#What can an AI agent do on WhatsApp for small businesses?
Most small-business chats are the same twenty questions. What are your timings? Is this in stock? Where is my order? How much is the monthly plan? An agent is good at exactly this layer, because the answers already exist in your catalogue, your order system and your own head.
Chirpoo's agent does three jobs.
- Answers common questions in your tone. Short, plain replies in the language and style your team uses, in the customer's own language where it can.
- Looks up products and orders. It reads real product and order details instead of guessing, which is what makes "where is my order?" safe to automate.
- Hands over to a person. When a question is outside its job, it passes the chat to your team with the conversation intact.
What this gives you is speed. A customer who messages at 11 pm gets an answer at 11 pm, and your team starts the morning with the hard conversations only. The reply time and missed leads post explains why the first reply matters so much.
An agent is not a replacement for the shared inbox. It sits inside it. Your team still sees every chat, can take over at any moment, and works from one place. The shared inbox guide covers that side.
#What must an AI agent never do?
Four things, and Chirpoo's agent is built around them.
- Never send offers. Discounts, prices you have not set and promises are decisions for a person. Chirpoo's agent does not send offers.
- Never make up order details. If the order system does not show a delivery date, the agent should say it will check, not invent a date. A wrong answer costs more than a slow one.
- Never reply outside the 24-hour window with free text. WhatsApp blocks it, and Chirpoo shows the window on every chat. After it closes, only an approved template can go out.
- Never keep talking when a human is needed. Complaints, refunds, medical questions and anything upset should go to a person.
The first rule matters more than it looks. An offer from an agent is a commitment made in your name. It can also change the message's category. Meta's template categorisation page (checked 26 Oct 2026) says mixed content with a promotion is marketing, which carries the higher rate and the opt-in rule.
For the longer rulebook, read rules for AI agents on WhatsApp.
#How does handover to a human work?
Handover means the agent stops and a named person takes the chat. In Chirpoo, the chat appears in the shared inbox like any other, with the agent's earlier replies visible. You can assign it to a teammate, add an internal note, snooze it, or reply yourself.
Meta's policy also expects this. The WhatsApp Business policy page (checked 26 Oct 2026) addresses automation in its platform terms.
You may use automation when responding during the 24-hour window
The same section says businesses using automation must also have prompt, clear and direct escalation paths available, and lists an in-chat human agent transfer as one of them. That is the handover described above.
Decide your handover triggers before you start. Good ones are: the customer asks for a person, the customer is upset, the question is about money or health, or the agent has failed to answer twice. Write them down and tell the agent. Then check the conversations weekly to see whether the triggers are catching the right chats.
#When should you switch on the Chirpoo agent?
The agent is off by default. That is deliberate. You turn it on after you have tested it, not before.
- Fill in what the agent should know. Your business description, timings, policies and the products you sell. The agent answers from this and from your live product and order data.
- Test it in the console. Chirpoo has a test console where you chat with the agent as a customer would, without a real customer on the other end. Ask it the ten questions your team gets most. Ask it three it should refuse.
- Read the answers as a customer. Check the tone, the facts, and whether it hands over when it should.
- Switch it on for a short time. Start with your quiet hours, or one number, and read every conversation for the first few days.
- Review weekly. Look for wrong answers and missed handovers. Fix the information it works from, not just the single reply.
You can also pair the agent with flows. A flow can ask one question, such as an order number, and then pass the answer to the agent. Test runs and shadow mode let you see a flow's behaviour before it talks to customers. The WhatsApp automation guide covers flows.
#How does the agent learn your tone?
It learns from what you give it, and from how your team writes. Add a few of your real replies as examples, the way you would to a new hire: short, warm, and without filler. Tell it what you never say. If you address customers as "sir" or "ma'am", or write in Hinglish, say so.
That is the whole method. An agent does not read your mind, and a few sentences of instruction beat a long, vague brief. If its replies sound stiff, shorten your examples. If they sound too casual, add a rule.
Keep the voice honest. Do not have the agent pretend to be a named human employee. The next section covers what Meta says on this.
For the developer-level view of how agents reach a chat through the API and MCP, see connecting your WhatsApp inbox to Claude or ChatGPT. That route lets you use your own assistant on the inbox, with the permissions you choose.
#What does Meta say about automated messaging and AI?
Meta's rules cover automation in the customer service window and the need for a way to reach a person. I checked two Meta pages on 26 Oct 2026.
- The WhatsApp Business policy page allows automation when responding during the 24-hour window, with escalation paths available. It contains no requirement to tell users they are talking to a bot or an AI system.
- Meta's send messages documentation says to "Only send messages to WhatsApp users who have opted into receiving messages from your business", and that when the 24-hour window closes you can only send approved templates.
So the safe pattern is to answer inside the window, offer a human on request, and send nothing promotional without consent. A short line such as "I'm the shop's assistant, and I can pass you to the team" is good practice even though the policy page does not require it. Meta may change the policy, so recheck the page before you rely on this.
Meta's pricing rules also apply. WhaBuzz's 24-hour window post notes that Meta counts replies from people or a third-party AI as service messages. Read the 24-hour window explainer for the timer rules.
#What does an AI agent cost?
Chirpoo includes the agent in the plan with fair use. There is no separate AI add-on, no per-answer fee and no extra login for it. The plans are ₹999 a month for Chirpoo and ₹1,499 a month for Chirpoo Commerce, excluding 18% GST, with one WhatsApp number and 5 team logins.
Meta charges for the messages. Per Meta's pricing page (checked 26 Oct 2026), each business phone number has a free tier of 1,000 delivered service messages a month, and these do not roll over. After that, Meta's India rate for a service message is ₹0.115, per its rate card as read in WhaBuzz's India pricing post (checked 17 Oct 2026).
So if the agent sends 3,000 free-text replies in a month on one number, Meta bills 2,000 of them. That is ₹230. Meta bills you directly. Chirpoo adds nothing per message.
Compare this with tools that sell the AI as an add-on. AiSensy's pricing page (checked 26 Oct 2026) lists a WhatsApp AI Agent Builder at ₹1,350 a month, with 1,000 AI messages a month included. Chirpoo's is part of the plan. For the wider cost picture, see the WhatsApp pricing guide.
Coming later, not available yet: chat summaries and lead scoring.
Turn the agent on after you have tested it. Start free for 14 days with every feature and no card, and put your ten most common questions through the console first.
Frequently asked questions about Chirpoo and this topic
Is the Chirpoo AI agent on by default?
No. It is off until you switch it on. Test it in the Chirpoo console first, using the questions your team gets most. Then turn it on for a short period and read every conversation before you widen it.
Can the AI agent send offers or discounts?
No. Chirpoo's agent never sends offers. Discounts and promises stay with your team. That also keeps replies from becoming marketing messages, which cost more under Meta's rules and need the customer's opt-in.
Does Meta require me to say it is a bot?
The WhatsApp Business policy page, checked 26 Oct 2026, has no such disclosure requirement. It does expect clear escalation paths, such as a transfer to a human agent. Saying you are an assistant is still good practice, and Meta can change its policy.
What does the AI agent cost with Chirpoo?
It is included in the ₹999 or ₹1,499 monthly plan, excluding 18% GST, with fair use. Meta charges for messages: 1,000 free service messages a month per number, then ₹0.115 each in India. Meta bills you directly.