What is a PTT message?

In more depth

The distinction between a voice note and an audio file matters more than it looks. A voice note plays inline, shows a waveform, tracks listening progress, and can be sped up by the listener; an audio file shows as an attachment with a filename. They are different types on the wire, so sending an MP3 to the voice endpoint fails even if the audio itself is perfectly good. The requirement is Opus in an Ogg container, which is what the phone produces natively and what most transcoding tools can produce in one command. Automations use voice notes for reminders and confirmations because they feel personal and are hard to ignore, but the same quality makes them intrusive: a voice note from an unknown number is far more likely to be reported than a text. Keep them short, keep them for people who asked, and remember that a recipient cannot skim a voice note the way they can skim a paragraph, so anything with a reference number or an address belongs in text.

In the Wapito API

On the wire it is the field type:

{
  "type": "voice",
  "audio": {
    "mime_type": "audio/ogg; codecs=opus",
    "file_size": 18422
  }
}

On the official Cloud API

The Cloud API supports audio messages including voice, with its own list of accepted media types, but the message still has to obey the template and window rules that govern every business-initiated conversation.

Wapito is an independent product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or certified by WhatsApp or Meta Platforms, Inc. WhatsApp is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc.

Related terms

• PTV
• Status story
• ACK

Related