the call, and it never reads out a web address. When the caller wants a link, a file or a meeting, it tells them the team will send it or confirm a time on WhatsApp right after the call, so read the transcript and follow up.
• Afterwards: the call shows Gene AI answered in the contact's call log; click it to read the transcript. The transcript is also saved as a note on the contact.
• Limits for now: incoming calls only, in English, up to 4 minutes. Calls Gene AI answers cost no credits beyond the number's calling.

Which number replies#

When your workspace has more than one WhatsApp number (several QR numbers, or a QR number and a Meta API number), Gene and your team reply from the number the lead last wrote to. WhatsApp only lets a business answer from the number the person messaged, so a lead who wrote to your Meta API number is answered on the Meta API number, and a lead who wrote to a QR number is answered on that QR number.

• A new lead who has not written yet: the first message goes out from the QR number the lead was matched to when they came in (the number for their country), otherwise from a connected QR number. With one number per agent, it is the lead owner's number, otherwise a shared one. Otherwise, a welcome or Gene follow-up to a lead not matched to a number goes out from a connected number where Gene replies on this number is on. The Meta API number sends first messages only when the workspace has no QR number.
• In the Inbox: each conversation row and the thread header show the number replies go out from, by its name or its last four digits. A conversation answered on the Meta API number shows API number.
• If that number is gone: when the number the lead wrote to is disconnected for good, replies go out from another connected number.

Gene replies on this number#

Each QR number's card has a Gene replies on this number switch. It is on for every number unless you turn it off.

• Off: messages to this number land in the Inbox and your team replies. Gene does not answer them, and it sends no follow-ups or welcome messages to leads on this number. Gene's welcome and follow-ups to new leads go out from your numbers where it is on instead. With one number per agent they do not move: a lead who has not written yet would be messaged from their owner's number (or the shared one), so when Gene is off there, Gene sends that lead no welcome or follow-ups and your team reaches them from the Inbox. With Gene off on every QR number, Gene sends no welcome or follow-ups to leads who have not written yet, even when you also have a Meta API number. A thread where Gene stayed quiet for this reason says "Gene is off on this number".
• On: Gene answers this number like any other.
• Only a Manager can change it. It takes effect at once, with no Save.
• Gene keeps answering on your other numbers. To stop Gene on all of WhatsApp, use the WhatsApp switch on Flows > Inbound instead (see Inbound). Calls are separate: see Gene AI answers calls.

WhatsApp Health Protection#

WhatsApp Health Protection is a switch on the WhatsApp tab that keeps Gene App's own outreach under a daily volume ceiling. It is on for every workspace by default. Turning it off needs you to type a confirmation phrase, which is deliberate.

What the protection does#

This is the one WhatsApp limit Gene App enforces.

• The ceiling: Gene App keeps everything it sends first, outreach and follow-ups, under about 1,000 WhatsApp messages in any 24 hours across the whole workspace.
• Past the ceiling: anything over it rolls over to the next day rather than being dropped.
• Replies are never held back, at any volume, to people who messaged you. A reply is never what gets a number into trouble.
• Campaigns: on the campaign wizard, a send pace above that ceiling shows the same warning. Gene App will spread the campaign out rather than refuse it.

Why there is a daily ceiling#

WhatsApp watches new and low-trust numbers for the pattern of a bulk sender. The cheapest signal it has is a sudden burst of outbound messages to people who have not written back.

A number that trips it is rate-limited, then restricted, and in the worst case banned. At that point the conversations on it are gone and the number cannot be reused. The ceiling exists because recovering a restricted number is largely out of anyone's hands, so the only reliable move is not getting there.

What volume cannot fix#

This is the part the switch cannot promise, and the reason the card calls it a protection rather than a guarantee. WhatsApp judges a number on three things, and Gene App can only hold down one of them:

• How much you send. This one Gene App controls, and that is what the protection is.
• What you write. Messages that read like an untargeted broadcast, especially identical text sent to many people at once, are flagged on content regardless of pace.
• Whether the people you wrote to wanted to hear from you. This is the big one. WhatsApp weighs "block" and "report" heavily, and a small number of reports from a cold list will restrict a number that has never gone near the volume ceiling. Messaging people who asked to hear from you is worth more than any setting on this page.

A fourth thing helps, which is age: a WhatsApp account that has been running steadily for months has more headroom with WhatsApp than one that started last week. That is the account's real age, which WhatsApp knows and Gene App cannot see.

New-number pacing (tracked, not enforced)#

Next to the daily ceiling, Gene App keeps a gentler allowance per number. Nothing is held back when a number goes past it: Gene App uses it to spot sending that looks risky for a young number and to alert its own team, never to stop your outreach.

• The allowance: about 5 Gene-started messages a day at first, growing to 10 by day 2, 40 by day 7, 200 by day 14 and the full 1,000 from day 28. A first message to someone who has never written counts for more than one to someone who wrote this week.
• Where the age starts: "new" means new to Gene App. Gene App cannot see when a WhatsApp account was created, so the age starts from the first time the number went live in Gene App.
  • The exception: when you link a number, WhatsApp replays its recent chat history. If any of those chats is older than the connection, Gene App counts from the oldest one instead, because it proves the account was in use by then.
  • Still a lower bound: an account that is years old but only replayed last month's chats is counted from last month.
  • Where the pacing is shown, it says which of the two dates it is counting from.

