In this guide 6 sections
Move the number off the handset onto the WhatsApp Business API and connect it to a team inbox. Then set three rules. Who may see and reply, how chats are routed by topic or language, and what is sent outside working hours. Show the customer record beside each chat. Decide who inherits a leaver’s conversations.
Get the number off the one handset
Today the business number lives on a phone in a drawer or a pocket. Whoever holds it is the single point of failure. Risky. The first job is to decide which number goes into the shared inbox.
A number on the ordinary Business app must be deregistered from that app before the API can use it. Export the chat history first, because it does not travel with the number. Check the display name and verification status in Meta Business Manager at the same time.
Pick a quiet hour for the switch. The number goes offline for a short spell, so expect a few unanswered template messages. Customers writing in that gap should hear from you by another route, such as email or a pinned notice on your site.
- Export old chats from the phone before deregistering
- Confirm who owns the Meta Business Manager login
- Tell regular customers the number is unchanged
- Keep the old handset charged for a week as a fallback
Give each person a role, not the shared password
Create named users. An agent replies. A supervisor reassigns chats and reads any thread. An admin edits templates and settings. Nobody needs the owner’s login. Not even the supervisor.
Named users give you an audit trail. When a customer says the reply was rude, you can see who sent it and when. With one shared login you can only guess. Guessing is unfair to staff.
Keep sales and support chats visible only to their own teams unless someone needs both. Accounts staff rarely need to read a sales negotiation.
Route chats by topic, language and load
Start with a short menu or a first question: sales, delivery, billing, or something else. Route each answer to a queue. Add language as a second filter if you serve more than one.
Assign by rule, not by whoever grabs it first. Round robin spreads the load. Sticky assignment sends a returning customer back to the agent who knew them. Set a timer. An untouched chat then moves to a supervisor.
Review the queues weekly for the first month. A queue that is always empty should merge into another.
- Queue per topic with a named owner
- Language tag from the first message
- Returning customers go to their last agent
- Unanswered chat escalates after a set number of minutes
- Internal notes visible only to staff
Show the customer record beside the chat
An agent who must switch tabs to find an order will give slower, vaguer answers. Link the inbox to your CRM or billing tool so the open orders, last invoice and account manager appear next to the thread.
Match on phone number in a single international format. Numbers saved with and without the country code create duplicate customers, which is the most common cause of a blank sidebar.
Write each internal note to the customer record, not only to the chat. The note then survives a change of inbox vendor.
Plan after-hours replies and staff changes
Set working hours in the inbox. Outside them, send one message that gives opening time, an expected reply window and an option to leave details. Keep it to three lines. No essays.
Decide now what happens when someone leaves. Their open chats go to a named person, their notes stay, and their login is closed the same day. Chat history belongs to the business, not to the individual.
Finish with a dry run. Message the number from two phones, one in each language, at an hour outside your schedule, and check each step lands where you drew it.
Shared inbox set-up sheet
A one-page worksheet in four blocks. The first lists the number, owner and verification status. The second is a table of users with role, queue and language. The third holds routing rules and the escalation timer. The fourth records after-hours text, leaver handover owner and the dry-run results.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can I keep using the WhatsApp Business app and share it?
The app allows a few linked devices, but it has no routing, roles or customer record. Once more than two people reply, the API with a team inbox is the safer route.
Will old chats move across?
Not automatically. Export them from the phone first and store them as files. Some inbox tools can import an export, so ask before you switch.
Do customers see which agent replied?
Only if you show it. Many teams sign messages with a first name for warmth, while the inbox logs the full user behind the scenes.
How many agents can use one number?
The limit depends on the inbox product you choose rather than on WhatsApp itself. Check the plan you are shortlisting and test with your busiest hour in mind.