General FAQ
Common questions about what Mersal does, which channels it supports, and how core features work.
Quick answers to the questions that come up most before and during setup. If you don't find what you need here, the Ask AI button in the top bar searches this whole documentation site directly.
What channels does Mersal support?
SMS, WhatsApp, and Email, all manageable from one dashboard and one unified campaign composer. On top of sending, Mersal includes a CRM for contacts, a visual automation builder, and an AI-powered WhatsApp bot.
Do I need a Meta Business account to send WhatsApp?
No, not to get started. You can connect WhatsApp two ways: the official WhatsApp Cloud API, which does require a Meta Business Account (WABA) and is meant for production-scale sending, or a personal device via QR code — scan a code with WhatsApp on your phone, the same way you'd link WhatsApp Web, with no Meta Business account needed. The QR route is the faster way to send a real test message while you're still setting up an official account.
Can I use my own phone to send SMS or WhatsApp?
Yes, for both. For WhatsApp, connecting your personal device via QR code links your own phone's WhatsApp directly. For SMS, the Android SIM Gateway pairs an Android phone running the Mersal bridge app, and Mersal sends through that phone's physical SIM card — useful if you want to send from a real local number without contracting a separate SMS API provider.
What happens if I don't select any recipients before sending?
The send button stays blocked. Every send form in Mersal — single message or campaign — requires at least one recipient (a contact, or a group with at least one member) before it lets you submit. This is intentional, to stop you from accidentally sending to nobody or losing a message you've already composed by submitting too early.
Is Mersal available in English and Arabic?
Yes. Both the dashboard and this documentation are available in English and Arabic.
Can I automate replies without writing code?
Yes. Automation workflows are built visually, by dragging nodes onto a canvas and connecting them — keyword triggers, generic triggers, waits, conditions, and AI-generated replies — with no code required. There are 11 ready-made presets you can start from and adjust instead of building from a blank canvas.
Does the AI WhatsApp bot only use my own content, or can it make things up?
The AI bot answers grounded only in the knowledge base you configure for it — it isn't free-roaming. You control what it knows by feeding it your own content, so its replies stay scoped to information you've actually provided rather than improvising answers about your business.
What's the difference between a single message and a campaign?
A single message is a one-off send to one contact — useful for a transactional or individual message. A campaign sends to an entire contact group at once, on one channel or several (SMS, WhatsApp, and Email together, as a unified campaign), and can be sent immediately or scheduled for later.
How do I get contacts into Mersal in bulk?
Import an Excel file. Mersal upserts rows that match an existing contact (updating instead of duplicating) and automatically cleans and normalizes phone numbers on import, so the list is send-ready right away. See Importing Contacts from Excel.
What's the Leads Hub, and how is it different from Contacts?
Contacts you add manually or import are ready to message immediately. Leads that come from scraping tools — like the Mersal Maps Chrome extension pulling from Google Maps — land in a separate holding area called the Leads Hub first, where you can review and clean them before promoting them into regular Contacts. It keeps unverified scraped data out of your main sending list until you've checked it.
Can I try Mersal before setting up official business accounts (WABA, SMS provider, etc.)?
Yes. Connecting WhatsApp via personal QR code and using the Android SIM Gateway for SMS both let you send real messages with no provider account or Meta Business Account required, which makes them the fastest way to test the platform end to end before investing in official channels.
Still have questions?
- Billing, plans, and account questions: see the Billing FAQ.
- Something not sending or connecting correctly: see Troubleshooting.