Description

The target of this project is to offer a high priority and quick sales support via WhatsApp of our employees.

On our web page, under sales contact section, the customer is invited to contact our public mobile number via WhatsApp.

For each such customer one WhatsApp group, including all our concerned employees must be created by the robot. The group number can be the customer’s mobile phone number so the employee knows which group corresponds to which customer. The customer is not a member of the group. Therefore, the customer does not see the phone numbers of our employees.

The customer communicates with our public WhatsApp number via a direct chat (without any group). Our public WhatsApp number must copy (or transfer) all incoming chat messages from the customer into the group (corresponding to that customer, where the members are our employees, but not the customer).

Everything we answer in such a group, the robot copies (or transfers) to the private WhatsApp chat of the customer. In such a way, the customer sees all our replies but does not see our numbers.

From the customer point of view, he/she communicates only with our public mobile number. The customer sends his/her messages to that single number and he/she receives all replies also from that single number.

Communication with the customer is via WhatsApp. Communication with us is also via WhatsApp.

From our (employees’ point of view) we communicate only with our single public number. But for each customer we have a separate individual group. The group name is the customer number (enclosed for example in square brackets).

Sequence diagram

*WAD = WhatApp Driver

Details

Here how it should work:

- Company has a public phone number, ex. 0791110011, which is available on the web for all sales questions.

- Company has one mobile phone (or an emulator) with that number and there is a robot/software that reads all incoming WhatsApp messages arriving via WhatsApp to that public phone number.

- As soon as a new message from a new customer arrives to our public number, the system must automatically create a group between Switzernet public number and Switzernet employees.

- Employees will see the initial message of the customer in the created group, copy pasted by a software. The group will have the customer number in the name, so we will identify different customers thanks to the different group names.

- Everything our employees answer in the group (of the customer, where the customer is not a member) must be transferred to the private chat of the customer.

- First line in the beginning of the message being sent to the customer must say who is the author (for example, emin, elen).

- Customer will see all messages coming from one public number 0791110011, no matter which employee answers (the phone numbers of our employees therefore will be hidden).

- Customer has no idea that there is a group behind his/her chat.

- The system works 24/24.

Ideas for project realization

The problem is that WhatsApp does not have any official support for developer’s applications.

1. Possible solutions to be explored and chosen by the developer:

· Android emulator?

· Third party libraries?

· Third party applications?

· Company has a phone with web app on the pc, such that the web browser can be controlled with a Java script?

· QR code and the reconnection can be manual (for each event of disconnection). It is not a priority to automatize that part for the first version of the solution.

· But the communication with the customers and creation of groups must be automatic.

· Another application/software is used on the PC to create corresponding group and to type the texts (copy paste or better transfer the received texts from the customers).

2. Possibly solutions using a homemade browser without graphical interface:

· Own web browser can be created, via HTTP protocol and Java scripts.

· Can usage of the lynx (It is a web browser in command line on Linux) be helpful?

· Maybe a solution can be found to access the code of a browser and to run on UNIX LINUX servers?

In the worst case we can have a dedicated Windows PC server, but Linux is recommended as our server for this app must be in a remote datacenter.

· The incoming flow of messages can be obtained maybe by activating the notifications and by processing the flow of notifications with the standard API of the OS?

· Maybe an already existing controllable browser can be used instead of writing a one from the scratch?

· An example of command line browser to rely on can be: https://github.com/mgp25/Chat-API

Validation

1. Research, examine and provide the project realization plan(s) with deadlines.

2. Implement the chosen solution and show with a demo that it works.

3. Document the details of the project.

4. Run and test the implemented solution.

5. The project is validated, when it's tested by Switzernet team and management, and when it’s reported as done. The uptime without shutdown must be at least 30 days.

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