Outbound Messaging allows organizations to intiate proactive communication with contacts through their preferred messaging channel directly from Rocket.Chat, without requiring the contact to start the interaction. It adresses a key gap for organizations that need to send critical communications such as legal reminders, appointment confirmations, social welfare updates, and emergency alerts without relying on external tools or workaround.
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how to configure and use the feature for peer-to-peer (P2P) outbound communication.
Key features
Send messages from Rocket.Chat through supported citizen-facing channels like WhatsApp.
Use predefined, customizable template messages for consistent and professional communication.
Assign responsibility for replies to specific departments and agents
Configure outbound messaging
Workspace administrators are required to follow these steps to enable outbound messaging:
Contact the Sales team to purchase and enable the Outbound Messaging add-on for your Enterprise plan workspace.
Set up a communication channel for outbound messaging. Currently, only WhatsApp 360Dialog (Cloud API) and WhatsApp Cloud App are supported.
If you’re using WhatsApp Cloud App, you’ll need to enable billing to deliver your outbound messages. You can set up a payment method or visit the Whatsapp Business pricing page.
Assign the following permissions to the desired user roles in your workspace:
Permission
Description
Send outbound messages
Allows the user to create and send outbound messages through supported channels.
Can assign agent to receive outbound message responses
Allows the user to designate a specific agent who will handle replies to an outbound message.
Can assign departments to receive outbound message responses
Allows the user to assign a department where replies to an outbound message wil be routed to.
Can assign self to only receive outbound message responses
Allows the user to assign themselves as the sole recipient of replies to the outbound message.
By default, some are already assigned to defualt roles like agents, monitors, and managers.
Create template messages
When using outbound messages, you must define the template messages within your WhatsApp provider account before sending them through Rocket.Chat. This procedure may vary depending on the app.
Consult the official 360Dialog template message documentation to learn how to create template messages in 360dialog.
Before you proceed, refer to Meta’s Message Template guide and template guidelines for a comprehensive understanding of template messages. In this document, we'll be creating a simple shipping reminder template message.
To create this template message for WhatsApp Cloud,
Go to the app created on your Facebook developer console.
Navigate to WhatsApp > Quickstart.
Click Message Templates from the WhatsApp Business section.
It redirects you to the message templates page on your Meta Business account. Click Create template.
Add the category, name, and language of the template message.
Category: Select Utility for this example guide.
Name: Add a name for the template message.
Language: Select English for this example guide.
Click Continue.
For this example, add this simple text in the Body : "Your package has been shipped. It will be delivered in {{1}} business days."
Put a random integer in the Samples for body content.
Click Submit.
The template message is now sent for review.
Once the template message has been approved by Meta, you can start sending outbound messages to contacts from your Rocket.Chat workspace.
Send outbound message
There are two ways to create an outbound message:
From the main menu: On the Rocket.Chat main menu, click the Create New icon, then select
Outbound Message. From the contact’s profile: Go to the Omnichannel Contact Center, navigate to the Contacts tab, and select a contact. From the contact details panel, click the
Outbound Message icon next to the contact number you want to message. This option automatically pre-fills the recipient details for you.
Both options will open the Outbound Message modal, which will guide you through the following steps:
Step 1: Add the recepient details
Set the following fields:
Field
Description
Contact
The contact you want to message from your contact list.
Channel
The communication channel. Currently, only WhatsApp 360Dialog (Cloud API) and WhatsApp Cloud App are supported.
To
The contact’s phone number.
From
The WhatsApp number connected to your workspace that will send the message.
Click Next to continue.
Step 2: Add the message
Select a message from the Template dropdown. All approved template messages from the connected Whatsapp number will be displayed in the dropdown.
If the template has variables, you'll be prompted to enter the Body parameters. Fill in the parameters manually or use the Placeholder button to insert data directly from the contact's information.
Check the Message Preview in real-time to see how the message will look to the recipient.
Click Next to continue.
Step 3: Assign replies
Optionally, you can assign a default department and agent to handle any replies to this outbound message.
To assign replies, set the following fields:
Field
Description
Department
Select a default department to handle all replies to this message. If a department is chosen but no selected agent, the reply will be routed to any available agent within that department.
Agent
Assign a specific agent in the selected department to handle replies.
Click Next to continue.
Step 4: Review and send
Confirm all details before sending the message.
Review the template name, recipient, sender, assigned department/agent, and the message preview.
Click Send to dispatch the message. A confirmation message appears when the outbound message is successfully sent.
After a few seconds, the contact will recieve your message on WhatsApp.
You have now configured outbound messaging and learned how to create, review, and send P2P outbound messages. With these steps, you can now proactively engage with citizens and customers, ensuring they receive timely and relevant information. If you have any questions, visit the P2P Outbound Messaging FAQ .