Turning protection off#

The switch exists because some workspaces run a number that is already established and want to send at their own pace. With it off, Gene App does not cap daily volume at all, and a large outreach can get the number restricted.

That is why it asks you to type the phrase: it is not a preference, it is accepting the risk yourself.

What the amber warning is not#

"Some messages are failing" on the connected-number card is not this ceiling and not the new-number pacing. It is the connection provider reporting failed sends (see Keeping a QR number healthy), and it clears on its own once sends are going through again.

Connected number card#

Once a WhatsApp number is linked (either path), its card on the WhatsApp tab shows:

• The phone number and a status: Online, Linking, Disconnected, Subscription ended, or Failed, plus a health indicator.
• Reconnect: restores a dropped connection.
• Resync messages (in the number's ⋮ menu): compares WhatsApp's history with your Inbox and restores anything missing, such as messages typed on the phone during a disconnect. You can leave the page while it runs; a long one carries on in the background.
• Add exclusions: opens the "Contacts Gene won't reply to" picker (see below). Available once the number is ready.
• WhatsApp profile (in the number's ⋮ menu, on a ready QR number, only where WhatsApp message actions are enabled for your account): edit what people see on this number in WhatsApp, without opening WhatsApp on your phone (see Popups and drawers).
• A restriction or disconnect reason (only where WhatsApp message actions are enabled): a banner under the card while WhatsApp restricts the number, with a countdown, or WhatsApp's reason when the number disconnected (see Keeping a QR number healthy).
• Disconnect: stops Gene App sending and receiving on the number. Your number stays on your phone, and you can reconnect later.
• Extra line: 20 credits a month, next on Oct 30: shown on a QR number that is a paid extra line, with the credits its next charge takes and the date of that charge. That date is your plan's renewal date, so on a plan that renews on the 30th it reads "next on Oct 30".
• Not enough credits for this number: shown on a paid extra line when the balance did not cover its credits (see Lines per plan).
• Gene replies on this number: a switch on each WhatsApp via QR number. Off leaves this number's messages to your team. Only a Manager can change it. See Gene replies on this number.
• Calling: a switch on each WhatsApp via QR number. Only a Manager can change it. See WhatsApp calls in the browser.
  • While off, it shows the price, for example "Call contacts on WhatsApp from Gene App, for 10 credits a month".
  • Once on, it shows the next charge, on your plan's renewal date, for example "On: 10 credits a month, next on Oct 30".
  • On a number still waiting on its QR code, a switched-on Calling reads "Turns on when this number connects, for 10 credits a month. Nothing is charged before then."
  • A number Gene set up for calling reads "On, set up by Gene." with no switch.

If the connection expires or a number is flagged, a banner appears with the reason and a Reconnect link.

Popups and drawers#

• Connect your WhatsApp (QR): pick a country, then scan the live QR code or log in with a code. The full walkthrough is in Connect a number. Without a paid plan it shows Choose a plan instead; when your plan's lines are all in use it first asks a Manager to agree to the extra line. Under the QR code, a Manager can switch Calling on for the number before it connects (see Turn calling on or off).
• Turn on WhatsApp calling: what calling gives you, its price in credits a month for the number, and Turn on calling (or Turn on and call) for a Manager. Opened by the Calling switch or by Call on a number without calling. See WhatsApp calls in the browser.
• Contacts Gene won't reply to: pick saved contacts (family, friends) Gene App should ignore. Their messages will not reach your inbox and Gene App never replies to them. Each tick saves on its own; there is no Save button.
• WhatsApp profile: opened from a QR number's ⋮ menu (only where WhatsApp message actions are enabled). What people see on that number in WhatsApp, one number at a time.
  • Display name (up to 25 characters), About (up to 139) and Profile photo, with Remove to take the photo off.
  • On a WhatsApp Business account the name is read-only here (change it in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone), and Business details appear below: Description, Email, Websites (up to two), Address, Categories (search WhatsApp's list, up to 3, at least one) and Opening hours (a timezone, then each day closed, open 24 hours, by appointment, or custom hours with up to two time ranges).
  • There is no Save button. Text fields save to WhatsApp when you leave the field, press Enter, or close the popup, never part way through typing, because WhatsApp limits how often a name can change. A new photo uploads as soon as you pick it, and each field shows its own Saving... / Saved marker.
  • WhatsApp accepts the photo as a square JPG or PNG, at least 192x192, under 5 MB.
• Disconnect WhatsApp: confirms stopping send and receive on the number. For a QR number without a paid plan it also says that connecting it again later needs a plan.

Email#

This tab appears only when email is enabled for your account. It is on for new accounts.

Email lets Gene App send and receive email alongside your messaging channels, with the thread in the same Inbox.

Every email Gene App or your team sends inside an existing email conversation goes out as "Re: <subject>" with the reply headers set, so it lands in the same thread in the lead's mailbox (Gmail included) instead of starting a new one. On a connected Gmail mailbox, the copy in your own mailbox also joins the earlier emails as one conversation, rather than showing as a separate row.

Gene's email inbox: the mailbox Gene App sends and replies from, for appointment confirmations, calendar reminders and its own email conversations with leads. A dedicated inbox for Gene is recommended.

Connect your inbox: the simplest path is to link your own mailbox with one click, using the Connect Gmail or Connect Outlook card on the Email tab.

