Getting started

What ChatISP is

ChatISP is the WhatsApp customer service center built by Ravi Systems for internet service providers (ISPs). It brings together, in a single web panel, the ISP's WhatsApp numbers, the service team, artificial intelligence and the subscriber's information: who is talking, how their connection is doing and how their billing stands.

What sets ChatISP apart from generic WhatsApp customer service is that it understands how an ISP operates:

• Subscriber network, through Ravicor: with Ravicor (the Ravi Systems network management system, subscribed separately) paired, the agent and the AI see the real state of the customer's connection during the conversation (session, fiber signal, router, Wi-Fi) and can run diagnostic actions. See Integrations.
• Records and billing, through the ERP: ChatISP connects directly to the supported ERPs (IXC Provedor, SGP, Hubsoft, Gesprov, ReceitaNet and Pipesoft) to recognize the subscriber by phone number, show open invoices and send invoice copies. Other systems connect through a generic API.
• AI that truly serves customers: the artificial intelligence assistant greets the customer, checks their situation, solves what it can (invoice copy, Wi-Fi guidance, connection) and transfers to the team when needed, with a summary of the reason. See Artificial intelligence.
• Shared customer service: queue per department, automatic distribution among agents, transfers, shared conversations, internal notes, quick replies, satisfaction surveys. See Customer service.
• Everything the operation needs around it: service orders, team calendar, WhatsApp voice and video calls, sending automation (including the collection schedule), self-service flows, reports, audit trail, public API and webhooks.

The panel is 100% web based, works on computers, tablets and phones, in light and dark themes, in Portuguese, English and Spanish.

How it works

In broad terms, a message travels like this: the customer writes to the ISP's WhatsApp; the message reaches ChatISP through that number's channel; the system identifies the subscriber, records the conversation and decides who replies (self-service flow, AI or human queue); the reply goes back to the customer through the same channel.

The building blocks, in operational terms

The two ways to use it

ChatISP is the same system in both subscription options. What changes is who takes care of the machine.

Throughout this documentation, anything that exists only in the self-hosted installation is marked with the Self-hosted installation badge.

Server requirements Self-hosted installation

ChatISP is distributed as its own installation image, based on Debian 13 (64-bit). The image installs the operating system and everything else: web server, database, WhatsApp services, audio transcription and voice. You do not install any package by hand.

Machine

Virtual machine: watch the CPU type

A virtual machine is the most common path and works normally. There is only one thing to watch: the VM's CPU type must pass through the processor's modern instructions. In Proxmox and KVM, choose host (or x86-64-v2, if the VM needs to migrate between different nodes) instead of the generic kvm64.

Internet

• The server needs outbound internet access: it is how the WhatsApp numbers work, how the license is validated with the Ravi Systems central server, how the daily backup is sent and how updates arrive.
• The panel is accessed through the installation IP, already over https with the machine's own certificate (the browser may ask for a confirmation on first access). A domain with a trusted certificate (your own domain or a chatisp.com.br subdomain, with Let's Encrypt) can be configured later in Server.
• To use the Official Meta API, having the panel published on a domain is the simplest path. See WhatsApp connections.

Installing from the official image Self-hosted installation

The installation is the same for a physical server and a virtual machine: download the image, verify it, write it, answer the installer's questions and wait for the first boot to finish. There is no command line, apart from verifying the file.

Step by step

1. Download the image at chatisp.com.br/baixar. The page shows the image details (file, version, size and the SHA-256 code). The download can be resumed: you can pause it and continue later. Downloading does not start the 10-day trial.
2. Verify the SHA-256 of the downloaded file and compare it with the one published in the image details. If they differ, download again: a corrupted file usually fails midway through the installation with unhelpful messages.
   Linux macOS Windows

