When more than one person answers your WhatsApp, a single phone stops being enough. Chats wait for whoever holds it. With linked phones, two people may answer the same customer. This guide helps sales and support teams set up a shared inbox and agree on who does what.
In short: A WhatsApp shared inbox lets your team answer chats on one or more WhatsApp numbers without passing a phone around. Set it up by deciding who sees which chats, who owns each new chat and how handoffs work. Then use the first-week checklist at the end.
What is a WhatsApp shared inbox?
A WhatsApp shared inbox is a team workspace for the chats on one or more WhatsApp numbers. Each teammate signs in with their own account, so nobody has to pass the business phone around. It adds the team layer: chat access, an owner for each chat, private notes and a name on every reply.
In Risponse, your team handles WhatsApp chats from one shared place, and you decide who sees which chats. The WhatsApp shared inbox page shows the product. This guide covers the setup decisions your team makes before the first busy day.
Where the Business app runs out for a team
The WhatsApp Business app lets one account link up to four additional devices. Colleagues can then reply from their own phones, under the same business account. For two people, that may be enough.
As the team grows, three problems tend to appear:
- No record of who replied. WhatsApp does not show which teammate sent a message. If a customer says someone promised a refund, you cannot check who.
- The main phone still matters. If it is unused for over 14 days, all linked devices are logged out (as of October 2026).
- Two replies, or none. Each person may assume someone else has answered. Or two people reply at once, with different answers.
Risponse marks every message sent from Risponse with the teammate who wrote it. Managers can review the work, and it helps stop two people answering the same chat. The steps below cover the rest of the team layer.
Step 1: Decide who sees what
Start with access, because it shapes every other step. Risponse has two roles:
- Admins see every chat and manage the settings.
- Members see only the chats shared with them through a label.
Labels mark the team or topic of a chat, such as Sales or Support. You can filter the inbox by label, and labels decide which chats a Member can see. So plan one label per team before you invite anyone. The access control on each chat lists everyone who can see it.
Working with contractors or an outside call centre? Turn on number masking. It hides customer phone numbers from agents. They still see names and the full chat history, and they reply as normal. It cannot hide a number that a customer types into a message, so do not rely on it alone.
Step 2: Decide who answers
Every new chat needs an owner. Without one, the fastest person answers everything, or nobody does. Assignment rules give each new chat or ticket an owner in one of three ways:
| Rule | What it does | Works well for |
|---|---|---|
| Round robin | Shares new chats in turn between the people in the rule | Support teams with a steady flow of new chats |
| Chat starter | Keeps the chat with the teammate who started it | Sales reps who message their own leads first |
| Ticket follows chat | Gives a new ticket to whoever handles the chat | Cases that need follow-up after the first reply |
Assignment, auto-reply and escalation rules are automation rules, which depend on your plan. See pricing.
Round robin works best when it knows who is at work. Agents mark themselves online or offline. Admins can set working hours by weekday, with a time zone and several shifts a day. Turns can then follow shifts, online status or both.
Plan for one gap. Round robin does not know who is on leave, so take people out of the rule while they are away.
The docs suggest one rule per team, each with its own people. A rule can also be limited to one number, such as your Sales number. The multi-number page explains how several numbers share one inbox.
Step 3: Hand off chats without losing context
Handoffs are where context gets lost. A customer should not have to explain the problem again after a shift change.
Private notes for quick context
A private note stays inside the chat, and only your team can read it. Type @ to notify a teammate. Note what the customer asked, what you promised and what is still open.
Teach one habit on day one: check that you are in note mode before you send. A message typed in WhatsApp mode goes to the customer.
Tickets for longer work
Some requests need more than one reply, such as a missing delivery. Turn the message into a ticket with a title, status, assignee, priority, due date and labels. It stays linked to the chat, and the assignee is notified.
A rule of thumb: notes carry context, and tickets carry work with an owner and a due date. The WhatsApp ticketing page covers more ways to track them.
Step 4: Keep answers fast and consistent
When five people answer the same questions, customers get five versions of the answer. Quick replies help here. They are saved messages with a slash command, such as /refund, and the whole workspace shares one list.
Write these first:
- Opening hours and how to reach you
- Refund and return steps
- How to check on an order or request
- A short holding message while you check something
Ask one person to own the list and review it each month, so old answers do not stay in use.
For questions that arrive again and again, an automated reply can help. A rule can answer a keyword, such as opening hours, or send an after-hours note. Test each rule by messaging your number from a different phone, never on real customers. The WhatsApp automation page shows other rules you can build.
Step 5: Catch late replies and measure the work
Escalate before a customer gives up
Agree on a target reply time. Then add an escalation rule that emails a manager when a customer has waited longer than that. The manager can step in before the chat goes cold.
Measure what matters
Workspace metrics show first response time and ticket resolution time. For each person, you also see chats handled, messages sent, response speed and time online.
- Look at trends. Compare one week with the next, not one busy day.
- Read the numbers together. Check time online before you compare chats handled between people.
- Fix the setup first. A slow shift often needs more people or a better rule.
Your first-week setup checklist
Work through these in order during your first week.
- Connect your number. Only Admins can add numbers. Follow the connection guide, or read the WhatsApp Business API page if you plan to use the API.
- Create labels. Add one per team or topic, such as Sales and Support.
- Invite your team. Make someone an Admin only if they need every chat and the settings. Everyone else is a Member with the right labels.
- Set working hours. Add shifts by weekday, with a time zone. Ask agents to mark themselves online or offline.
- Turn on assignment. Add one round robin rule per team. Use chat starter for sales reps who start their own chats.
- Write quick replies. Start with five to ten answers to your most common questions.
- Agree on notes and tickets. Remind everyone to check note mode before sending.
- Turn on number masking if contractors or temporary staff join the team.
- Add an escalation rule with your target reply time.
- Review the metrics at the end of the week. Check first response time and chats handled per person. Then adjust shifts and rules.
FAQ
How do I set up a shared WhatsApp inbox?
Connect your number, then create one label per team, such as Sales and Support. Invite teammates as Admins or Members, and give each Member the right labels. Add an assignment rule so every new chat gets an owner. The first-week checklist above covers the rest in order.
Is a WhatsApp shared inbox the same as the WhatsApp Business API?
No, the WhatsApp Business API is one way to connect a number to a tool like Risponse. A shared inbox is how your team works with the chats on that number, however it is connected. Risponse can link a number by QR code, connect a Business API number or use coexistence. The WhatsApp Business API page explains the differences.
Can I hide customer phone numbers from agents?
Yes, with number masking, which suits contractors, temporary staff or an outside call centre. Agents still see names and the full chat history, and they reply as normal. It cannot hide a number a customer types in a message, so use it with other safeguards. Pair it with Member access, so each agent sees only the chats shared with them by label.
What should a team measure in a WhatsApp shared inbox?
Start with first response time and ticket resolution time for the whole team. Then look at each person’s chats handled, response speed and time online. Use the numbers to fix shifts and rules, not to rank people.
To see how these parts fit together, visit the WhatsApp shared inbox page. For step-by-step setup, start with team access and roles in the docs.