WhatsApp Guest Calling Feature
WhatsApp also confirmed that deeper productivity features are scheduled to roll out before the year ends.
Guests can’t see other participants’ phone numbers, send messages, or add anyone else directly to the call,” the company said in its announcement. Firstly, guests are placed in a virtual waiting room upon clicking the link and require explicit host approval before joining. The host retains the ability to remove any guest at any point during the session. Guests cannot view phone numbers belonging to other attendees. Moreover, non-account participants cannot send in-call text messages or invite external users to the conversation. “Anyone joining as a guest always needs the call host’s approval. Guests will enter a waiting room until the host lets them in and guests can be removed from the call at any time. Upcoming integrations with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook will allow users to schedule sessions in advance. After installing the dedicated WhatsApp plugin and linking an active account, hosts can attach a WhatsApp call link directly to outgoing calendar invites. Recipients on those calendar invites will be able to join scheduled meetings directly from the link, regardless of whether they have a WhatsApp account. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Step-by-step guide on how to create and join a guest call link
Only active WhatsApp account holders can generate meeting links, which support 1-on-1 chats as well as group sessions of up to 32 people. Last month, the Meta-owned company launched a feature allowing guest callers to join a group call.
Generate a Link: Tap the “+” icon and choose the option to create a call link. WhatsApp recently opened up its calling ecosystem to non-users for the first time. Through a new guest calling feature, account holders can now invite anyone to jump onto a WhatsApp voice or video call – even if the invitee does not have a WhatsApp account. The update brings free, end-to-end encrypted calls without arbitrary time limits, eliminating sudden cutoffs, mid-meeting scrambles to restart sessions, or the hassle of waiting for participants to reconnect. To protect security and call integrity, guests cannot enter a conversation unattended. WhatsApp has established strict host permissions and privacy boundaries. Open the Calls Tab: Navigate to the Calls section inside the WhatsApp application. Send the generated URL to coworkers, tutors, classmates, or family members across any messaging or email service. Recipients open the shared link directly on their computer browser, enter their name, and wait for the host to admit them from the waiting room. Once admitted, guests get access to core collaboration tools on their computer screens. Non-users can share their desktop display to review documents, react in real time using thumbs-up or heart emojis and use the virtual hand-raise button to ask questions.