# Chats (shared inbox) Reply to every WhatsApp conversation from one shared inbox — filter chats, see who handles each one, keep the contact and notes beside the chat, and call customers on WhatsApp. _Last updated: 2026-10-25_ ## Overview Chats is your team's shared WhatsApp inbox. Every conversation with your business lands here. Your whole team can reply, assign chats to each other, leave internal notes and see everything that happened in a chat — and customers only ever see your one WhatsApp number. ## Work in your inbox ### Step 1 — Open your inbox Click Chats in the left menu. Every WhatsApp conversation is here, newest first. Use All, Unread, Unassigned and Re-inquiry, or narrow by status, agent, time, group and tags. Each chat shows who it is assigned to. ### Step 2 — Open a conversation Click a chat to open it. The header shows the contact, their lead status and who the chat is assigned to. Switch off AI replies for this chat to stop the AI for just this lead and answer yourself. ### Step 3 — Keep the contact beside the chat The icons at the top right open panels beside the conversation: Contact info, Chat actions, Internal notes and Activity. You never have to leave the chat to check or update the contact. ### Step 4 — See the chat's activity Account owners can open Activity to see who assigned or reassigned the chat and to whom, who closed or reopened it, status changes, notes and follow-ups, and when the AI was switched on or off — including assignments made from Contacts, imports or auto-assignment. ### Step 5 — Call the customer on WhatsApp Click the phone icon to start a WhatsApp voice call from the chat. Missed and finished calls appear in the conversation, with a transcript when recording is on. ## Pin chats and keep drafts Pin up to 3 chats to the top of your list: hover a chat and click the small arrow (or right-click it), then choose Pin chat. Your pins are your own and follow you on any device. If you start typing and open another chat, your text is kept as a draft — shown as "Draft:" in the list, with the chat moved to the top — and is still there when you come back. ## Photos, videos and PDFs Click a photo or video to open it full screen. Use the arrows (or swipe on your phone) to move between them, and the strip at the bottom to see every photo and video in the chat. Click outside to close. PDFs show their first page in the chat; open one to read every page, zoom in or download it. ## Show "typing…" to customers Turn on Settings → General → Show "typing…" to customers. While someone on your team types a reply, or the AI prepares one, the customer sees "typing…" on WhatsApp, and their message is marked as read (blue ticks). Automated replies — flows, basic replies and auto-replies — also show "typing…" first and follow about 1.5 seconds later. It is off until you turn it on. ## WhatsApp voice calls Take and make WhatsApp calls in your browser. When a customer calls your WhatsApp number, every agent hears it ring and the first to answer takes the call. From a chat you can ask the customer for permission to call, send a "Call us" button, or call them. Every call appears in the chat with its length and who handled it — and, if recording is on, the recording and a transcript. > **NOTE: Turn calling on first** > WhatsApp calls are off until you turn them on in Settings → WhatsApp Calling, where you also choose whether calls are recorded. ## Re-inquiry When a lead whose status your team changed writes in again, the chat is marked Re-inquiry. Use the Re-inquiry filter to find those chats — see AI Sales Center for how it works. ## Troubleshooting **I can't see Activity in a chat** Chat activity is available to account owners. **I can only send a template** WhatsApp only allows free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, use Send Template to restart the conversation. **The call button does nothing** Turn on WhatsApp calls in Settings → WhatsApp Calling, and allow your browser to use the microphone. **Customers don't see "typing…"** Check that Settings → General → Show "typing…" to customers is on. ## Related [AI Sales Center](/docs/features-ai-sales-center) — Lead scores, hand-over from AI to your team, and closing leads. [Auto Assignment](/docs/admin-setup-auto-assignment) — Share new chats out across your team automatically. [Quick Replies](/docs/admin-setup-quick-replies) — Save answers you send often. ## Related articles - [Create a Campaign](/docs/features-create-campaign) — Send a WhatsApp campaign to your contacts: create it, pick a template, choose recipients, and review before sending. - [Create a Message Template](/docs/features-create-template) — Create and submit a WhatsApp message template for Meta approval, then use it in a campaign. - [Create a Contact](/docs/features-create-contact) — Add a single contact to your account manually. - [Import Contacts](/docs/features-import-contacts) — Bulk-add or update contacts from a CSV or Excel file.