WhatsApp shared inbox for multiple agents: every chat has an owner
Your whole team answers the same number through the official WhatsApp API (Meta). Every chat has an owner, the history stays with the business, and managers see each team member's response time.
- Everyone on the same number, no phone passed from hand to hand
- Automatic round-robin among available team members, with a cap per person
- AI answers first and hands off with a reason and a summary
- First response and resolved chats by team member and by number
Hi, do you do dental implants? How much is it?
Hi! Yes, we do. The price depends on an assessment with the dentist, done at the clinic. Have you had an assessment with us before?
No. I wanted to know if I can pay in installments and if you're open on Saturdays.
We're open Saturday mornings. For installments, I'll bring in someone from the front desk to give you the exact terms.
What is a WhatsApp shared inbox for multiple agents?
It's when several team members answer the same business WhatsApp number through a shared inbox connected to Meta's official API. Each chat gets an owner, is routed by rules (such as round-robin), keeps its history and internal notes, and shows up in response-time reports for each team member.
What changes when your team stops sharing one phone
| Before | With ConverZAP |
|---|---|
| Two people answer the same customer, and another customer gets no reply | Every chat has an owner the whole team can see |
| Whoever sees the next chat first takes it | Round-robin among available team members, with a cap on open chats |
| The history disappears when someone leaves or switches phones | The history stays in the business account, and access for people who leave is cut off right away |
| Internal agreements get lost in another group chat | Internal notes inside the chat, which the customer doesn't see |
| The manager doesn't know how long the customer waited | Report of first response, resolved and reopened chats by team member |
| After hours, the customer talks to no one | A greeting, an away message and an AI that answers first, if you want |
How it works
Features
Routing
Automatic round-robin
No one cherry-picks chats and no one gets overloaded.
Turn on auto-assign for the number. A chat without an owner goes to the available team member who got a chat least recently.
Cap on open chats
Each team member gets only what they can handle well.
Set the maximum number of open chats per team member. Anyone at the cap leaves the round-robin until they resolve one.
Presence status
Only people who are actually working join the round-robin.
At the top of the inbox, each person sets Available, Away or Offline. Anyone who closes the app stops counting as available within a few minutes.
Team members per number
Each number has its own team.
Choose who answers each number. If no one is selected, everyone answers. Chats that arrive when no one is available are assigned as soon as someone is back.
Manual and bulk assignment
Managers rebalance the queue in seconds.
Use “Assign to…” on a chat, or select several to assign, resolve, reopen, snooze or tag them at once.
Collaboration in the chat
Shared inbox
All the chats from your numbers in one place.
Ready-made filters: Open, Mine, Unassigned, Waiting for human, Awaiting reply, With the agent, Snoozed and Resolved. Sort by longest wait.
Internal notes
Agreements stay with the chat, not in the team's group chat.
Write a note in the chat. Only the team sees it, and it's never sent to the customer's WhatsApp.
Canned replies with “/”
Standard answers without copy and paste.
Create shortcuts for the whole team. In the chat, type “/” and the shortcut to insert the text.
Media, quotes, buttons and lists
Team members solve things without leaving the chat.
Send images, video, audio and documents, reply by quoting a message, and send up to 3 buttons or a list of up to 10 options.
Contact panel
Team members know who they're talking to before replying.
Next to the chat: contact details, ad source (when the contact came from Click-to-WhatsApp), tags and their deals in the pipeline.
Control and permissions
Restricted visibility
Each team member sees only what's theirs.
With the restriction on, a member sees only the numbers they answer and the chats assigned to them. Admins see everything.
Access roles
The right permission for each person.
Owner, admin, member and viewer. Viewers can see, but can't send or change anything.
Hours, greeting and away message by number
Customers know when they'll get an answer.
Set business hours and weekdays, a greeting on the first message and an away message after hours, sent at most once a day.
Snooze and auto-resolve
The queue shows only what needs action.
Snooze a chat for up to 90 days: it comes back on the date, or sooner if the customer writes. Optionally, chats idle for N days are resolved, never the ones awaiting a reply.
Metrics
Customer service report
You see where customers are waiting.
New chats, messages received, first response (median), resolved, reopened and daily volume, over 24 hours or 7, 30 or 90 days.
Comparison by team member and by number
It's clear who needs help and which number is backed up.
Each team member and each number on separate rows, compared with the previous period of the same length.
AI numbers shown separately
You know how much the AI resolves and how much it hands to the team.
The report shows the AI's handoffs and the chats it handled without a single message from a team member.
Sample conversation (fictional)
A dental clinic with an AI agent active on the number, round-robin turned on and three front-desk staff.
CustomerHi, do you do dental implants? How much is it?
AI agentHi! Yes, we do. The price depends on an assessment with the dentist, done at the clinic. Have you had an assessment with us before?