   sha256sum <downloaded-file>.iso

   shasum -a 256 <downloaded-file>.iso

   certutil -hashfile <downloaded-file>.iso SHA256

3. Write and boot: write the image to a USB drive (physical machine) or mount the ISO as virtual media in Proxmox, VMware or whichever hypervisor you use, and boot from it. The boot menu works in both BIOS and UEFI.
4. Answer the installer's questions: the graphical installer asks only for the essentials, and everything else is already answered inside the image:
   • Language: Brazilian Portuguese, English or Spanish. The keyboard, locale and time zone follow the choice, and the panel starts in that language.
   • Network: IP address, netmask, gateway and DNS, entered by hand.
   • Root password: the only operating system account.
   • Partitioning confirmation: the installer uses the entire selected disk.
5. Let the first boot finish: on restart, the machine creates the database, prepares the services, issues the internal certificate, turns on the firewall and publishes the panel. You do not need to do anything at this stage.
6. Open the panel in the browser, at https://server-IP. The first screen is the administrator creation (see First access).

After installing

• The time zone comes from the language chosen in the installer (Portuguese: São Paulo; English: New York; Spanish: Mexico City). For a different time zone, change it in Settings, System tab, Time zone field. It aligns business hours, reports and the calendar.
• SSH access to the server is on port 2202, with the root user.
• A new ChatISP version is applied to the already installed server: there is no need to download the image again. See Server.

First access

While the system has no users, any panel address leads to the welcome screen, Welcome to ChatISP, which creates the first user. It shows the three-stage track (Install the server, Create the administrator and Set up the service) and has a language selector and a light and dark theme button.

Create the administrator user

1. Choose the language in the selector in the corner of the screen. The page changes immediately, and that language becomes the system language.
2. Fill in Name and Email. The email is your sign-in to the system and the password recovery channel.
3. Set Password and Confirm password. The strength meter follows your typing, and the password must reach the Strong level: at least 8 characters, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols (or a longer password). Obvious words, sequences and parts of your name or email lower the password strength.
4. Enter the WhatsApp (phone) number, with area code: it receives service notifications.
5. Click Create and sign in. All fields are required; errors appear right below the field.

The user created here gets the Administrator profile, with full access. It is the account you use to invite the team and define access profiles later, in Users and profiles. The theme chosen on this screen becomes your account preference. On sign-in, the system opens the setup assistant.

Signing in

You sign in to ChatISP with Email and Password: there is no separate "username".

• Keep me signed in on this browser: with this option checked, you stay signed in for 30 days without entering email and password again. Do not check it on shared computers.
• Forgot my password: the system sends a code to the verified WhatsApp and to the account email; with the code, you set the new password.
• If the account has two-step verification, the Verify your identity screen asks for the code from the authenticator app. See My account.
• After several wrong attempts, the screen warns Too many attempts. Wait a moment and try again.
• A system link opened without being signed in (for example, a service order link) leads to the sign-in screen and, after signing in, continues to the requested page.

Where each user lands on sign-in

• Users with the Supervise all conversations permission (Administrator and Supervisor, by default) land on the Conversations screen, opened on the service Overview.
• Agents without that permission work directly in Service mode, the dedicated customer service screen.
• In an installation with no connected number and no history, the Conversations screen shows Welcome to ChatISP with the shortcuts Connect WhatsApp, Build the team and Tune the service.

The complete guide to the screen is in Interface and navigation.

Setup assistant

Right after the administrator is created, ChatISP opens the Setup assistant: Let's get everything ready. In seven steps the customer service starts out configured (integration, business hours, departments, flow, knowledge base, team and WhatsApp). Each step actually saves its data, and everything can be adjusted later in the panel screens.

The seven steps

Navigation and resuming

• The Continue and Back buttons move between steps, and Skip this step leaves the item for later.
• Finish later closes the assistant and takes you to the panel. Progress is saved.
• Until the assistant is completed, the administrator sees the compass button Setup assistant at the top of the panel, with a pulsing dot. It reopens the assistant at the step where you stopped, already reflecting what was actually saved in the screens.
• Redoing a step updates what it created (the same flow, the same invitations), without duplicating anything.

10-day free trial Self-hosted installation

Every self-hosted installation starts on Free trial: 10 days with all features unlocked, with no limit on agents, numbers, flows or API keys. It is not a reduced version: it is ChatISP serving your customers for real.

