Working as a Team in the Inbox
What is the Team Inbox?
When more than one person answers your WhatsApp messages, Waplify's team inbox keeps everyone organized. Conversations can be assigned to a specific teammate, transferred between teammates, and resolved when they're finished — so nothing gets missed and no two people reply to the same customer.
This guide covers the Team inbox layout. If your inbox only shows "Inbox" and "Resolved" tabs, your workspace is using the Simple layout — see Inbox Style & Auto-Assignment to learn the difference.
How to use it
Understanding the inbox tabs
The team inbox sorts every conversation into four tabs:
| Tab | What's in it |
|---|---|
| Mine | Conversations currently assigned to you — your to-do list |
| Unassigned | Conversations waiting for someone to pick them up |
| Open | Open conversations your teammates are handling — the team's queue |
| Resolved | Conversations that have been marked as finished |
Picking up a conversation
When a conversation is in Unassigned, anyone can take it:
- Open the conversation
- Click Assign in the conversation header
- Choose yourself (or a teammate) from the list
The conversation immediately moves to that person's Mine tab.
Transferring or reassigning a conversation
If a conversation needs a different teammate — say it needs a manager, or you're going off shift — hand it over:
- Open the conversation and click Transfer, or click the current assignee's name in the header to reassign it
- Pick the teammate who should take it
- Add an optional handoff note explaining the context
- Click Transfer (or Reassign)
The receiving teammate is notified in real time, and your handoff note is saved to the conversation so they can see why it was passed to them.
Resolving a conversation
When you've finished helping a customer, mark the conversation as done:
- Click Resolve in the conversation header
- Optionally add a closing note describing the outcome
- Click Resolve
The conversation moves to the Resolved tab. Don't worry — resolving isn't permanent.
Reopening a conversation
A resolved conversation comes back to life in two ways:
- You reopen it — open the conversation and click Reopen. It's assigned to you.
- The customer replies — if a customer messages again after you've resolved their chat, Waplify reopens it automatically. Who it goes to depends on your workspace's Reopen behavior setting (see Inbox Style & Auto-Assignment).
The customer info panel
Every conversation has an info panel alongside the messages, showing who you're talking to at a glance:
- Basic info — name, phone number, and tags
- Company details — business information saved on the contact
- Contact owner — the teammate responsible for this customer
- Customer journey — key milestones, such as when they first messaged you
- Marketing opt-in — whether the customer has agreed to receive marketing messages
- Handoff history — who the conversation has been assigned to, and any notes left along the way
Tips & best practices
- Resolve when you're done — it keeps the Unassigned and Open tabs showing only conversations that still need attention.
- Always add a handoff note when transferring — one sentence about what the customer needs saves your teammate from re-reading the whole thread.
- Check Unassigned regularly — those customers are waiting for someone. If you turn on auto-assignment, this tab stays mostly empty (see Inbox Style & Auto-Assignment).
- Watch the window timer — the colored ring next to the customer's name shows how long is left in the 24-hour reply window. When it's closed, you can only send approved templates. See Sending Messages.
- Use closing notes — a quick "Refund processed" note helps whoever picks up the conversation if the customer comes back.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Transfer and Assign?
Assign picks up an unassigned conversation or hands it to a teammate. Transfer is a deliberate handoff of a conversation you're already on — it prompts you for a note and records the handoff in the conversation's history. Both move the conversation to the new person.
Can I work on a conversation that's assigned to someone else?
Owners, admins, and managers can open and reply to any conversation. Agents may be limited to only the conversations assigned to them, depending on their permissions — see Roles & Permissions.
What happens when I resolve a conversation?
It moves to the Resolved tab and leaves the active queues. If the customer replies later, it reopens automatically.
Does the customer know when I assign or resolve a conversation?
No. Assigning, transferring, and resolving are internal to your team — the customer never sees these actions. Handoff and closing notes are also private to your team.
Why don't I see the Mine, Unassigned, and Open tabs?
Your workspace is probably using the Simple inbox layout, which has just one Inbox tab. An owner or admin can switch layouts — see Inbox Style & Auto-Assignment.