CustomerNo. I wanted to know if I can pay in installments and if you're open on Saturdays.
AI agentWe're open Saturday mornings. For installments, I'll bring in someone from the front desk to give you the exact terms.
System🤖 The AI agent handed off to a team member. Reason: payment terms. Summary: first visit, interested in an implant, prefers Saturday.1
System🔀 Automatically assigned to Ana.2
Team memberHi, this is Ana! The assessment is free and the treatment can be paid in installments. I have Saturday at 9 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. Which do you prefer?3
Customer9 a.m. is great.
Team memberBooked! Saturday at 9 a.m. I'll send you the address here.
SystemInternal note (Ana): assessment Saturday 9 a.m. Patient asked about installments; confirm with billing.4
SystemTag “implant” applied. Deal moved to the “Assessment booked” stage. Chat resolved.5
- 1The AI decided to hand off: it told the customer, stopped replying to this contact and logged the reason and a summary in an internal note. The chat shows up under “Waiting for human”.
- 2The round-robin picked the available front-desk staff member who got a chat least recently and was below the cap on open chats.
- 3Ana used a canned reply (“/assessment”) and adjusted the times. The first human response goes into the report.
- 4The note is for the team only. If billing takes over later, just reassign it: the full history goes along.
- 5The tag and pipeline stage are updated in the panel next to the chat, without switching screens.
Who replies, when the AI hands off to a person and what gets logged
When the AI hands off to the team
If the number has an active AI agent, it answers first and hands off when: the customer asks to talk to a person; the customer has been qualified (if you turn that option on); the AI couldn't help after two tries; the topic is a serious complaint, legal or billing; or the customer writes one of the keywords you set. There's also a message limit per chat: when it's reached, the agent hands off or closes the chat, as you choose.
What the team member receives
The AI lets the customer know with the message you defined. The chat gets the “Waiting for human” banner and, when the AI decided to hand off, an internal note with the reason and a 3- to 6-line summary. For keyword or limit handoffs, the note includes the reason. In every case, the full history, including the AI's messages, stays in the same chat.
Routing after the handoff
Chats the AI is handling don't enter the round-robin. At the moment of handoff, if no one owns the chat and auto-assign is on for the number, it goes to the available team member who got a chat least recently.
Take over and hand back to the agent
A team member can click “Take over from agent” at any time: the AI stops replying to that contact and, if the chat had no owner, it becomes theirs. The AI can also pause on its own when a team member replies (an agent setting). “Hand back to agent” puts the AI back on the chat.
Records and staff turnover
Messages, notes, assignments, resolutions and handoffs stay in the business account. When you remove a member or change their role, access changes right away. Only owners and admins can clear a chat's history, with confirmation.
LGPD and opt-out
You choose how many days message text is kept (from 7 days to 10 years, or with no limit); after that, it's deleted. Media files aren't stored in ConverZAP: they're fetched from Meta each time they're opened. If the contact asks to opt out, the inbox blocks new messages to them; internal notes stay available.
WhatsApp rules that apply to the whole team
24-hour window
Meta allows free-form text for up to 24 hours after the customer's last message. After that, the inbox shows a notice and swaps the text field for sending an approved template, until the customer replies.
Approved templates
To pick up a chat outside the window, the team member chooses one of the number's approved templates and sees a preview before sending. Templates are created and submitted for Meta's approval in the Templates module.
Opt-in and unsubscribe
Only message people who gave you permission. If the customer replies “STOP” or taps “Stop promotions”, the contact is flagged and the team can no longer send them messages from the inbox.
Number quality
Meta rates each number based on how customers react. In ConverZAP, the WhatsApp Health screen shows each number's quality and messaging limit. Fast replies and relevant messages help keep the rating up.
Meta's fees
In Brazil, from October 1, 2026, Meta charges per delivered message, according to Meta's official pricing. The fee is paid directly to Meta, through your business's WhatsApp Business account; ConverZAP doesn't charge or pass on this fee. Estimate your volume with the API cost calculator.
In practice, by industry
Clinics
Several front-desk staff answer the same number, each with their own cap on open chats. After hours, the away message tells patients when the clinic will reply again.
E-commerce
The AI answers questions about delivery times and the exchange policy. Exchanges and complaints go to after-sales with a summary in an internal note, and the “exchange” tag sets those cases apart in the queue.
Real estate
Leads from ads enter the round-robin among available brokers, with the ad source shown in the panel. With restricted visibility, each broker sees only their own chats.
Schools
The front office and billing share the inbox. Tags separate enrollment, payment slips and documents, and canned replies cover the questions that come up at the start of every semester.
Gyms
The AI answers questions about memberships and class times. People ready to sign up go to the front desk, which moves the deal in the pipeline right from the chat.
Businesses with more than one number
One number for sales and another for support, each with its own list of team members, hours and greeting. The manager compares them in the by-number report.
