Can you help me fix my connection between Copilot Studio and WhatsApp Business

(2) Share

Report

Posted on by MPN69

Hello,

I have been experiencing an issue since approximately November 2025 related to the integration between Azure Communication Services and WhatsApp Business Platform.

Context

I configured the connection between Azure Communication Services (ACS) and my WhatsApp Business account using a phone number that I own. The setup was completed following the official Microsoft documentation:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/concepts/advanced-messaging/whatsapp/whatsapp-channel-prerequisites

After completing the configuration, I connected a bot created in Microsoft Copilot Studio to the WhatsApp channel in order to enable bidirectional messaging.

Issue Description

The connection appears to be successful:

I am able to generate the QR code and initiate conversations from WhatsApp.

Incoming messages from WhatsApp are correctly received and visible in the ACS resource.

Conversation logs are available within the agent interface.

However, the problem is that the agent does not send responses back to the user.

Observed Behavior

Conversations exist and are logged.

Messages from the user are successfully received.

Responses generated by the agent never reach the WhatsApp destination.

This results in unidirectional communication only (inbound works, outbound fails).

Expected Behavior

The agent should be able to send responses back to the user via WhatsApp, enabling full bidirectional communication.

Troubleshooting Performed

Opened a support ticket with the Microsoft Copilot Studio team:
- Investigated for several months.
- Suggested that the user configuring the system must:
  - Be a Global Admin in the tenant
  - Be the Owner of the Azure subscription
- Verified and enforced these permissions → Issue persisted.

Opened a support ticket with the Azure Communication Services team:
- They performed an in-depth investigation.
- No misconfiguration or issues were found on the ACS side.

Current status:
- I am in the process of seeking support from the WhatsApp Business / Meta side.
- I was also advised to ask in community forums.

Question

Has anyone experienced a similar issue where:

WhatsApp messages are received correctly via ACS,

but outbound messages from the bot/agent are not delivered?

Any insights, known limitations, or debugging suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Categories:

Publish & channel management

I have the same question (0)

All responses (6)

Answers (0)

Suggested answer

Sunil Kumar Pashikanti 1,238 Moderator on at

Like (4)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Hi @MPN69,

Your configuration is correct if inbound traffic works and Copilot Studio logs the conversation.
When only outbound delivery fails without error, the root cause is almost always related to Meta’s messaging policies, session limits, or WhatsApp account restrictions, not Copilot Studio or ACS.

Recommended steps

Confirm that your bot replies within the 24‑hour WhatsApp session window

Test sending a WhatsApp template message from ACS

Check your number’s quality rating in Meta Business Manager

Ask Meta support to confirm your number is not flagged or rate‑limited

Capture ACS Message Logs --> Delivery Status --> WhatsApp Error Codes (even if empty)

If logs show “Unknown” or no status updates at all, it is almost always a Meta-side block or policy restriction

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
MPN69 22 on at

Like (2)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Thank you @Sunil Kumar Pashikanti i'll start checking based on your comments. Thank you very much.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Suggested answer

Valantis 2,348 on at

Like (2)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi @MPN69,

This is a known issue. Inbound works but outbound fails because the Bot Framework Enterprise Application that Copilot Studio needs to send replies back through WhatsApp failed to install on your tenant silently. Copilot Studio shows everything as connected but the service principal is missing.

Try run these commands in PowerShell:

Install-Module Microsoft.Graph -Scope CurrentUser
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Application.ReadWrite.All"
New-MgServicePrincipal -AppId "f3723d34-6ff5-4ceb-a148-d99dcd2511fc"

If you have a Conditional Access policy on your tenant blocking non-company devices, temporarily disable it for the user running these commands first, then re-enable it after.

After running the commands, disconnect and reconnect the WhatsApp channel in Copilot Studio and test again.

https://accessorange.com/en-tw/how-to-fix-when-copilot-studio-connects-to-whatsapp-but-wont-reply/

Best regards,

Valantis

✅ If this helped solve your issue, please Accept as Solution so others can find it quickly.

❤️ If it didn’t fully solve it but was still useful, please click “Yes” on “Was this reply helpful?” or leave a Like :).

🏷️ For follow-ups @Valantis.

📝 https://valantisond365.com/

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
MPN69 22 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Hello @Sunil Kumar Pashikanti,

I am currently reviewing the steps you suggested to validate the issue from the Meta side:

Recommended checks:

Confirm that the bot replies within the 24-hour WhatsApp session window

Test sending a WhatsApp template message from ACS

Check the phone number’s quality rating in Meta Business Manager

Contact Meta support to verify whether the number is flagged or rate-limited

Review ACS Message Logs → Delivery Status → WhatsApp Error Codes (even if empty)

Note: If logs show “Unknown” or no status updates, this typically indicates a Meta-side restriction or policy block

Findings so far:

The bot appears to be responding within the 24-hour session window

I will test sending a template via ACS; however, templates seem to work correctly when sent manually

There is currently no quality rating available for the phone number in Meta Business Manager

There does not appear to be a messaging limit, as billing is linked to the Azure subscription

No error codes are being returned in ACS logs

I have not identified any policy violations or blocks so far, but I will continue verifying this to rule it out completely

Please let me know if you would like me to focus on any specific area in more detail.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
MPN69 22 on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi Valantis

Thank you for your response. I will schedule a meeting with the team to review this and will follow up with updates afterward.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
Sunil Kumar Pashikanti 1,238 Moderator on at

Like (0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi @MPN69,

Thanks for sharing the screenshot, this is actually the key indicator.

The screenshot shows the WhatsApp number as Connected, but with no Quality Rating, while messaging limits appear enabled. This combination commonly indicates that the number is in a Meta “warm‑up” or trust‑establishment phase.

What’s happening
When a WhatsApp Business number is newly connected (or has very limited history), Meta may restrict API message delivery even though:

The number shows as Connected
No policy violations are present
No error codes are returned in ACS logs

In these cases, Meta often does not surface explicit errors. Messages sent programmatically can silently fail or remain in an Unknown delivery state until a Quality Rating is established.

Why the Quality Rating matters
A missing Quality Rating typically means Meta has not yet observed enough successful, two‑way messaging activity to trust automated (API‑driven) traffic. Until that trust signal exists, throughput may be limited without warning.

Can you try the below steps?

1)Confirm Quality Rating is blank in Meta Business Manager (already observed from your screenshot)
2)Contact Meta Support and ask whether the number is in a limited / warm‑up tier
3)Warm up the number manually:

Send 5–10 approved template messages via Meta Business Suite
Send them to real internal testers
Have recipients reply to the messages

4)Monitor Meta Insights until a Quality Rating appears
5)Retry API sends after trust is established

Manual sends are typically the fastest way to generate the required engagement signals early on. Once a Quality Rating is visible, API delivery issues usually resolve without any ACS-side changes.

This pattern strongly points to a Meta-side trust or warm‑up restriction, not an Azure Communication Services configuration issue.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No