# Customer service window (24-hour window)

The customer service window is a 24-hour timer that starts when a WhatsApp user messages or calls a business. While it is open, the business can reply with free-form messages; once it closes, it can only send approved message templates.

Source: https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/customer-service-window  
Last updated: 2026-10-08

Each new message or call from the customer resets the timer to 24 hours. Inside the window, the business can answer with any supported content, such as text, images, documents or interactive buttons, without a pre-approved template. Meta calls these replies service messages.

When 24 hours pass without a customer message, the window closes. To write to that customer again, the business must use an approved template, and the customer must have opted in.

The window also matters for cost. Since October 1, 2026, Meta charges for service messages after a free tier of 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month, and for utility templates sent inside the window. If the customer arrived through an ad that clicks to WhatsApp and the business replies within the window, a free entry point window opens instead and may stay open for up to 7 days.

Automation is allowed inside the window, provided customers have a clear path to a human. In Kanal, replies are sent from a [team inbox](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-crm) or by the [AI chatbot](https://getkanal.com/ai-chatbot), which answers from the store's catalog and order data.

## Kanal features

- [WhatsApp CRM](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-crm): WhatsApp CRM built for Shopify stores
- [WhatsApp chatbot](https://getkanal.com/ai-chatbot): The ecommerce AI chatbot that answers on WhatsApp

## Go deeper: articles

- [WhatsApp Customer Support for Shopify: 12 Essential Flows](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-customer-support-shopify): Build WhatsApp customer support for your Shopify store: 12 essential flows, AI tier-1 automation, Gorgias and Zendesk integrations and the metrics to track.
- [WhatsApp Business Pricing 2026: Cost per Message by Country](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-pricing-guide): WhatsApp Business pricing, October 2026: the app is free, the API bills each message: $0.0635 per UK marketing message, $0.0034 per US order update.
- [WhatsApp Bot for Ecommerce: How a WhatsApp Chatbot Works](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-chatbot-ecommerce-automation): How a WhatsApp chatbot for ecommerce works: rule-based flow or AI agent, Meta's rules (24-hour window, templates, opt-in, handoff), setup and metrics.

## Related terms

- [Session message](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/session-message)
- [Conversation-based pricing](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/conversation-based-pricing)
- [Click-to-WhatsApp ads](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/click-to-whatsapp-ads)