• Supported: Gmail / Google Workspace and Outlook / Office 365, each connected through PipeDream's verified apps, so there is no DNS to set up and no unverified-app warning.
• What Gene App does with it: it sends and replies from your real address, and only surfaces threads for contacts you already have a conversation with. To turn new emails into new contacts, forward your address to Gene App (see Receiving on your own address below).
• Replies: a reply a contact sends to your connected mailbox appears in the Inbox automatically within about a minute. Sync now on that card forces an immediate check.

Sending domain: for reliable delivery, connect your own sending domain on the same Email tab, under Connect your domain.

1. Gene App creates the domain with the email provider and returns DNS records (SPF and DKIM) for you to add.
2. Once the provider verifies them, email sends from your address (for example [email protected]). To use another name before the @, type it under Send mail from on the domain card. It saves as you type; leave it blank for hello. Replies always reach you, so avoid noreply; common choices are bookings and support.

Connect your main domain (yourcompany.com), not a subdomain such as mail.yourcompany.com. With a subdomain, leads see [email protected] in the From line. With the main domain they see [email protected], sending stays isolated on a send. subdomain underneath, and your existing email keeps working because the records sit on their own prefixes. A domain already connected on a subdomain shows a Switch to button for the main domain; you add its DNS records once, same as before, and sending pauses until they verify. Not technical? Ask Gene to walk you through adding the records.

While a Gmail or Outlook inbox is connected, mail goes out from that inbox's own address, so the Send mail from setting is not in use. It applies again if you disconnect the inbox.

Until a custom domain is verified, Gene App can still send from a shared Gene address, but first-touch (proactive) emails need a verified domain of your own.

Receiving on your own address: a verified domain lets Gene App send as, say, [email protected]. A new email someone sends straight to [email protected] goes wherever your domain's mail is hosted today (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another provider), because that is where your domain's MX records point. Never change those MX records for Gene App; that would move every mailbox on your domain.

Instead, forward that one address to your workspace's Gene address. The forward also decides where a lead's reply to Gene's emails goes. Until it is set up, the reply goes to your workspace's Gene address, so it still reaches your Inbox without any setup. Once mail sent to [email protected] has arrived in Gene (the card reads Receiving: set up), replies go to [email protected] itself, so the lead sees your address, not a Gene one, and the forward brings each reply into your Inbox. The card under Send mail from shows Sending: verified and Receiving: not set up yet, the address to forward to (<your workspace>@mail.gene.so), and the steps for your provider (below). That address uses your workspace's name, so it changes when your Friendly Business Name does. The old address keeps delivering to the same workspace, so a forward you already set up needs no change.

The steps per provider:

• Google Workspace, when the address is a mailbox: in that mailbox's Gmail settings, under Forwarding and POP/IMAP, add the Gene address as a forwarding address. Gmail sends a confirmation code to Gene, and it appears on the card for you to enter in Gmail. Then choose to forward a copy of incoming mail.
• Google Workspace, when the address is not a mailbox (mail to it bounces today): no new user or license is needed. An admin goes to admin.google.com, Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Default routing, clicks Configure, chooses Single recipient [email protected], then Modify message with Change envelope recipient set to the Gene address, ticks Add X-Gm-Original-To header (so mail that only Bcc'd the address is still recognised), and keeps Perform this action only on non-recognized addresses. Google can take up to 24 hours to switch it on, usually much less.
• Microsoft 365: turn on forwarding to the Gene address in that mailbox's Outlook settings (an admin may need to allow automatic forwarding outside the company), or, for an address with no mailbox, make it a distribution list whose member is a mail contact for the Gene address.
• Any other provider (one.com, Zoho and the rest): add a forward from that address to the Gene address wherever the mailbox lives. Most providers first email the Gene address to confirm the forward. That email never becomes a lead: the card names the provider (for example one.com sent a confirmation) and shows its link to click (or code to enter) within a minute, so you can finish confirming without access to the Gene inbox. Confirming at the provider does not switch Receiving to set up by itself: once you have clicked the link, send a test email to finish. Receiving reads set up as soon as the test (or any real email) arrives. A test you sent before the provider asked for confirmation is set aside, so it never shows as stuck.

Press Send a test email to check it. The test goes to your address and turns the card green when it comes back into Gene; any real email that arrives does the same. Once receiving works, the field reads Send and receive mail, and the Email row on Flows > Inbound counts as connected. Until then a domain verified only for sending leaves that row greyed out. If you change the sender name, the new address needs its own forward, and the card says so.

Email that arrives this way lands in the Inbox on the sender's contact. Someone new becomes a contact, assigned by the team rotation on Flows > Routing (your routing rules run first), and Gene AI replies the same as on any other channel. Newsletters, automatic replies and mail from your own domain are left out.

Only show emails from leads: a switch under the receiving card, off by default. It saves as soon as you flip it. With it off, any real person who emails your address becomes a contact. With it on, an email from someone who is not a contact yet only reaches the Inbox if it looks like a lead:

• Free checks catch the obvious ones first: newsletters and mailing lists, receipts and invoices, notifications from apps and services, no-reply senders, delivery reports and out-of-office replies.
• For anything left that looks like a person writing in, Gene App asks a small AI model once per sender whether it is a lead. The answer is remembered for that sender, and no credits are charged.
• Replies to your own emails always come through, including out-of-office replies on those threads, and so does email from people who are already contacts. An out-of-office from a lead stays in their conversation, but Gene does not answer it and it does not count as them replying (see Which channel a follow-up goes on).

