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Updates

Product updates

New features and improvements to Vancely, newest first. Building on the API? The developer guide has the details.

  1. Inbox search and live chat in every plan

    Find a conversation in seconds, and add live chat to your website on any plan, including the free trial.

    • Search the Inbox by phone number, visitor name or email, WhatsApp number name or widget name. Search never looks inside messages, because we don't keep them.
    • Every plan now includes the website chat widget. Plans differ in the number of widgets, open chats, Inbox seats and how long saved transcripts can be kept.

    Compare plans

  2. Website live chat

    Add a chat bubble to your website with one line of code. Answer visitors and WhatsApp contacts from one Inbox, let a bot reply for you, and move chats to WhatsApp.

    • One Inbox for website chats and WhatsApp: reply, take over from the bot, hand back, and close chats. Visitors who write while nobody is online are kept as waiting chats.
    • Your bot flows can now answer website visitors. Menus appear as tap-to-reply buttons, and asking for a person hands the chat to your Inbox.
    • Continue on WhatsApp: visitors can move the chat to your WhatsApp number in one tap, and the conversation carries on there.
    • WhatsApp alerts: get a message on your own phone when a new chat starts or a bot hands a visitor over, while nobody is in the Inbox.
    • Saved transcripts are opt-in: only when you turn them on and the visitor agrees in the chat, encrypted, and deleted after the number of days you choose.
    • Look builder: start from a template, then pick the button shape, icon or your own image, an avatar, colours and font, with a live preview.
    • New chat webhooks (chat.started, chat.message, chat.ended, chat.continued_on_whatsapp) send website chats to your CRM or helpdesk. Message text is removed from our side once delivered.

    Set up the chat widget

  3. Bigger, tidier flow builder

    The bot flow builder now uses the whole screen and can arrange your steps for you.

    • Full-screen mode (button or the F key) and side panels you can fold away; the builder remembers your choice.
    • Tidy up arranges steps from left to right without changing what the flow does.
    • Large flows open correctly framed, and new steps land in the middle of the canvas.

  4. Nicer menus and saved responses

    Bot menus look more like a bank's, greetings are more polite, and you can choose to keep the answers customers give your bot.

    • Menus with emoji numbers, a NEW tag on options and a footer line. Customers can reply with the emoji, and "M" opens the main menu at any time.
    • The greeting only starts after the chat has been quiet for a while, so it doesn't interrupt an ongoing conversation.
    • Saved responses (opt-in per flow): kept only when you turn them on and the customer says yes in the chat; encrypted, deleted after up to 365 days, and downloadable as CSV.

  5. Bots that take orders and bookings

    Bot flows can now talk to your own system, wait for a payment, and send reminders.

    • Call your system: fetch products, prices or free slots and create orders or bookings. Every request is signed so you can verify it came from us.
    • Menus built from your own data, such as a product list or open time slots.
    • Wait for an event, for example a confirmed payment, and continue the chat when it arrives.
    • Reminders, for example 24 hours before a booking, which you can cancel through the API.
    • Start a flow for a contact from the API, and ready-made Order and Booking templates.

    Bot flows API

  6. Visual bot flow builder

    Build WhatsApp bots by drawing them: menus, questions, conditions and hand-over to a person.

    • Drag-and-drop builder with a step palette, autosave, and checks that point to the step that needs fixing.
    • Test chat to try a draft before publishing, plus versions you can roll back to.
    • Questions that check the answer (number, email, date, yes/no and more), conditions and variables.
    • When you reply from your own phone, the bot steps aside for that contact; webhooks tell your system when a bot hands over.
    • Replies to customers who just wrote to you go out faster than notifications.

  7. We no longer store message content

    Message text, captions, locations and files now exist on our servers only while they are being delivered, encrypted, and are erased afterwards.

    • Webhooks are the only place you receive message content; the dashboard and API show delivery details only.
    • Files you receive can be downloaded once and are deleted shortly after, within 24 hours at the latest.
    • Message history (without content) is kept for 90 days and webhook delivery logs for 30 days.

  8. Security hardening

    Stronger protection for your account and numbers after two independent security reviews.

    • Stricter security headers, per-account API rate limits, login throttling and email verification.
    • Opt-outs (STOP) now apply to your whole account and can only be lifted by the recipient.
    • Better detection of link shorteners and repeated broadcast messages.

  9. Launch: WhatsApp API

    Connect a WhatsApp number, send messages with one HTTP request and receive replies on your server.

    • REST API with scoped API keys, for text, images, video, documents, audio and locations.
    • Signed webhooks for incoming messages and delivery receipts, with automatic retries.
    • Built-in protection for your number: consent on first contact, opt-out handling, warm-up for new numbers and automatic pausing of unhealthy numbers.
    • Customer dashboard and interactive API reference.

    Developer guide

Questions about a change? Contact support.