BSUIDs for WhatsApp identity resolution and messaging continuity overview
AI-generated summary
Genesys Cloud is enhancing its platform to support Meta's evolving WhatsApp identity model, which introduces Business-Scoped User IDs (BSUIDs) and username-based interactions to replace phone number sharing in certain business conversations. This transition maintains messaging continuity while enabling users to interact with businesses using usernames instead of consistently providing phone numbers, with BSUIDs serving as unique backend identifiers assigned to each user-business relationship.
The platform will continue supporting inbound and outbound WhatsApp messaging with minimal operational changes. Agents will see customer identifiers displayed as either phone numbers (when available) or WhatsApp usernames (when phone numbers are not shared). Genesys Cloud exposes BSUIDs within Architect conversation address fields through three mechanisms: addressRaw (contains BSUID), addressNormalized (contains phone number when available, otherwise BSUID), and addressDisplayable (contains WhatsApp username when provided). This approach enables routing, identity resolution, Data Actions, and downstream integrations while maintaining backward compatibility and reliable customer identification when phone numbers are unavailable.
The implementation follows a phased rollout spanning three phases. Phase 1 (August 2026) provides core messaging continuity with Architect support for BSUID and phone number routing, with General Availability on August 3, 2026. Phase 2 (October 2026) extends platform-wide support to contact management, GDPR requests, analytics, and recording, including vCard support for contact-sharing scenarios and GDPR API capabilities for customer record management using WhatsApp-specific identifiers. Phase 3 (January–March 2027) adds inbound voice calling, outbound campaigns, agentless messaging APIs, and WhatsApp REQUEST_CONTACT_INFO CTA support. The rollout timeline spans Meta Waves 1-2 (July 13-20, 2026) across multiple countries.
For outbound campaigns, phone numbers remain the primary identifier for initiating conversations, as BSUIDs are designed to preserve continuity for existing users adopting username-based privacy rather than replace phone-based targeting. Usernames cannot initiate new outbound conversations, as they are not valid identifiers under Meta's model. Genesys recommends enabling Meta's Contact Book feature to maintain phone number and BSUID mappings and ensure webhook payloads continue including user phone numbers even after username adoption.
Most Genesys Cloud customers require no immediate action, as existing WhatsApp messaging will function as expected. However, organizations using custom downstream integrations, reporting logic, external systems, CRM logic, middleware, exports, or automation that depend on phone numbers being present should review their workflows to accommodate the updated identity model. Conversation history is preserved through BSUID's identity continuity model, and messaging continuity for inbound and outbound messaging remains functional throughout the transition. Inbound WhatsApp calls are not affected by usernames and BSUIDs; however, when Meta provides BSUID instead of phone number in inbound call signaling, Genesys Cloud may not automatically resolve the call to existing customer records, with improvements to inbound WhatsApp calling identity resolution planned for Phase 2. Genesys provides direct support for unexpected behavior and offers consultation calls to discuss rollout plans and implementation details.
This article elaborates how Genesys Cloud supports Meta’s new WhatsApp privacy capabilities.
The information presented in this article is based on the BSUID feature and related enhancements introduced by Meta. As Meta continues to evolve the BSUID feature, Genesys Cloud may update its functionality accordingly to ensure uninterrupted and consistent WhatsApp messaging support. Watch this space for the latest updates and enhancements related to BSUID support in Genesys Cloud.
What Meta is changing?
Meta is introducing new WhatsApp privacy capabilities that allow WhatsApp users to use a username in place of sharing their phone number in some business interactions. As part of this change, Meta will also provide a Business-Scoped User ID (BSUID), which is a unique identifier assigned to each user-business relationship to help maintain continuity in business messaging.
In practical terms, this means that in some WhatsApp conversations, a customer’s phone number may no longer be consistently available to businesses. Instead, businesses receive a Meta-generated identifier in the background so that conversations can continue reliably.
Why is Meta making this change?
This update is designed to give WhatsApp users more control over their privacy while preserving a consistent experience when they engage with businesses. Customers who choose to use usernames can interact with a business without always making available their phone number, while Meta’s BSUID provides the underlying identifier needed to support message delivery and ongoing conversation continuity.
How Genesys Cloud is addressing this change?