Nothing is deleted. Email the switch keeps out waits in Filtered emails, a popup in the Inbox (the envelope icon with a cross in the list header, or More > Filtered emails in the cleaner Inbox layout), and the see filtered emails link on the switch opens it too. Each email shows the sender, subject, a preview, when it arrived and why it was filtered. Move to inbox makes the sender a contact, puts the email in their conversation, and lets every later email from that sender straight through. Gene AI does not reply to a moved email on its own. Filtered emails is for managers and admins; agents do not see it.

No 24-hour window: email has no reply window and no templates. Gene App can email a contact at any time.

When email gets stuck: the usual blocker is domain verification. The domain stays in a pending or verifying state until the DNS records are added and the provider confirms them. Add the SPF and DKIM records exactly as shown, then re-check. Individual sends that fail surface the provider's reason on the message.

Sending infrastructure (bought inboxes)#

This is on for every account. The card sits on the Email tab under Cold outreach. That section starts open, so your domains and their warm-up are in view; the arrow on its header folds it away and opens it again.

Sending infrastructure gives you a separate domain and a set of mailboxes that exist only for cold outreach, so the risk of cold sending never touches the address your team actually uses.

Connecting your own inbox is right for replying to people who already know you. Cold outreach is a different job: high volume from a fresh address damages the reputation of whatever domain it sends from.

Two ways to add mailboxes#

When you add sending capacity (the first time, or with Add another domain or Ready to send today under your domains), managers choose between two options at the top:

• When the seller has no ready domains: the choice and the Ready to send today button are still there, marked Out of stock. Pick the option anyway and it reads "The seller has no ready-to-send domains in stock right now", with a link to build your own domain instead, or check back later. If Gene App cannot read the stock at that moment, the option says so and asks you to try again in a minute.
• Why only managers: only managers can buy a ready bundle, so only they get the choice. Everyone else goes straight to building their own domain.

Buy an outreach domain#

This is the Your own new domain option.

1. Enter a domain close to your brand but not your main one, for example getacme.com when your real domain is acme.com.
2. Gene App buys it and sets up its mail DNS. It shows as "Setting up DNS" until the provider confirms it, and checks itself while you wait. You can add mailboxes as soon as it is done; if the page is open, the cursor moves to the box for them.

The point of a lookalike is that it is disposable. If it ever picks up a bad reputation you replace it and your real domain is untouched, which would not be true of a subdomain of your own.

Gene App also points the new domain's web address at your real site, so anyone who types it in lands somewhere real instead of on a parked page. The domain is paid once for the year, in Gene credits.

Add mailboxes#

Once the domain is ready, add mailbox names one per line or comma separated (sarah, mike, hello). The Add button shows what they cost, for example Add 3 for 36 credits, and nothing is charged until you press it. Each becomes a real mailbox on the outreach domain, with a real address ([email protected]). Once it is ready it sends up to its daily limit, shown as Up to 30 a day on its line by default.

That ceiling belongs to the mailbox rather than to a setting you can raise. More volume means more mailboxes, and past a point more domains, never pushing one address harder.

Warm-up#

Every new mailbox warms for 14 days before it can send. There is nothing to do while that runs.

Why it is needed: this is not caution for its own sake. A brand-new mailbox that starts sending 30 cold emails on its first day is the exact pattern spam filters exist to catch, so it gets filtered before anyone reads it. Warm-up buys the address a history instead.

How it works: Gene App warms each mailbox automatically. It quietly exchanges real mail with real inboxes and scores how well it lands, until the receiving providers trust it (see How warm-up works).

When it is ready: a mailbox is ready only when it has both a score of 90 out of 100 and 14 days behind it.

Reading the progress bar:

• The bar tracks the 14 days, so it advances from the day warm-up starts. It deliberately holds just short of full until the mailbox is genuinely ready.
• It works that way because the provider reports a score of 0 for the first few days. A bar that waited on the score would sit empty beside the words "day 2 of 14" and look broken.
• The score is not hidden: it is the line under the bar, and it is still what decides readiness.
• When the 14 days are done but the score has not reached 90, that line names the score being waited on rather than counting down to zero.

How warm-up works#

Gene App warms the mailboxes itself. Every mailbox warming with Gene is in one pool, and the mailboxes in it send each other warm-up emails, never two on the same domain.

• The ramp: a mailbox starts with 3 warm-up emails on its first day and adds 3 more each day, up to 30 a day, replies included. They go out spread through the working day (07:00 to 19:00 UTC), never in one burst and never outside those hours. A day that fell behind does not catch up in the evening; the next day carries on from there.
• What Gene does with each one: Gene logs in to the receiving inbox, notes whether the email landed in the inbox or in spam, takes it out of spam if it was there, marks it read and important, and writes back to some of them (30% by default). That is what teaches the mail providers to trust the address.
• The score: the share of the mailbox's warm-up emails from the last 7 days that landed in the inbox. A mailbox is ready at 90 or more after 14 days, the same rule as above. The first score appears once a handful of its emails have been found.
• The line under the bar adds the last 7 days, for example "Last 7 days: 42 warm-up emails sent, 95% landed in the inbox, 3 saved from spam, 12 replies." The mailbox’s line shows its progress without naming the warm-up service.
• After it is ready it keeps warming in the background at its daily limit, unless you turn its warm-up off. Its line shows how many it can send a day and what its own mail did, then "Still warming in the background." with its last 7 days of warm-up.
• When something goes wrong, for example Gene cannot log in to read the inbox, the reason shows in amber under the mailbox, and it clears by itself once the next pass works.