Professional services firms
Accounting or law firms with a small team: snoozed chats come back on the agreed date, and internal notes keep track of what was requested from the client.
Sales teams
Reps get leads through the round-robin, see the contact's deals in the panel and update the pipeline stage without leaving the chat.
Playbooks by industry: WhatsApp AI agents by industry.
Integrations
Official WhatsApp API (Meta)
Connect the number with the “Connect with Facebook” button or with your WhatsApp Business account details. Messages, delivery statuses and templates go through the official API.
ConverZAP pipeline and contacts
The chat links to the contact in the CRM and to their deals. Changing the stage from the panel can trigger an automation set up for that stage.
ConverZAP AI agents
The number's agent answers first, checks your knowledge base and hands off to the inbox with a reason and a summary.
Click-to-WhatsApp ads
When the contact comes from an ad, the source is saved to the chat and shown in the side panel.
Your system, through the agent's HTTP tools
The AI agent can query a URL in your system (GET or POST) before replying or handing off, for example to check an order status.
Shared phone, one number per team member or a shared inbox
| Criterion | Shared phone | One number per team member | Shared inbox on the official API |
|---|---|---|---|
| The number customers know | Just one | Several, one per person | Just one (or one per department, if you want) |
| Who answers each chat | Whoever grabs the phone | The owner of the number | The owner set by round-robin or assignment |
| History when someone leaves | Stays on the device | Leaves with the person or the SIM card | Stays in the business account |
| Workload distribution | None | Depends on which number the customer has | Round-robin with a cap per team member |
| Internal agreements | In another group chat | In another group chat | Internal notes in the chat |
| First response time | Not measured | Not measured | Measured by team member and by number |
| AI answering first | No | No | Optional, with handoff to the team |
| Access control | Whoever has the phone sees everything | Each person sees their own | Roles and restricted visibility |
It's a fit if…
- Two or more people on your team answer WhatsApp
- Managers need to see each team member's response time and workload
- You want the AI to triage and the team to handle the rest
- You sell through WhatsApp and want the pipeline updated from the chat
Maybe not yet if…
- You want Instagram, email and website chat in the same inbox: here, the channel is WhatsApp
- You want to message lists without the contacts' permission
- You need department queues with complex rules inside a single number
Which plans include it
The multi-agent inbox, round-robin and report are included in every plan. Essential: 1 number, up to 3 users and 1 active AI agent. Sales: up to 3 numbers, 10 users and 3 agents. Complete: up to 5 numbers, 20 users and unlimited agents. Message fees are paid separately, directly to Meta, through your business's WhatsApp Business account.
Compare plansWhatsApp shared inbox FAQ
Yes. With the number connected to the official WhatsApp API, your team works from the ConverZAP inbox in the browser. Every chat has an owner, and everyone can see who is handling what.
Every user on your plan: up to 3 on Essential, 10 on Sales and 20 on Complete. You choose who answers each number.
The app was built for use on a phone. The official API connects the number to platforms like ConverZAP, which enables a shared inbox, automatic routing, an AI agent, templates and reports. With coexistence, the number stays in the app on the phone and the team works in ConverZAP. See the official API guide.
With auto-assign on for the number, a chat without an owner goes to the available team member who got a chat least recently, within the cap on open chats. You can also assign chats manually or in bulk.
When the customer asks for a person, uses a keyword you set or reaches the message limit, when the AI can’t help, or when the topic is sensitive (serious complaint, legal, billing). Optionally, also after it qualifies the customer. The chat arrives as “Waiting for human”, with the reason in an internal note.
The agent is instructed not to make things up and answers with the knowledge base, FAQ and pricing policy you added. When it doesn’t know, it follows the instruction you gave for that case or hands off. You test everything in the simulator before turning it on.
Yes. Admins see every chat and the customer service report: first response, resolved, reopened and AI handoffs, by team member and by number, compared with the previous period.
The history stays in the business account, not on anyone’s phone. When you remove the member, their access is cut off right away, and their chats can be assigned to someone else.
The official API follows Meta’s rules, and no platform can promise that a number will never be restricted. What lowers the risk: messaging only people who gave you permission, honoring unsubscribes and keeping an eye on the number’s quality. Learn more about the quality rating.
The ConverZAP plan is monthly (see the plans, priced in Brazilian reais). Messages are billed by Meta directly to your account: in Brazil, from October 1, 2026, Meta charges per delivered message (official rate card). Estimate it with the API cost calculator. You don’t need a developer: the connection, round-robin and canned replies are all set up on screen.
Free resource
The key concepts of the official WhatsApp API, explained in plain English. Open the glossary
Technical background: the complete guide to the official WhatsApp API.
Other solutions
Put your whole team on the same WhatsApp
Connect the number through the official API, choose who answers and turn on round-robin. Pick the plan with the numbers and users you need.
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