Why one shared phone doesn't work
- Only one person can hold it at a time, and messages wait while it's in someone's pocket.
- Nobody knows who's answering what, so customers get two replies, or none.
- There's no record of who said what to a customer, or who promised what.
- When the person with the phone is off, so is your WhatsApp.
Two ways to share a WhatsApp number
| WhatsApp Business app, linked devices | Business Platform, shared inbox | |
|---|---|---|
| How many people | Up to 4 linked devices and the phone; up to 10 devices with multi-agent on Meta Verified or Meta One | Set by the inbox tool, each person with their own sign-in |
| Assigning chats | With multi-agent | Yes |
| If the phone isn't used | Linked devices log out after more than 14 days | No phone involved |
| AI answering first | No | Yes, with an AI agent connected |
| Other channels in the same list | No | Depends on the tool; some add Telegram and website chat |
WhatsApp: about linked devices · WhatsApp: about multi-agent · WhatsApp Business app vs API
What a good shared inbox does
- Every chat in one list, showing who's answering and what's unread.
- A view of who's waiting for a person, so nobody waits unseen.
- Assigning a chat to one person, and seeing your own.
- The whole conversation in front of whoever replies, so customers never repeat themselves.
- Replies that go out on the customer's own channel.
- Alerts that reach the right person when a customer needs them.
Ground rules for the team
- One owner per chat: assign it, and the owner replies until it's done or handed on.
- A reply target, such as 15 minutes in opening hours, and an alert when it's missed.
- Write as the business, in one tone; sign with a first name if you like.
- Promise only what you can deliver: refunds and exceptions go to whoever decides them.
- Close the loop: hand the chat back to the AI or close it when you're done.
AI first, people when needed
Most messages are the same everyday questions. An AI agent can answer those at any hour, so the team only sees the chats that need a person: someone asking for one, a question the knowledge doesn't cover, a complaint.
- Step 1
The AI answers
From your own information, in the customer's language.
- Step 2
It hands over
When the customer asks for a person or it can't help, the chat waits in the inbox for the team.
- Step 3
A person replies
And the AI stays quiet in that chat while they do.
- Step 4
Back to the AI
When the person's done, the AI picks up again, having read what they said.
Mind the 24-hour window
On the WhatsApp Business Platform, you can reply freely for 24 hours after the customer's last message. After that, only an approved template message can reach them, so a chat left too long in the inbox can no longer get a normal reply. A reply target well inside 24 hours avoids it. Meta: customer service windows · The WhatsApp 24-hour window, explained
What to watch
- How long customers wait for a person, at the busiest times.
- Chats nobody owns.
- Why chats are handed over: if one question keeps coming, add the answer to the AI's knowledge.
- Chats close to the end of their 24-hour window.
In HeyKiko
- Step 1
Connect your number
Through Meta's Cloud API, so nobody passes a phone around; website chat and Telegram join the same inbox.
- Step 2
Bring in your team
Add or invite people in Settings › Team; each has their own sign-in and chooses their own alerts.
- Step 3
Set your hand-off
Send every hand-off to one person, or whoever replies first, and get told if nobody replies after a few minutes.
- Step 4
Work from Needs you and Mine
Reply on the customer's channel, which pauses Kiko for that chat, then hand it back or close it.
The inbox runs in the browser on a computer or a phone; there's no separate app yet. It refreshes every few seconds rather than streaming, and checks the 24-hour window before a WhatsApp reply is sent. Shared inbox in HeyKiko
Sources
Checked on 5 November 2026. We make HeyKiko, which this guide uses as its example; Meta’s rules apply to every tool.