Genesys Cloud is enhancing to support the new WhatsApp identity model, so your messaging experience remains consistent as Meta rolls out usernames and BSUIDs.
With this update:
Inbound and outbound WhatsApp messaging will continue to function as it is today.
Agents see a slight difference in the customer-identifier, such as the customer’s phone number when available, or their WhatsApp username when the phone number is not shared.
Genesys Cloud will use Meta’s backend identifying model to help preserve customer matching and conversation continuity.
Note: While BSUID is managed as a backend identifier through most of the Genesys Cloud platform and is not made available to agents or end customers, Genesys Cloud exposes the BSUID within Architect conversation address fields to support routing, identity resolution, Data Actions, and downstream integrations. This ensures Architect’s flows continue to have access to a reliable customer identifier when Meta does not provide a phone number.
What does this mean for your business?
For most of the Genesys Cloud customers, no immediate action is required. Your existing WhatsApp messaging in Genesys Cloud will continue to operate as expected. You may, however, notice that in some conversations a username is displayed in place of a phone number when a WhatsApp user chooses not to share their phone number.
If you use custom downstream integrations, reporting logic, or external systems that assume a phone number is always present for WhatsApp interactions, you may want to review those workflows to ensure that they can handle this updated identity model.
More considerations for campaign and compliance use cases
As Meta rolls out usernames and BSUIDs, Genesys Cloud is prioritizing support for core WhatsApp messaging continuity first. More capabilities, including GDPR-related workflows, expanded UI visibility for username support, and customer contact-sharing support such as supported phone number request template flows and contact card or vCard handling will be addressed as part of Phase 2 later this year.
Architect support for BSUID: While BSUID is managed as a backend identifier across most of the Genesys Cloud platform and is not exposed to agents or end customers, it is exposed within Architect to support routing and integrations. When Meta provides a BSUID, Architect populates the existing Conversation Address fields as follows:
addressRaw – Always contains the BSUID.
addressNormalized – Contains the customer’s phone number when available; otherwise, it contains the BSUID.
addressDisplayable – Contains the customer’s WhatsApp username when provided by Meta.
This approach maintains backward compatibility while ensuring Architect’s flows continue to have a reliable customer identifier for routing, identity resolution, Data Actions, and downstream integrations, even when Meta no longer shares a customer’s phone number.
For outbound WhatsApp campaigns, customers should continue using the phone number as the primary identifier for starting conversations. Meta’s BSUID does not replace the phone number for starting new outbound messaging. Instead, BSUID is intended to help preserve continuity for users who have already interacted with your business and later adopt a username-based privacy experience. If your outbound campaign workflows depend on phone-number-based targeting, they should continue to do so. However, as Meta’s privacy model evolves, customers may want to review related workflows and downstream systems to ensure that they remain aligned with this updated identity model.
To help reduce disruption, Genesys strongly recommends that customers keep Meta’s Contact Book feature enabled in their business portfolio. The Contact book for WhatsApp setting can be found in your Meta Business Portfolio under Business info as shown in the following screenshot. Contact Book can help preserve customer identity continuity by retaining phone number and BSUID mappings for users who interact with your business after the feature becomes available. According to Meta, once Contact Book is enabled and populated through new interactions, webhook payloads, and API responses can continue to include the user’s phone number and BSUID even if that user later adopts a username-first privacy experience.
Phase 1
As part of phase 1, the current enhancement focuses on preserving core messaging experience in Genesys Cloud, including customer identity presentation for agents and continuity of WhatsApp conversations as Meta’s new identity model is introduced.
Phase 2
Additional Genesys Cloud capabilities supporting Meta’s WhatsApp identity model are planned for Phase 2, targeted for the end of October 2026. Until Phase 2 becomes available, Phase 1 capabilities will continue to maintain the core messaging experience as Meta expands its rollout globally.
Genesys Cloud will continue to align with the WhatsApp platform as these capabilities mature.
If you have any questions, contact your Genesys Cloud representative.
Meta and Genesys rollout timeline
Meta rollout wave
Date
Countries
Genesys alignment
Meta Wave 1
July 13, 2026
Algeria, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Libya, Nepal
Genesys Phase 1 begins – the platform maintains messaging continuity.
