In Bulgaria, customers write to you in the same apps they use to write to their friends. For most of them that is Viber; for foreigners and tourists it is often WhatsApp. They write in the evening, on Sunday, from their phone on the go. They ask about an available room, a price, an appointment or an order status. If the answer comes the next morning, some of them have already chosen someone else.
We work with hotels where Viber and WhatsApp are the main channel for guest questions. Here we have collected what every business should know before launching a chat bot on Viber and WhatsApp: what it can do, what the Meta and Viber rules are, what it costs and where the traps are.
What an AI chat bot does in Viber and WhatsApp
The old kind of chat bot offers buttons: “Prices”, “Contacts”, “Opening hours”. An AI agent in a messenger understands free text, written the way people actually write. In practice it:
- answers questions from the business’s knowledge base: terms, services, prices, opening hours;
- checks availability and prices in your system, for example a hotel PMS;
- creates and changes bookings directly in the system when there is an integration;
- sends a confirmation by WhatsApp, Viber or email, and can ask for an email address in the conversation itself;
- hands the conversation to a staff member when the question calls for it.
The last point matters more than it seems. A guest should not feel a seam between the bot and the reception desk. In our platform, staff see all Viber and WhatsApp conversations in one place and can step in at any moment. Once they do, the AI steps back and the guest continues with a person.
In hotels, a typical conversation looks like this. A guest writes on Viber in the evening and asks for a double room for three nights. The agent checks availability, offers several room types with their prices and conditions, and after the guest agrees, creates the booking in the PMS. The guest receives a confirmation with the booking number, dates, room type and total price. Reception sees everything in the morning without having picked up the phone.
Viber bot or WhatsApp bot: the differences that matter
The two messengers look the same to the customer, but the rules for businesses are different.
WhatsApp: Meta’s official platform
For automation, WhatsApp has an official route: the WhatsApp Business Platform, also known as the Cloud API. The connection runs through a Meta app, the number is verified, and messages the business starts itself can only be sent as approved templates. There are three kinds of templates: marketing, utility (for example a booking confirmation) and authentication.
When the customer writes first, a 24-hour customer service window opens. Inside it, free-text replies are free, and so are utility templates. Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per delivered template message: marketing and authentication templates always, utility templates only outside the window. Rates differ by country and change over time, so check Meta’s current rate card.
There is also a useful new option, coexistence mode. The same number can work at the same time in the WhatsApp Business app on the phone and in the automation. Staff keep writing from their phone, and the customer never gets two replies to one question.
Viber: the Bulgarian customer’s messenger
Viber is widespread in Bulgaria and many companies already have a business profile there. For chat bots, the rules changed in 2024. Bots created from 5 February 2024 onwards run on a commercial model: a monthly fee of €100 per bot, unless the agreement with Viber says otherwise, plus a fee for messages the bot sends on its own initiative. Messages within a 24-hour session started by the user are not charged.
That is why a Viber chat bot pays off best where the customer writes first: questions, enquiries, bookings. For mass campaigns, do the maths in advance.
Which one to choose? If your customers are mostly Bulgarian, start with Viber. If you work with foreigners or tourists, WhatsApp is a must. The hotels we work with use both.
The official route or a “grey” tool
There are programs that automate regular WhatsApp through the web version or through unofficial libraries. They look easier and cheaper. The risk is that the number gets blocked. For a number that is on your business card, on Google and in hundreds of old customer conversations, that risk is not worth taking.
We connect WhatsApp only through the official route, with no risky workarounds. Digital Agent is a Meta Tech Provider, meaning a technology provider approved by Meta for the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Templates, consent and GDPR
A messenger is a personal channel, and people react strongly to unsolicited messages. That is why in our platform marketing invitations go only to people who have given consent. The platform keeps track of who has given consent, so nobody gets a message they did not ask for.
Templates go through Meta approval, and we take care of the whole process. Every message is personalised, with the guest’s name and booking details, and the platform protects guests from receiving the same message twice.
Conversations contain personal data. Before you choose a provider, ask where they are stored, who has access to them and whether they are used to train AI models. If the answer is vague, that is an answer too.
What you can automate in messengers
Answering incoming questions is only the beginning. For hotels, our platform supports the guest’s whole journey:
- a confirmation right after the booking;
- a message 1–2 days before arrival and a day after it;
- a welcome at check-in and a thank-you at check-out;
- offers for late check-out or an airport transfer;
- a short feedback survey directly in WhatsApp;
- offers and extra services the guest can reach with a single message or a QR code in the hotel.
Outside hospitality the logic is the same: a reminder of a booked appointment, an order status, a confirmation of a request. What matters is that messages go out on their own, at the right moment and with the right details, without anyone copying data by hand.
What the bot handles on its own and what it leaves to a person
Not every question should get an automatic answer. It is worth deciding in advance where the line is.
The bot can comfortably handle information about services, availability, prices and standard terms, as well as booking confirmations. A person should handle complaints, non-standard requests, discounts and anything where a mistake is expensive.
When a guest asks for a person, reception knows straight away and sees at a glance what it is about, without reading the whole history.
How much a Viber and WhatsApp chat bot costs
The price has three parts, and it helps to see them separately.
Platform fees. Meta charges for template messages by category and country. Viber charges a monthly fee of €100 for a new bot, plus a fee for the messages the bot sends first. Replies in a conversation started by the customer are free on both platforms.
Build and support. The knowledge base, integrations, templates and tests are a one-off job; monitoring and updates are monthly. With us, an AI chat agent starts from €1,000 excluding VAT for implementation and from €100 per month for support per agent. The exact quote for WhatsApp and Viber depends on the integrations you need. There are more details in the article how much an AI agent costs in Bulgaria and on the AI chat agent.
AI usage. The language model is paid for according to conversation volume. The dashboard shows what it costs each month, so this part is never a surprise.
How we get started
Step 1. Channels and number. We decide which channels you need. If the number is already in WhatsApp Business, we check whether it can stay in the app through coexistence.
Step 2. Connection. We handle the whole technical side of connecting WhatsApp and Viber.
Step 3. Knowledge base. We gather the terms, prices and frequently asked questions from your website and documents.
Step 4. Integrations. We connect the system where your bookings or orders live. For hotels, that is the PMS.
Step 5. Testing. Before launch we test the agent with real questions, written the way your customers write them.
Step 6. Launch with a person on the line. Staff see the conversations and take over when needed. We recommend reviewing the conversations in the first weeks and fine-tuning the answers to what customers actually ask.
If you also get a lot of calls, the same logic works on the phone: see the AI voice agent. And if you are a hotel, the AI agent for hotels page has more on the PMS integration. If you are also thinking about chat on your website, see the types of website chat bot and what they cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one chat bot work in Viber and WhatsApp at the same time?
Do I need a new phone number for WhatsApp?
How much do WhatsApp messages cost?
How much does a Viber chat bot cost?
Can a staff member take over the conversation?
Can the bot make bookings?
If your customers write to you on Viber or WhatsApp and you want to see what an agent would look like for your business, book a free consultation. We will show you a demo conversation from the first question to the confirmation.
Digital Agent (AI AVTOMATIZATSII OOD) is a specialist agency for AI automation, AI agents and integrations. We build practical, durable solutions for hotels, restaurants, online shops and B2B companies in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania.
