# One shared inbox for WhatsApp, Telegram and your website

> One team inbox for every WhatsApp, Telegram and website chat, with your AI agent answering first and your team taking over when it's needed.

Canonical: https://heykiko.io/features/shared-inbox
Last updated: 2026-11-05

Every conversation from your website chat, WhatsApp and Telegram lands in one inbox your whole team works from. Kiko answers first; your team sees who's waiting, picks a chat up or has it assigned, and replies on the customer's own channel with the whole history in front of them.

## How the inbox works

1. **Every chat in one list**: Website, WhatsApp and Telegram, each showing its channel, the latest message, who's answering and whether it's unread.
2. **See who needs you**: “Needs you” holds the customers waiting for a person; “Mine” holds the chats assigned to you.
3. **Reply on their channel**: Your reply goes out on WhatsApp, Telegram or the website chat. Replying pauses Kiko for that customer and assigns the chat to you.
4. **Hand back or close**: Switch the chat back to Kiko when you're done, or close it.

Included on every plan, after a 14-day free trial.

## Finding and working a chat

- **Views, filters and order**: Needs you, Mine or All; one channel or every channel; unassigned, with the team or with your agent; newest, oldest, longest waiting or unread first.
- **Search**: Find a customer by name, phone or email, and find words inside a chat.
- **The customer beside the chat**: Their contact details, the conversation's state and their open cases, plus every photo and PDF from the chat in one place.
- **Replies that make sense**: Reply to a specific message, attach a photo or PDF, pin a chat to the top, or export a chat as a text file.
- **Call from the chat**: On plans with WhatsApp calls, call a customer who has allowed it, or ask them for permission, without leaving the conversation.

## Working as a team

- **Assign and reassign**: Give a chat to a team member, take it yourself, or unassign it.
- **Who answers, per chat**: Switch any chat between your agent and your team. Kiko reads your team's replies when it picks the chat up again.
- **Alerts that reach people**: When a customer needs a person or a chat is assigned to them, by email, WhatsApp, Telegram or in the app.
- **Cases from conversations**: Open a case for a refund or a request that needs an approval, straight from the chat.
- **Every team member signs in**: Add people or invite them by email; each has their own sign-in and their own alerts.
- **An audit log**: Changes to the agent are recorded in an audit log you can open from the inbox.

## What you can set

In the inbox itself, Actions › Hand-off and Settings.

| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Who answers | Per chat, from its header: your agent or your team. |
| Send every hand-off to | One team member, or whoever replies first (Actions › Hand-off). |
| Tell me if nobody replies after | A number of minutes, or never (Actions › Hand-off). |
| Alerts | Each person chooses what they hear about and where: email, WhatsApp, Telegram or in the app (Settings › Alerts). |
| Team | Add or invite team members and give them access (Settings › Team). |

## Good to know

- **It runs in the browser**: On a computer or a phone's browser; there's no separate mobile app yet. Alerts on WhatsApp or Telegram reach people on their phones.
- **It refreshes, it doesn't stream**: The open chat refreshes every few seconds and the list every 15 seconds.
- **WhatsApp's 24-hour window**: WhatsApp allows free-text replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message; after that, only an approved template can reach them. HeyKiko checks before your reply is sent. Source: [Meta: customer service windows](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/cloud-api/guides/send-messages#customer-service-windows)
- **No phone passed around**: Your WhatsApp Business number is connected through Meta's Cloud API, so the whole team answers it from HeyKiko instead of sharing one phone.

## How other tools handle it

From each tool's own pricing and product pages, checked 4 November 2026.

| Tool | Shared inbox |
| --- | --- |
| HeyKiko | Yes, every plan |
| Chatbase | Yes: Helpdesk, Basic and up |
| SiteGPT | Yes: Every plan; iPhone app Growth and up |
| Tidio | Yes: Every plan, with mobile apps |
| Respond.io | Yes: Every plan, with mobile apps |
| Intercom Fin | Yes: Intercom, or your own helpdesk |
| Botpress | Yes: Botpress Desk, or your helpdesk |

## Questions about shared inbox

### What is a shared inbox for WhatsApp?

One place where several people on your team answer the same WhatsApp Business number. In HeyKiko it also holds your website and Telegram chats, and an AI agent answers first so your team only steps in when it's needed.

### Can several people answer the same WhatsApp number?

Yes. Your number is connected through Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API, so everyone on your team replies from HeyKiko with their own sign-in, and chats can be assigned to one person.

### Does the inbox include Telegram and website chats?

Yes. Website chat, WhatsApp and Telegram are in one list, and you can filter to one channel. Each reply goes out on the channel the customer used.

### Can the AI and my team work in the same chat?

Yes. Each chat is answered by either Kiko or your team, and you can switch it at any time. When your team replies, Kiko pauses for that customer, and when it picks up again it reads what your team said.

### Can I assign chats to team members?

Yes. Assign a chat to anyone on your team, or send every hand-off to one person automatically. Each person sees their chats under “Mine” and gets an alert when one is assigned.

### Is there a mobile app?

Not yet. The inbox works in the browser on a computer or a phone, and alerts can reach your team on WhatsApp or Telegram.

### Which plans include the shared inbox?

The shared inbox is on every plan, after a 14-day free trial with no card. Each plan includes a number of team members; see pricing.

## Related

- [Human hand-off](https://heykiko.io/features/human-handoff)
- [WhatsApp AI chatbot](https://heykiko.io/channels/whatsapp-ai-chatbot)
- [Telegram AI bot](https://heykiko.io/channels/telegram-ai-chatbot)
- [Customer support](https://heykiko.io/solutions/customer-support)
- [Pricing](https://heykiko.io/pricing)
- [Appointment booking](https://heykiko.io/features/appointment-booking)
- [Train on your website and files](https://heykiko.io/features/train-on-your-website)
- [Lead capture](https://heykiko.io/features/lead-capture)
- [Live answers from your database](https://heykiko.io/features/database-answers)
- [Product recommendations](https://heykiko.io/features/product-answers)
- [Cases and approvals](https://heykiko.io/features/cases-and-approvals)
- [Test and tune your agent](https://heykiko.io/features/test-your-agent)
- [Knowledge access by role](https://heykiko.io/features/knowledge-access)
- [Ask Kiko](https://heykiko.io/features/ask-kiko)
- [Privacy controls](https://heykiko.io/features/privacy-controls)