Warm-up settings: managers see a settings button (the sliders icon) next to each mailbox that is warming, ready or paused. It opens a popup with the mailbox's own settings, each saved as you change it:

• Warm-up on: off stops the warm-up emails, and the mailbox itself keeps working. While it is off, a warming mailbox cannot become ready: its days keep counting, but its score is not checked, its badge reads Warm-up off instead of "Warming, day 5 of 14" (and the Gene mark beside it stops pulsing), and its line reads "Warm-up is off, so it cannot become ready. Turn it back on in its warm-up settings to carry on."
• Start with, and add each day: warm-up emails on the first day, and how many more each day after that (3 by default, 1 to 20).
• Daily limit: the most warm-up emails it sends in a day, replies included (30 by default, up to 100).
• Reply rate: how often the mailbox that receives one of its warm-up emails writes back (30% by default).

Mailboxes that warm outside Gene's own pool: their settings popup has a Restart warm-up here button. Gene App moves the mailbox into its own pool and warms it here. Its days so far keep counting, and its score starts again from Gene's own pool, so a score from before cannot call it ready. A paused mailbox starts warming again when you move it.

A mailbox that gets banned from an outside warm-up pool moves to Gene's own warm-up by itself, the same way, so you don't have to press anything.

New mailboxes you buy warm automatically from the start, as the card's header says: "Mailboxes you add now warm automatically".

Connect a mailbox you already have: for managers, under your domains. For a mailbox you bought somewhere else, enter its address, the name people see, its password (or an app password if the host asks for one), and its SMTP server (sending) and IMAP server (reading). Gene App fills in smtp. and imap. on the address's domain and ports 465 and 993 if you leave them, and the username is the email address unless you say otherwise. Connect and start warming stays off until the address and password are filled in, with "Fill in the email address and password to connect." beside it. It checks both logins before it saves anything, and says which one failed. The mailbox shows under its domain as "Your own domain." and "Your own mailbox.", and warms like any other: 14 days and a score of 90. A connected mailbox is never charged. It counts toward the workspace's mailbox limit, and you add more on that domain the same way, through Connect a mailbox.

Where to see a domain's warm-up#

On the domain's own row. Warm-up belongs to mailboxes, not to the domain, so a domain on its own never warms, however long ago it was bought.

• A domain with no mailboxes says so, with a Not warming badge: "Not warming yet: add a mailbox to start the 14-day warm-up." The box to add one sits right under it, highlighted, as Add a mailbox to start warming.
• A domain with mailboxes sums them up in one line, for example "3 mailboxes warming, day 5 of 14", and each mailbox's own bar sits underneath.
• Each mailbox's own line says what it is waiting on: "The 14-day warm-up starts once it is set up." while it is being created, the score and days left while it warms, and for a paused mailbox that its warm-up stopped and its days are not counting. A pause is on the warm-up provider's side; contact support if it stays like that, or, with Gene warm-up on, open the mailbox's warm-up settings and choose Restart warm-up here. With Gene warm-up on, a mailbox the provider bans from its pool is moved to Gene for you.

Ready to send today (pre-warmed mailboxes)#

The second option, for managers only. It is always there, marked Out of stock when the seller has none. The seller offers domains that come with mailboxes it has already warmed, so they can send the day you buy them instead of 14 days later. The trade is the name: you pick from the domains the seller has in stock, not one close to your brand.

• Search: the option has its own search box, which matches any part of the domain name across the seller's whole stock. Spaces and dashes are ignored, so get acme finds getacme.com.
  • The domain does not have to look like your own, so a word from your trade, such as realty or homes, is often the quickest way in.
  • If nothing matches your search, it says no ready domains match what you typed.
• The list: each domain shows its warmed mailboxes and its price in credits. The first five are listed, with a button to show the rest.
• Buying: Buy asks you to confirm before anything is charged.
• Stock running out: if the last of the stock sells while you are looking, the option stays open, is marked Out of stock, and offers to build your own domain instead.
• On the card: pre-warmed mailboxes show as "Pre-warmed, ready" and have no warm-up score, because they never warmed with Gene App. Like every mailbox, they start at a modest daily volume and climb (see Daily limits under Sending from the warmed mailboxes).

Health once a mailbox is sending#

The line under a ready mailbox shows its daily ceiling and what its own mail did in the last 7 days: how many sent, how many bounced, and how many failed. A mailbox warmed elsewhere stops being scored once it is ready, and a pre-warmed one never was, so this is the honest measure of how it is doing. A mailbox warming with Gene keeps warming after it is ready, so its line ends with "Still warming in the background." and its warm-up figures for the last 7 days; with its warm-up turned off, the line starts with "Warm-up is off." instead.

What it costs#

Everything here is paid in Gene credits from your balance, not on your card. If you pay from a Gene Deposit, each domain, bundle, mailbox and month of a mailbox is taken from the deposit at its own price (its credits at your plan's rate), as its own line in Stripe, for example "Gene: mailbox [email protected], Oct 14 to Nov 14 (12 credits)". Your credit balance does not move, and nothing goes on a card. The line under the mailbox box on the card says so ("Each mailbox and each month of it is taken from your Gene Deposit at its own price, as its own line in Stripe. Nothing is charged to a card."). Each item costs the same credits on every plan (what a credit costs depends on your plan):

A domain's price follows what the registrar charges for that exact name, so the card shows each name's price before you buy.

