WhatsApp has added the ability to make and receive calls directly from WhatsApp Web and Desktop, along with mid-call transfer between devices and AI-based background noise suppression. This is a consumer WhatsApp app update, not a Business API feature, so calls stay manual, but it changes how support and sales teams working on laptops can talk to customers. Automation, CRM logging and follow-ups after those calls is where a platform like ODIV Engage comes in.
WhatsApp just made it possible to call someone without touching your phone. If you're on WhatsApp Web or Desktop, you can now start a voice or video call straight from your browser tab, hand that call off to your phone mid-conversation, and let AI clean up background noise on both ends. Useful for a regular user chatting with family. Genuinely useful for anyone running support or sales conversations on WhatsApp all day from a laptop.
What exactly did WhatsApp announce?
Three things, mainly. First, calling from WhatsApp Web, meaning you can tap the call icon inside a chat on your browser and the call rings, connects and plays audio through your computer, not just your phone. Second, call transfer, so a call that started on your phone can be moved to your laptop or the other way round without hanging up and redialling. Third, background noise suppression, which uses on-device AI to filter out traffic, fans, chatter or a barking dog while a call is live, on both the caller's and receiver's end.
How does calling from WhatsApp Web actually work?
You open a chat inside WhatsApp Web (web.whatsapp.com) or the Desktop app, click the phone or video icon, and the call rings through directly. Your phone doesn't need to be unlocked or even nearby for the call itself, since WhatsApp Web now handles the audio and video connection natively rather than just mirroring your phone screen. This matters a lot for anyone who spends the day at a desk. A support executive doesn't need to keep switching between a company laptop and a personal or shared phone every time a customer wants to talk instead of type.
What is call transfer and why does it matter?
Call transfer lets you move an ongoing call from one device to another, phone to laptop, laptop to phone, mid-conversation. Think of a real estate broker who takes a client call while walking to a site visit on their phone, then wants to pull up a floor plan and continue the call on their laptop once they're back at the desk. Or a support agent whose shift is ending, who can hand the call to a colleague's device without the customer having to repeat their issue from scratch. It's a small mechanical thing, but it removes a real friction point that phone-based support teams have lived with forever.
How does background noise suppression actually help?
WhatsApp is using AI to isolate the human voice from everything else happening around it, construction noise outside an office window, a busy call centre floor, traffic if someone's calling from a two-wheeler at a signal. For Indian businesses specifically, this is not a small feature. A huge number of support and sales calls happen from open-plan offices, co-working spaces, or even from home with kids or TVs in the background. Cleaner audio means fewer repeated sentences, shorter calls, and honestly, a more professional impression on the customer's end.
A D2C skincare brand's support team handles 200+ WhatsApp chats a day from a shared office. With Web calling, agents no longer juggle a company phone between shifts. With noise suppression, a customer calling about a delayed order doesn't have to say 'hello, can you hear me?' three times over office chatter.
Is this available for WhatsApp Business accounts too?
This is the part worth being precise about. WhatsApp Web calling, call transfer and noise suppression are updates to the regular WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business consumer apps, the ones you and your team use manually. They are not part of the WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), which is what tools like ODIV Engage build on for automated messaging, chatbots, broadcasts and CRM. So if your team uses the WhatsApp Business app on a phone or now on the web, yes, you get these calling upgrades directly from Meta. But automating what happens before and after that call, sending a catalog, booking a slot, following up if the customer doesn't pick up, still needs a proper business messaging platform.
What does this mean for how Indian businesses talk to customers?
More and more B2C conversations in India already happen on WhatsApp instead of phone calls or email, but calling hasn't disappeared, it's just moved inside the app. A parent enquiring about a coaching class, a patient confirming a doctor's appointment, a customer wanting to negotiate on a bulk order, these often still end in a quick call. What's changing is where that call happens from. Teams that used to need a dedicated business phone line can now run voice support entirely through WhatsApp, on whichever device is in front of them, phone or laptop, with better audio quality than a regular mobile call in a noisy shop or office.
Customers don't care whether your team is on a phone or a laptop. They care that the call connects clearly and someone picks up the context from where the chat left off.
Where does ODIV Engage fit into this new calling world?
ODIV Engage runs on the official WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), and our job is everything around the conversation that isn't the call itself. That's automated replies, AI Agents that qualify a lead before a human even gets on a call, a shared team Inbox so any agent picking up a WhatsApp call already sees the full chat history and CRM notes, and Campaigns to follow up automatically if a call doesn't get answered. Pair that with our Calendar booking bots, and a customer can book a callback slot on WhatsApp, get an automated reminder, and then receive the actual call on WhatsApp Web from your team, noise-suppressed and clear. The call is manual, everything leading up to it and after it doesn't have to be.
If your business already leans on WhatsApp for support or sales and now wants to layer in smarter automation, lead capture and a proper shared inbox around those conversations, it's worth trying ODIV Engage. Plans start from Rs 999/month on the full platform, with lighter quick-start options from Rs 70/month if you just need broadcasts or WhatsApp auth to begin with. You can check current plans and start a free trial at engage.odivend.com/pricing.
Should you actually switch support calls to WhatsApp?
If your customers already message you on WhatsApp, yes, it's a natural next step rather than making them dial a separate support number. Just remember the calling upgrade handles the conversation itself, while the structure around it, routing, automation, CRM history, follow-ups, needs to be built deliberately. That's the difference between a nice feature and an actual efficient support or sales workflow.
