One WhatsApp number for many employees — live chat and a shared team inbox
The short answer
With one number on the WhatsApp Business API and a shared inbox: every employee signs in from their own device, conversations are assigned automatically or by hand, each one carries the name of whoever is handling it, and the customer only ever sees one number. When the team is stretched, the AI answers and hands over when needed. A real customer on our platform: 8 agents on one number, 10,566 human replies in 90 days — with no conversation answered twice.
The limit everyone hits first
The WhatsApp Business app allows four devices linked to the number. There is no room for a fifth employee, conversations are assigned to nobody, you cannot tell who answered whom, and if an employee leaves with their phone the conversations leave too. That is why companies search for "WhatsApp for multiple users" and always find one answer: the WhatsApp Business API — the number on a server, not a phone, and the team signs in from any device. The app versus the API in detail.
How the shared inbox works in practice
- One number, many accounts
You create an account per employee with its permissions: which channels they see, whether they assign, close and delete. They sign in from the browser or the mobile app. No shared password, no phone passed around.
- A conversation is assigned to one person
Automatically by round-robin or least-busy, claimed by the first to open it, or distributed by the supervisor. From then on it carries their name for everyone, so no two people answer it.
- What is unanswered stands out
An "unreplied" filter shows conversations whose last message is the customer's, oldest first. That is the real work queue, not the list of all conversations.
- The agent covers the gaps
After hours or under load the AI agent answers from your knowledge and hands the conversation to a person when the customer asks for one or when it does not know. When an employee writes in a conversation, the agent goes quiet on it automatically.
What the supervisor sees
| Question | Where it is answered |
|---|---|
| Who answered this customer and when? | the employee's name on every message, with its time |
| How many conversations are waiting now? | the "unreplied" counter at the top of the inbox |
| Who replies fastest? | the first-reply-time report per employee |
| What did customers ask that nobody knew? | the agent's unanswered-questions list |
| Which channel and ad did the customer come from? | the conversation source on every card |
Frequently asked
How many employees can reply on the one number?
No cap. The WhatsApp Business app stops at four linked devices; on the WhatsApp Business API the number lives on the server and every employee signs in from their browser or the mobile app with their own account. On our platform a team of eight works one number daily.
Does the customer see they are talking to more than one person?
No. They see one number and your company name. On your side you know: each conversation carries the name of who is handling it, each message carries who wrote it, and if the AI answered, the message is marked as its.
How are conversations assigned — so two people do not answer the same customer?
Automatically by round-robin or least-busy, by hand from a supervisor, or claimed by the first employee who opens it. An assigned conversation shows its owner's name to everyone, so whoever opens it knows someone else is on it. And an "unreplied" filter shows only what is waiting.
Can I stop an employee from seeing other people's conversations?
Yes. Per-employee permissions: what they see, whether they can assign, close or delete, and which channels they get. The supervisor sees everything, including each employee's first-reply time.
And Instagram and Messenger?
On the same screen. WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, Facebook comments and TikTok in one inbox, and every conversation knows where it came from. The employee does not open five apps.
What happens outside working hours?
The AI agent answers from your company's knowledge, handles FAQs, prices and order status, and leaves what it does not know in the "unreplied" list for the morning — with a summary. How the agent works.
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Put your team on one number today
Connect your number, add your employees with their permissions, and open an inbox that knows who answers whom. No cap on team size or devices. Team inbox service page · Unified inbox.