For your project, building a WhatsApp chatbot that interacts with clients to check debt status and report payments can be done by leveraging the WhatsApp Business API along with server-side scripting in PHP, Python, or both.
Approach Breakdown:
WhatsApp Integration:
Use the WhatsApp Business API to integrate WhatsApp messaging into your system.
To handle messages and send responses, you can use a framework like Twilio or 360dialog, which simplifies WhatsApp API integration.
API for Debt Query:
Create a RESTful API in PHP or Python to query the debt status from your database or external service.
This API should receive a customer’s ID or other unique identifier, fetch the debt information, and return the results in a readable format.
Payment Reporting:
When customers report payments, you can design a simple interface in WhatsApp to handle payment data.
The chatbot should send payment details to a specified internal email using an SMTP service (e.g., SendGrid, Mailgun) and also store the payment information in the WhatsApp chat for record-keeping.
VPS Setup:
Install the necessary software stack on a VPS (Ubuntu server, for example).
Set up the necessary web servers (Nginx or Apache) and APIs to handle incoming requests.
Documentation:
Does this approach align with your requirements, or would you like further details on specific aspects?