# WhatsApp Channel

WhatsApp is a hugely popular method of communication, and billions of WhatsApp messages are sent globally every day.

Note:
If you are unfamiliar with WhatsApp, we encourage you to visit the [WhatsApp Knowledge Base](https://community.sinch.com/t5/WhatsApp/tkb-p/WhatsApp) on the Sinch Community site. There, you'll find articles that answer common questions and provide context for the information detailed in the pages below.

This guide describes how to configure a WhatsApp channel for use with the Conversation API, and covers the following topics:

- [Getting started with a WhatsApp channel](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/set-up) - Prerequisites and configuration steps required to set up a WhatsApp channel.
- [WhatsApp channel message support](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/message-support) - The message types which are natively supported on a WhatsApp channel, and the message types which are converted into plaintext.
- [WhatsApp channel template message support](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/template-support) - Descriptions of template messages, which can be used to send messages outside of the 24 hour customer service window.
- [WhatsApp channel properties](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/properties) - Properties specific to the WhatsApp channel.
- [Flows](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/whatsapp-flows) - Information on Sinch's support for WhatsApp Flows.
- [Payments](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/whatsapp-payments) - Information on Sinch's support for WhatsApp payments.
- [Direct Send](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/direct-api) - Information on Sinch's support for Direct Send functionality.
- [ASP onboarding tutorial](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/asp-tutorial) - A tutorial that provides ASPs with guidance on how to onboard their customers.
- [Business-scoped user IDs](/docs/conversation/channel-support/whatsapp/user-id) - A guide on how to prepare to process new business-scoped user IDs.


Learn how to set up a WhatsApp channel ->