A team inbox for WhatsApp: assignment, SLA, templates and the 24-hour window

Short answer: WhatsApp Shop gives your whole team one inbox for your WhatsApp number. The bot answers first; a customer who asks for a person lands in the inbox, where anyone on the team can take the chat, reply and hand it back to the bot. Assignment, presence, tags, notes and a first-reply target keep a busy team organised. The one rule to understand is WhatsApp's 24-hour reply window: inside it you can write freely, and after it only approved templates can reach the customer.

This is a tour of the inbox. The inbox guide has every detail, and the WhatsApp Shop page shows where it fits.

The 24-hour reply window

WhatsApp lets a business reply freely only within 24 hours of the customer's last message. The bot always answers straight away, so it is always inside the window. For your team, the conversation header shows how much is left, for example Reply window: 5 h left.

Once the window closes, the reply box gives way to approved templates, which are messages your store set up and WhatsApp approved in advance. You can write freely again as soon as the customer replies. Sending a template does not reopen the window. Order updates from WhatsApp Notifications are templates too, so the window never stops them.

Conversation states

Each conversation carries a state, and the tabs above the list filter by it:

• Bot: the bot is answering.
• Human requested: the customer asked for a person. The bot is quiet and the chat waits for your team.
• Agent: your team is in charge and the customer wrote last.
• Waiting for customer: your team is in charge and replied last.
• Closed: the agent session was ended; the customer's next message starts a new conversation.

The page updates live as messages arrive, with a Live badge while the connection is up. On a phone it shows one pane at a time: the list, the conversation, then the customer's details.

Taking over and handing back

Take over puts your team in charge and keeps the bot quiet in that chat. Simply replying does the same. Return to bot hands it back, and End agent session closes the conversation.

Two timers make sure nobody is left waiting. If a customer asked for a person and nobody replied within 10 minutes (the default), they get your team-busy message and the bot helps them again. In a chat your team is handling, if the customer goes quiet for 5 minutes (the default), the chat goes back to the bot. Both can be set from 60 seconds to a day, and the state badge shows a countdown while a timer runs.

Assignment and presence

Assigned to shows who is handling a chat. Anyone on the team can take an unassigned chat with Assign to me; giving a chat to someone else needs the Manage WhatsApp Shop permission. A dot next to each person shows Online (active in the inbox in the last minute), Idle (in the last 5 minutes) or Offline, and each person can set a short status message such as Back at 3 pm.

Tags, notes and bulk actions

• Tags such as vip, refund or follow up label chats; a chat can carry up to 20.
• Internal notes are for your team only and are never sent to the customer. Only the author can edit a note, and anyone who manages the inbox can pin one to the top.
• Bulk actions change up to 200 ticked conversations at once: close, reopen, assign, tag, or pause and resume the bot. Any that cannot be changed are listed afterwards and stay ticked.
• Search and filters find a chat by name, part of a phone number or the text of any message, and narrow the list by assignee, tags and date.

The first-reply target

The first reply target (10 minutes by default, anything from 1 to 1440) flags chats still waiting for your team's first answer: a customer who asked for a person or, while the bot is switched off, any new chat. The badge shows how long they have waited. It turns amber at three quarters of the target and red once it has passed. The Metrics page shows the median first reply over any period you choose.

Replying well

• Quick replies insert a saved answer into the reply box for you to edit; they are never sent by themselves.
• Attach sends photos, videos, audio and documents within WhatsApp's own limits.
• Product sends a product card exactly as the bot shows it, and Cart link sends the checkout link for the chat's cart.
• Each message shows its progress: queued, sent, delivered, read, or not delivered with Meta's error code.
• Unsent text is kept as a draft on that device for 7 days.

With AI answers on, a customer's voice message shows a transcript under the recording and a photo shows what CartWhizz AI saw in it. Both are written automatically and can contain mistakes, so play the recording when it matters.

Templates outside the window

Template opens your approved WhatsApp templates. Pick one, see its preview, fill in its values (your store's details and the customer's WhatsApp name are filled in for you) and send it. A template is a message your store starts, so consent applies: a customer who unsubscribed does not get it, and a marketing template needs their opt-in to offers. A refused template shows why in the conversation.

Who can do what

View WhatsApp Shop lets a team member read every chat, its notes and tags, search, and take an unassigned chat. Manage WhatsApp Shop adds replying, sending files, templates, products and links, taking over, assigning to others, notes, bulk actions and quick replies. Store owners have both.

More numbers, and marketplaces

You can add more numbers from the same WhatsApp Business Account to one inbox. On a marketplace, a number can belong to a seller: the bot on it shows only that seller's products, and the seller answers from their own inbox in the vendor panel, seeing only their own chats. Your store's inbox shows every conversation with the seller's name.

Frequently asked questions

How is my team told about new chats?

In the notification bell, and by push where it is switched on: when a new conversation starts (if you choose), every time a customer asks for a person, and when a customer writes in a chat the bot is not answering.

Can I message a customer after 24 hours?

Only with an approved template, and only if their consent allows it. As soon as they reply, you can write freely again.

Does the bot reply while my team is handling a chat?

No. The first reply from your team pauses the bot in that chat until you return it or a timer does.

See the whole module on the WhatsApp Shop page.