• A domain is one charge for its first year, taken when you press Buy and before Gene App buys it. The price is said once above the names, with what each mailbox on it will cost a month, and again on the Buy button. A name priced differently from the rest shows its own price next to it.
• A mailbox is charged the day it is created, not the day it finishes warming, because the mailbox costs the same to rent while it warms. That first charge covers the days until your plan renews; then it is the full month on your plan's renewal date.
• A pre-warmed bundle is one charge up front for the domain and its mailboxes until your plan renews, then the same monthly charge per mailbox on that date.
• If your balance is short, nothing is bought and nothing is taken: the card says how many credits it costs and how many you have, with a link to top up in Billing. With a Gene Deposit the card does not stop you: the price is taken from the deposit when you press Buy or Add. If the deposit cannot cover it, credits you already have pay for it, and you are only refused when neither can.
  • When you add several mailboxes at once, either all of them are made or none are.
  • If the purchase itself fails after the credits were taken, they go back to your balance. If the deposit paid for it, the price goes back on the deposit as a "Gene: refund, ..." line.
• If a monthly charge finds too few credits, the mailbox keeps sending and its line on the card reads "Not enough credits for this month". Gene App tries again every hour until the balance covers it. This charge does not start a card auto top-up by itself; with a Gene Deposit the month is taken from the deposit at its own price, so this only happens when neither the deposit nor your credits can cover it.
• A mailbox you connected yourself is never charged.
• Removing a mailbox stops its charge from the next month; the current month is not refunded. Mailboxes bought before credits paid for these keep their existing monthly card charge until they are removed.

A ramp is not a reputation#

There is a cheaper-looking alternative to buying a domain: the "Warm up your sending" card. It can appear under your connected inbox, or under a domain of your own that you verified. It starts Gene App at a handful of outreach emails a day and climbs to a ceiling over a couple of weeks. Replies to people who emailed you are never held back and don't count toward the daily limit. Once the ramp is done, Gene App no longer limits how much it sends from that address.

It is worth using, and it is not the same thing as the warm-up above, so it is worth being exact about the difference.

What it does. It paces Gene App. A sender that suddenly opens at full volume looks to a spam filter exactly like an account somebody has just taken over, so ramping up avoids the crudest way of being flagged. That is the whole of it: a ceiling on how fast Gene App sends from an address you already own.

What it cannot do. Reputation is not a rate. Inbox providers score a sending address and its domain on what happens after a message arrives: whether people open it, reply to it, move it out of spam, or report it as spam.

• Sending more slowly does not raise that score, and nobody can raise it on your behalf on a mailbox they do not own.
• That is the difference from the bought inboxes above, which warm in a network that exchanges real mail and is scored on how it lands. A mailbox you connect is warmed the same way, because Gene logs in to it.
• A ramp also cannot protect an address from the thing that does the real damage, a run of spam complaints, because that depends on who you wrote to and what you said.

So which one. For people who already know you, your own address is right, and the ramp is a sensible way to ease into sending from it.

For cold outreach to strangers, use a separate sending domain. The risk in cold sending is exactly the risk you do not want attached to the address your team replies from. A pace does not remove that risk, it only slows the rate at which it builds up.

Sending from the warmed mailboxes#

This appears only when sending from warmed mailboxes is enabled for your account. It is off by default and needs at least one mailbox that has finished warming.

Once mailboxes are ready, Gene App sends your outreach from them instead of the shared sender.

Which emails use it: proactive outreach, any thread the pool already started, and Gene's answer to a lead who replied to one of these emails. A reply to someone who emailed you first still goes from your real address, because that person reached you there and should hear back from the same place.

Spreading the load: a lead who already got an email from one mailbox hears from that same mailbox again, so the whole thread has one sender. Otherwise every send picks the ready mailbox that has sent the least today. Volume stays even across the pool instead of hammering one address.

Daily limits: each mailbox starts at 10 sends on its first day out of warm-up and climbs by 5 a day up to its ceiling.

• A new mailbox that opened at full volume on day one would look like a hijacked account to a spam filter, which is exactly what the 14 days of warm-up were spent avoiding.
• When every mailbox has hit its limit for the day, sending stops rather than falling back to another address.

Unsubscribes: every email carries a one-click unsubscribe, both in the footer and in the headers Gmail and Yahoo require on bulk mail. An unsubscribe is permanent and applies across your whole workspace: no more campaigns, newsletters or follow-ups by email to that address. Replies to their own messages and booking emails still go out, and the contact's profile says when they unsubscribed.

Bounces: an address that does not exist is caught while the message is being sent and is suppressed immediately. Each email goes out with the mailbox's own address as its sender, so a bounce that a mail server sends back later lands in that mailbox's inbox and is not counted or suppressed by Gene App. Temporary problems (a full mailbox, a greylist) are not suppressed, so a real lead is never dropped over a full inbox. Neither is a refusal of the sending mailbox itself ("Sender address rejected", relay or login policy): that says nothing about the recipient, so the send is retried instead.

