How to Setup Your WhatsApp Shared Team Inbox

You can now easily create a WhatsApp Shared Inbox for your team where your entire team can manage and reply to WhatsApp customer messages together.  Simply connect your WhatsApp Business Account to Social Intents to create a single team inbox. In this article, we'll walk you through setting up this integration with a WhatsApp phone number and sending messages directly into your new team inbox.

Here's a short video walk through of the set up as well.


What You Can Do with a WhatsApp Shared Team Inbox

A WhatsApp Shared Inbox allows your team to:

  • Receive and reply to WhatsApp Business messages from one place
  • Collaborate on customer conversations in Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Google Chat, Webex or the Social Intents dashboard
  • See full conversation history and track message status
  • Assign chats or transfer conversations between teammates
  • Enable AI with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for 24/7 replies to your customers.
  • Handoff to your human teams whenever it makes sense.

You’ll see available integrations such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Web Chat, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

Step 1: Log In to Your Social Intents Dashboard

  1. Go to https://www.socialintents.com and click Login.
  2. New users can set up a free 14-day free trial to test the integration.
  3. From the left-hand menu, click Integrations.

WhatsApp Shared Team inbox Integration

Tip: Make sure your WhatsApp Business Account is verified in Meta Business Manager before connecting.  To do this you'll need to be able to receive SMS messages on the phone number you want to assign.  If you've previously assigned the number to a business account on your phone, you'll have to remove/delete it.

Step 2: Connect Your WhatsApp Business Account

  1. Click Connect WhatsApp.
  2. Choose Continue with Facebook.
  3. Log in using the Facebook account that manages your WhatsApp Business Account.
  4. Select your Business Account and WhatsApp Number, then grant the requested permissions.

WhatsApp Business Portfolio

After Meta completes the connection, you’ll return to Social Intents and see your WhatsApp number listed as  Connected.

Tip: Make sure your WhatsApp Business Account is verified in Meta Business Manager before connecting.

Step 3: Assign Your Chatbot to WhatsApp

Once you're set up on the WhatsApp side, choose which chat widget you want to route inbound WhatsApp messages to.

  1. In the Social Intents account click on the Settings icon in the lower-left navigation.
  2. Scroll down to the WhatsApp settings and you should see your phone number
  3. Choose the Route Inbound to Chat App and select your Chat Widget you want to route to.
  4. Select how often to auto-close conversations.  Note that you can only reply to customer conversations within a 24 hour period.  So it's good practice to close these out.
  5. Click Save Changes.

Now your team can respond to WhatsApp messages directly from that chatbot and your inbox.

Step 4: Test Your Connection

  1. From your phone, send a WhatsApp message to your connected business number.
  2. Within a few seconds, the message will appear in your selected inbox, in Teams or in Slack.
  3. Reply to the message.
  4. Check your phone to confirm the response is delivered from your business number.

This confirms your shared WhatsApp inbox is active and ready to use and share with your team.

WhatsApp to Teams Screenshot

Step 5: Customize Your Settings

You can customize how your shared inbox behaves:

  • Welcome Message: Send an automatic greeting when someone first messages your number.
  • Offline Reply: Let customers know your hours or response times.
  • Routing Rules: Automatically assign chats to channels.
  • AI Chatbot Integration: Enable AI or FAQ automation for common customer questions.

These options are available under Apps --> Your Live Chat app and edit settings.

Step 6: (Optional) Connect ChatGPT for Automated Replies

If you’d like your WhatsApp account to automatically reply using AI:

  1. Go to Apps, then your live chat app.  Click on the AI Chatbot settings.
  2. Choose your AI model you want to use
  3. Set up your instructions phrases and train on your website
  4. Click Save.

Your WhatsApp AI assistant will now reply instantly to customers, while your team can take over any chat at any time.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

My WhatsApp number doesn’t show as “Connected.”
Make sure the Meta Business App ID and WhatsApp number belong to the same Business Manager and that you accepted all requested permissions.

Can multiple teammates reply to messages at the same time?
Yes. All users in your connected Teams or Slack channel can collaborate on replies in real time.

My WhatsApp numbers says Pending in Facebook?
Make sure you've run through the verification process for your phone number which involves receiving a text message as part of the verification process.

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