• The countdown starts at installation, not at download.
• During the trial, users with the Settings permission see the countdown bar at the top of the panel (Your trial expires in N days., then Your trial expires TOMORROW. and Your trial expires TODAY! Register to continue.) with the Register now! button. Other users do not see the bar.
• When the period ends without registration, the panel opens the Trial period ended screen for everyone. Conversations and settings remain saved, and incoming messages keep being recorded; the AI, queue distribution and automatic sending are on hold until the license is back.

License and registration

Each installation has an Installation token: a unique key, created on first use, that never changes. It identifies your server to Ravi Systems for plan registration, support and backups.

Where to see the token and the plan

In Settings, System tab, the installation registration card ("Unique key that identifies this installation to Ravi Systems") shows:

Registering and activating a plan

1. Click Register now! (in the top bar during the trial, on the registration card or on the block screen). The registration page at chatisp.com.br opens, already identifying your server by the token.
2. Choose the plan and payment method and complete the registration.
3. Go back to the registration card in Settings and click Update: the server syncs with the central server right away and the new plan takes effect. Without this click, it is applied at the next automatic sync, which happens every 10 minutes.

Syncing with the central server

The server syncs the license with the Ravi Systems central server every 10 minutes, over an encrypted channel. Validation has a margin for internet outages:

• After 24 hours without being able to sync, administrators see the red bar No communication with the Ravi Systems central server for N h., with the Update button.
• After more than 3 days without syncing, the panel opens the No communication with the central server screen. The license comes back on its own at the next successful sync.

License blocked screen

When the license is not active, every screen leads to the license screen, which explains the reason and what to do:

All of them show the token with Copy, the link Questions about plans? Talk to Ravi Systems and Sign out. Users with the Settings permission also see Sync now, to check right away after settling the issue.

Plans and limits

The plan is defined at the Ravi Systems central server and synced to your server. Limits are applied when each resource is created or reactivated.

The annual plan equals 12 monthly fees with a 35% discount. The amounts above are the self-hosted installation prices charged in Brazil and published at chatisp.com.br/planos; ChatISP Cloud has its own table, which already includes hosting. The free trial is equivalent to the top tier, with no limits.

CUSTOM plan. Above 18 agents, Ravi Systems negotiates a dedicated plan case by case: the price and the number of agents are set in the license record, and the rest of the table remains unlimited, as in ENTERPRISE. The panel shows the CUSTOM name on the Ravi Registration card and applies the agreed ceiling in the agents meter.

How limits appear on screen

• WhatsApp numbers are counted per number: the same number connected through QR and the official API at the same time counts as one.
• The agents, connections, flows and API keys screens show a meter in the header, in the format "X of Y in your plan". When the ceiling is reached, the meter changes to Plan limit reached and the create button disappears.
• If someone tries to create beyond the limit, the system shows the upgrade message (for example, "Agents limit reached: the BASIC plan allows 2. Upgrade your plan to continue.") and does not complete the record.
• A feature outside the plan (such as Sending automation on the NORMAL plan) stays visible in the menu, but the screen opens locked with Feature not included in your plan and the See plans button.
• Without autonomous AI service in the plan, conversations that would go to the AI are moved to the human queue, with the note "Autonomous AI service not included in the plan: conversation moved to the queue".
• Moving to a smaller plan never deletes anything: what already exists keeps working, you just cannot create more beyond the new limit.

Plan feature Throughout this documentation, this badge marks the features that depend on the subscribed plan.

Next steps

With the system installed and the assistant completed, this is a good roadmap to get the operation running:

1. Get to know the screen: Interface and navigation.
2. Check the WhatsApp numbers: WhatsApp connections.
3. Review departments, business hours and queue order: Departments and Flows.
4. Fine-tune the AI assistant and the knowledge base: Artificial intelligence and Knowledge base.
5. Connect Ravicor and the ERP, if you have not yet: Integrations.
6. Build the team and the access profiles: Users and profiles.
7. Register tags, quick replies and closing reasons: Records.
8. Start serving customers: Customer service and Customer record.