Meta Wave 2
July 20, 2026
Colombia, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Singapore
Messaging continuity continues. Inbound and outbound messaging, as well as inbound calling, continue to work usually.
Genesys Phase 1 GA
August 03, 2026
—
Platform support aligns with Meta’s new identity model while continuing to maintain messaging continuity. This release introduces contact stitching together with Architect support for BSUID and phone number for routing, automation, and integrations, enabling customers to build workflows using the new identifiers without disrupting existing messaging experiences.
Meta Wave 3
September 07, 2026
Rest of the world (Global rollout)
Meta expands its new identity model globally. Genesys Phase 1 capabilities continue to maintain the core messaging experience while Genesys Phase 2 capabilities are being completed.
Genesys Phase 2
October 26, 2026*
Platform-wide support extends across contact management, GDPR requests, analytics, and recording, providing broader Genesys Cloud support for Meta’s new identity model following Meta’s global rollout.
Genesys Phase 3
January – March 2027*
—
Support extends to inbound voice calling, outbound campaigns, agentless messaging APIs, and the REQUEST_CONTACT_INFO CTA in WhatsApp message templates completing broader support for Meta’s new identity model across the Genesys platform.
* Targeted release schedule.
What to expect during the rollout?
Messaging continuity continues throughout Meta’s rollout. Inbound and outbound messaging, as well as inbound calling, continue to work as usual.
As Meta begins returning BSUIDs, agents may notice a new contact window, and the Agent Workspace or timeline may display the BSUID as the backend identifier instead of the phone number.
With Genesys Phase 1 GA available, messaging continuity is maintained, with Architect support for BSUID and phone number. Other platform-wide capabilities included in Phase 2, such as contact management, GDPR requests, analytics, and recording, are targeted for release by the end of October 2026.
Following Phase 2, Genesys plans to extend support to inbound voice calling, outbound campaigns, agentless messaging APIs, and the REQUEST_CONTACT_INFO CTA in WhatsApp message templates as part of Phase 3, targeted for November–December 2026.
Support during the transition
If you are in a Wave 1 or Wave 2 country and experience any unexpected behaviour related to messaging continuity between your Meta rollout date and the Genesys Phase 1 GA released on August 3rd, contact your Genesys Cloud representative directly. The Genesys engineering teams will investigate and resolve any issues as quickly as possible.
Our recent end-to-end testing confirms that messaging continuity including inbound messaging, outbound messaging, and inbound WhatsApp calling continues to function throughout Meta’s rollout.
Genesys will continue to provide updates as additional platform capabilities become available. If required, you can set up a call with your Genesys Cloud representative to walk through the rollout plan, discuss the upcoming phases, and answer any questions your team may have.
Note: This rollout timeline and implementation details will continue to be updated in this resource article as additional Genesys support becomes available across future phases.
FAQs pertaining to BSUID implementation in Genesys WhatsApp messaging
Meta is introducing a new feature username for WhatsApp users and a backend identifier called BSUID that identifies the relation between the username and the business portfolio. This feature allows WhatsApp users to message businesses with their username without the necessity of always sharing their phone number, while still giving platforms and businesses a way to maintain message continuity.
The change primarily offers user privacy. WhatsApp users can choose to display a username instead of exposing their phone number in some business interactions, while Meta uses BSUID in the background to preserve a stable identity for that user and the business they interact with.
A Business-Scoped User ID (BSUID) is a Meta-generated identifier that uniquely identifies a WhatsApp user for a specific business portfolio. It is intended to support message delivery and conversation continuity when a phone number is not available.
Genesys Cloud already supports WhatsApp as a messaging channel, and the intent of this update is to ensure that WhatsApp conversations continue smoothly as Meta’s identity model evolves. Genesys documents WhatsApp support in the agent workspace today, and public product documentation also covers WhatsApp business messaging capabilities.
Based on what identity customers choose to display as their identifier in a business interaction, agents see either the customer’s phone number or username. Other than the display of username instead of phone number, all other functionalities remain unchanged.
No. BSUID is a backend identifier and it is not exposed in the day-to-day user experience. Customer-facing and agent-facing experiences remain centered on recognizable identifiers such as phone number or username.
