Glossary
What is a WhatsApp shared team inbox?
One WhatsApp Business API number answered by a whole team from separate logins, with assignment, canned replies and a visible 24-hour window, explained with a showroom example.
By Broadchat teamPublished 3 min read
Definition
Shared team inbox: A shared team inbox is a web screen where several employees answer customers on the same WhatsApp Business API number, each from their own login. Conversations can be assigned to a person or department, colleagues see each other's replies, and the inbox shows whether the 24-hour customer service window is open. It replaces passing one phone around the office.
Also called: Team inbox, Multi-agent inbox, Live chat
How a WhatsApp shared team inbox works
Every message to your number arrives through the webhook and appears as a chat in the inbox. A manager, or a rule, assigns it to an agent or a department. The agent replies from a laptop; the customer sees the business name, not the agent's personal number. When the agent goes on leave, the chat and its history stay with the business.
Three things make it different from a shared phone:
- Ownership: each chat has an assignee, so two people do not answer the same customer.
- Context: the contact panel shows who the customer is, and the full record (tags, custom fields) lives in CRM → Contacts.
- Window awareness: free-form replies work only inside the 24-hour customer service window. After it closes the inbox makes you send an approved message template instead.
Example: a furniture showroom
Arjun's showroom in Pune gets questions from ads, the website and existing buyers. With a shared inbox:
- Sales enquiries are assigned to the sales department; delivery questions to logistics.
- Kavya in sales types "/emi" and a saved reply with the EMI options appears, which she edits before sending.
- She adds a private note: "Wants teak, budget ₹45,000, visiting Saturday".
- On Saturday, Rohit opens the same chat and sees everything before the customer walks in.
- A buyer who last wrote three days ago is shown as window expired, so Rohit sends a delivery-slot template rather than free text.
Who needs one
A single owner answering a few chats a day can manage on the WhatsApp Business app. Once two or more people answer, or you need records of who said what, a shared inbox saves time and mistakes. If you want to keep chatting from the phone as well, coexistence lets app-sent messages appear alongside the team's replies.
The team inbox in Broadchat
In Broadchat the inbox is CRM → Live Chat. It shows a 24-hour window indicator with an open or expired filter, lets you assign chats to an agent or department, insert canned replies by typing "/" (manage them in CRM → Canned Replies), and see the customer's details in the contact panel. You can block or unblock a contact and open or close chats. Add colleagues under Workspace → Manage Team and set up departments in Department → Departments. The add team members help article walks through it, and the team inbox and CRM page shows the features together. For background, read what the WhatsApp Business API is.
Sources
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (customer service windows) — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy — WhatsApp, checked 12 October 2026
Broadchat team · Product and partner success team
The people who build and support Broadchat, the white-label WhatsApp Business API platform. We write from what we see while onboarding partners and their clients on the official WhatsApp Cloud API, and we check every article against Meta's current documentation.
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Frequently asked questions
How many agents can use one WhatsApp number in a team inbox?
In practice it depends on the team seats your plan includes. Each agent logs in separately with their own password, and all of them answer from the same business number.
Do customers see which agent replied?
No. They see the business display name. If you want customers to know who is helping, add the agent's first name to the message yourself.
Can agents reply after the 24-hour window closes?
Only with an approved message template. Free-form text, media and buttons are allowed while the window is open, and the inbox blocks free-form sends once it has expired.