Replies: a lead's reply goes to the mailbox they got the email from, the address they see in the From line, with no separate Gene reply address. Gene App checks those mailboxes every 5 minutes and puts each reply in your Inbox, threaded to the same conversation, so a reply can take a few minutes to show up.

Messenger#

This tab appears only when Messenger is enabled for your account.

Connect a Facebook Page to receive Facebook Messenger DMs from leads in the unified inbox.

Account-based connect: on some accounts, Messenger and Instagram connect through your own Facebook or Instagram account instead, in a couple of clicks with no Meta review. This is a temporary bridge, so keep the connected account active and in good standing. If its session drops, the tab shows it as disconnected with a Reconnect button. Gene App reads incoming messages and replies within Meta's 24-hour messaging window; the AI will not send outside it.

Connect Messenger: sign in to Facebook and select the Page to link. Once connected, new Messenger DMs from that Page appear in the Inbox and Gene App can reply on them.

Media: photos and voice notes sent by leads are received and shown in the conversation. Automatic AI reading or transcription of media on Messenger is not yet available (coming soon).

24-hour window: Meta only allows replies to Messenger conversations within 24 hours of the lead's last message. The AI checks the window before each reply and will not send outside it.

• There is no template fallback on Messenger, so once the window closes Gene App has to wait for the lead to write again.
• You also cannot start a Messenger conversation cold.

Instagram#

This tab appears only when Instagram is enabled for your account.

Instagram connects through your Facebook Page: when you link a Page that has an Instagram Professional account attached, Gene App gains access to its Instagram DMs as well, alongside Messenger, and can reply on them. Signing in with Instagram on its own, without a Page, is not offered yet while Meta reviews our app for it. An Instagram that was already signed in directly keeps working. Requirements: the Instagram account must be a Professional account (Business or Creator) and must have "Allow access to messages" turned on in its Instagram settings (Settings > Privacy > Messages > Connected Tools).

Connect Instagram: connect the Facebook Page (from this tab or Settings > Communication > Messenger). The Instagram account linked to that Page is enabled automatically once the Page is linked and the requirements above are met, and Messenger comes with it. If you connect a Page whose linked Instagram you had already signed in to directly, the Page takes over and the Instagram then runs through the Page. Removing Gene from Instagram (Settings, Apps and websites) disconnects the account in Gene App straight away.

Media: photos and voice notes are received and shown in the conversation. Automatic AI reading or transcription of media on Instagram is not yet available (coming soon).

Start a DM by @username: when your Instagram account is connected through the account-based integration, you can start a DM without waiting for the lead to write first.

1. In the Inbox, open the new-conversation dialog and type an @username, just as you would type a phone number for WhatsApp.
2. Gene App finds the account, creates the contact, and opens the thread so you can send the first message.

Warning

Keep @username DMs manual and paced. Cold DMs land in the recipient's message-requests folder and carry the highest risk to the account, so this is not for bulk blasting.

24-hour window: on the official Meta API path, the same rule as Messenger applies. The AI will not reply outside the 24-hour messaging window, and there is no template fallback, so once it closes Gene App waits for the lead to message again. Every send is a reply; you cannot cold-DM.

Documents: Instagram has no file attachments, so a brochure, floor plan or price list cannot be attached to an Instagram DM. The AI still sends it when asked: the lead gets a link to the file inside the message (and, when the email fallback is on, the file itself by email as well). See Files. Messenger carries the file itself.

Moving a lead to WhatsApp#

This behaviour appears only when Move leads to WhatsApp is enabled for your account and you have a WhatsApp number connected.

Instagram is a poor place to finish a sale: documents only reach the lead as links, and the 24-hour window closes with no way to reopen it. So once an Instagram or Messenger lead shows real interest (asking about price, availability, a viewing, or wanting a brochure), Gene App offers to continue on WhatsApp.

On email, SMS and Telegram, Gene App never offers the move itself. It sends the same link only when the lead asks to continue on WhatsApp.

How it works: Gene App asks for their WhatsApp number, saves it to their contact, and sends a tap-to-chat link. The link opens WhatsApp on their phone with a short message already typed, so they only have to hit send.

The lead always messages first. Gene App never sends anything to their WhatsApp number before they write. This is deliberate:

• Their message opens the 24-hour window, so no template is needed.
• Your number is never used for a cold outbound, which is the pattern that gets WhatsApp numbers restricted.
• If the lead never taps the link, nothing is ever sent to them.

What you see: when their WhatsApp message arrives it lands against the same contact, with the earlier history above it. Gene App carries on where it left off, including sending a file the lead asked for on Instagram as a real attachment. From then on follow-ups go out on WhatsApp, and a follow-up still queued on the old channel is stopped.

Files: The offer never replaces sending a file: a lead who asks for a brochure on Instagram or Messenger gets it there, whether or not they move. Without this switched on, the AI simply sends files in the Instagram or Messenger chat.

How often: Gene App offers it once per lead. If they ignore it or say they would rather stay on Instagram, Gene App drops it, keeps helping them there and never offers again. A lead who later asks to move to WhatsApp gets the same link.

When the move is off: without Move leads to WhatsApp, Gene App keeps the whole conversation on Instagram or Messenger. A lead who asks for a call there is offered two times and booked there, even if one of your Extra rules says to move leads to WhatsApp before sharing times.

Testing your channels before going live#

Before real leads arrive, a manager can check that Gene answers every lead on the channel they wrote on. At the top of any channel tab in Settings > Communication, click Test channels, then Run test.