Note: BSUID is managed as a backend identifier through most of the Genesys Cloud platform and is not intended to be visible to agents or end customers. However, for integration and routing scenarios, Genesys Cloud exposes the BSUID through the Architect Conversation Address fields (addressRaw and, when applicable, addressNormalized). This allows Architect flows and downstream integrations to continue operating even when Meta does not provide a customer’s phone number. During the transition period, some customer records may temporarily display a BSUID in limited platform experiences; these will be normalized in future releases.
No. Phone numbers still exist, but depending on what users chose to display as their identity whether phone number or username, Meta may not always include them in business messaging events. In such cases, BSUID becomes the stable identifier used in the background for message continuity.
No. Meta states that BSUIDs are business-scoped, meaning they are tied to a particular business portfolio and are not universally reusable across unrelated business portfolios.
No. Meta states that if a user enables usernames, their phone number may not be included unless certain conditions are met, such as recent interaction history or the user being present in Meta’s Contact Book for that business portfolio.
Meta’s Contact Book is a feature released on April 26, 2026, designed to help preserve messaging thread continuity as WhatsApp usernames are introduced. This feature is enabled by default for all Meta Business Portfolios.
When your business sends or receives a message or call using a user’s phone number, Meta stores that user’s phone number and BSUID in the Contact Book at the portfolio level.
This ensures that even if a user later enables usernames and their phone number is no longer shared in webhooks, their previously captured details can still be used to maintain continuity in webhook payloads and API responses.
If your organization has implemented standard Genesys Cloud, no immediate action is required. However, if your organization has custom integrations in CRM logic, middleware, exports, or automation that assume WhatsApp interactions always include a phone number, those integrations must be reviewed for compatibility with this new identity model.
The objective of Meta’s BSUID model is to preserve identity continuity in messages even when a phone number is not shared. Genesys Cloud is positioning support for this change so that the conversation continuity is maintained regardless of whether the phone number or username is displayed for the WhatsApp user.
Outbound WhatsApp campaigns run by businesses require the customer’s phone number as the primary identifier for starting conversations.
Meta’s BSUID does not replace the phone number for starting new outbound conversations or campaigns. Instead, BSUID helps preserve message continuity in cases where an user has already interacted with the business using a phone number and later adopts a username-based privacy experience that limits the phone number availability.
If your outbound campaign workflows rely on phone-number-based targeting, they should continue to do so. To help maintain continuity for users who later move to a username-first experience, customers should keep Meta’s Contact Book feature enabled where possible.
A WhatsApp username is not a valid identifier for initiating a new outbound conversation.
Under Meta’s model, outbound conversations must be initiated using the customer’s phone number. The BSUID does also not serve as a replacement for a phone number when starting a new outbound interaction.
BSUID supports continuity of an existing customer-business relationship when the customer has already interacted with the business, particularly if the user later chooses a username-based privacy experience and their phone number is no longer consistently available.
During phase 1, Genesys will not support GDPR API for processing WhatsApp usernames. In phase 2, Genesys will extend support for GDPR-related activities so that customer records can be found and managed using WhatsApp-specific identifiers such as WhatsApp username, in addition to phone number. This is intended to support compliance workflows such as search, export, update, and delete, even where phone numbers are not available due to WhatsApp privacy settings.
A vCard is a digital contact card used to share contact information, such as a phone number. Support for vCard or contact-sharing scenarios are planned as part of Phase 2 in Genesys Cloud.
No. Inbound WhatsApp calls are not affected by the usernames and BSUIDs. Genesys Cloud agents can continue to answer the inbound WhatsApp calls as they answer today. However, in some scenarios where Meta provides the BSUID instead of the customer’s phone number in the inbound call signalling information, Genesys Cloud may not be able to automatically perform identity resolution of those calls to the existing customer contact record. When this occurs, the agent can still answer and handle the call, but the customer identifier shown in the agent experience may appear as the BSUID instead of a phone number or WhatsApp username. This may create a less recognizable agent experience, but it does not prevent the inbound call from being delivered or answered.
Genesys is prioritizing to support the changes in core WhatsApp messaging user identity as part of Phase-1, that is, username or phone number display. Improvements to inbound WhatsApp calling identity resolution will be addressed in Phase-2.