For now the test shows only on Gene's own staging and test workspaces. On other workspaces there is no Test channels button yet.

The test runs in the background. The button shows how far it has got (for example Testing… 4/11) and each result appears in the table as it lands, so you can close the window or leave the page and come back to the same run.

A test lead writes in on each channel: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, email, SMS, iMessage, Telegram and website chat. For each one, the table shows:

• Connected: whether that channel is connected for your workspace, and with which number, address or account.
• Gene replies on: the channel Gene would answer on. It must be the channel the lead wrote on.
• Follow-up goes on: the channel the next follow-up would use.
• Result: Pass, or Fail with the reason.

The test also covers leads who switch channel: Instagram then WhatsApp, email then WhatsApp, and website chat then email. Each one must stay in one conversation. The reply and the next follow-up must use the new channel, and a follow-up already queued on the old channel must stop.

Nothing is sent. Gene's answers are stopped before they reach WhatsApp, email or any other provider, and no credits are used. The test lead is never assigned to anyone, and your team gets no notification. It is deleted when the test ends, so it shows in the Inbox, marked TEST, for a second or two at most.

A channel that is not connected is still tested. Its result shows how Gene would route a lead once you connect it. Website chat always reads not connected, because Gene has no website chat inbox yet. The website snippet captures forms, which arrive as leads.

Phone and SMS#

This tab appears only when SMS is enabled for your account. It is off by default.

The Phone tab holds your numbers, the compliance wording that goes out with your texts, and a What SMS costs table.

What SMS costs: the estimated price of a whole lead conversation, country by country.

• The prices are read live from Twilio rather than typed in here, so they follow the carriers when rates change.
• The estimate assumes a conversation of a few message parts each way, measured from real lead conversations. Treat it as a guide rather than a quote.

Why a text is not one unit: carriers bill per 160 characters, not per message, so a long reply is charged as two or three.

• Messages written in a non-Latin script (Greek, Japanese, Thai, Arabic and others) fit only 70 characters per part, because each character takes more room in the encoding carriers use for them.
• That is why those countries cost noticeably more than their headline per-part rate suggests, and why shorter replies are cheaper everywhere.

Receiving is charged at one flat rate per message wherever the lead is, because their messages arrive on your own number rather than in their country.

Countries marked "Not included" cost more per part than your plan covers, so SMS to them is switched off. Use WhatsApp for leads in those countries instead.

Carrier rate limits: a number can send about one SMS a second, and one MMS every three seconds. These are the carriers' limits, not a Gene App setting. Nothing is lost when you go over them: the extra messages queue and go out as the number frees up. The only symptom is that a large batch takes longer to finish than you expect.

Compliance: the opt-out message and sender ID on the Messaging tab are what goes out with your texts, and the periodic reminder re-sends the opt-out instructions every 30 days.

Voice and settings:

• Missed call text-back: sends an SMS automatically when a call is missed, with the message you set.
• Number Intelligence: detects whether an incoming number is a mobile, landline or VoIP line.
• SIP / VoIP: connects a custom SIP trunk, for advanced telephony setups.
• Verified Caller IDs: the numbers verified for placing outbound calls.
• iMessage via Sendblue: a Sendblue sandbox account can only send to people who have texted your iMessage number first, so have the recipient message it before testing.

Tips#

• The official Meta API is the recommended way to connect WhatsApp. Connecting by QR keeps a number you already use on your phone, at the cost of watching its health, and needs a paid plan (see Lines per plan).
• When a number drops, use Reconnect on its card. On a QR number it works once every 30 minutes, so do not keep pressing it.
• The 24-hour window is the most common reason a reply or follow-up does not send. On WhatsApp via the Meta API, Gene App sends a template instead; on Messenger and Instagram, it waits for the lead. WhatsApp via QR and Email have no window.
• Email, Phone, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, and Providers tabs are off unless enabled for your account. The buy-a-new-number flow and the Templates and Flows sub-tabs of the WhatsApp tab are also gated and hidden until enabled.
• Your WhatsApp templates are always listed in Flows > Template library once WhatsApp is connected through the official API, and a manager can create new ones there, with optional media, header, footer and buttons (text only on Twilio).

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Details#

How the channel tabs are laid out, for when you need to look something up. The Communication menu item (called Messaging until October 2026) is always visible and opens on these tabs. Its tab strip only holds the channel tabs; the lead-source tabs are on the separate Lead Sources item.

Channel tabs#

Each tab shows only where enabled for your account:

• WhatsApp: on by default.
• Email: on for new accounts (see Email).
• Phone, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram and Providers: off by default.

iMessage and Webchat do not have a tab.

WhatsApp tab at a glance#

• Connecting: WhatsApp via the Meta API is the primary path, with Advanced setup for manual credentials. WhatsApp via QR is the alternative, available by default, and needs a paid plan.
• Under your numbers: the line count against your plan and Add another number (see Lines per plan).
• Each number: its connected number card. Where WhatsApp number teams are enabled, the owner picker reads New leads go to and offers Take turns in place of Shared (workspace).
• Deleted WhatsApp messages: where WhatsApp message actions are enabled, how the Inbox shows a message deleted for everyone (see Deleted WhatsApp messages).
• Off by default: the buy-a-new-number flow, and the Templates and Flows sub-tabs.