WhatsApp Business with multiple users: linked devices or a shared team inbox

Yes, several people can use one WhatsApp Business number. The WhatsApp Business App lets the main phone link up to four more devices, such as WhatsApp Web on office computers, but everyone shares one account, with no separate logins and no way to say who owns a chat. For a real team, a shared inbox on the WhatsApp Business API gives each person their own login and role on the same number, and shows who is handling each conversation.

Option 1: linked devices in the WhatsApp Business App

WhatsApp’s help centre says you can use your primary phone to link up to four devices, and that you need to log in on the primary phone every 14 days to keep them connected (How to link a device).

It is free and it works for two or three people. What it does not have:

• No separate logins. Everyone is “the business”, so you cannot tell who sent what.
• No assignment. Two people answer the same customer, or both assume the other will.
• No private notes. Context goes into a side chat or someone’s memory.
• A ceiling of five screens. The phone plus four devices.

Option 2: a shared team inbox on the API

A shared inbox is one list of conversations on one number, worked by a team where everyone signs in as themselves. In Fliok’s team inbox:

• Roles. Owner (everything, including billing), Admin (runs the workspace: invites, settings, templates, broadcasts, every chat), Agent (replies to customers and handles leads) and Viewer (reads without changing anything).
• Assignment. Assign a chat to someone, or press Assign to me. With Assign new conversations automatically, each new chat goes to whoever has the fewest open chats. A teammate who switches to Away gets no new chats until they are back.
• Internal notes your team sees and the customer never does.
• Labels, priority and snooze (3 hours, tomorrow at 9 am, 3 days or next week), and Resolve when a chat is done.
• Views: All, Mine and Unassigned, plus Needs attention, Snoozed and Resolved.
• No double replies. A banner says when a teammate is looking at the same conversation.
• Quick replies: type / and a shortcut to drop in a saved answer.
• Keyboard shortcuts for people who live in the inbox, and push notifications on phones through the installable app.
• The 24-hour window shown on each chat: “Can reply freely until…”, or a prompt to send a template once it has closed.

Linked devices or a shared inbox?

Can you keep the app and have a shared inbox?

Yes. Meta’s coexistence mode runs one number on the WhatsApp Business App and the API at once. The person who has always answered from the phone keeps doing so, replies typed on the phone appear in the shared inbox marked as sent from the phone, and they count as answers. Up to six months of existing chats can be brought in when you connect. See how coexistence works.

How to set up a team inbox in Fliok

1. 1Connect your number (with coexistence, if it is already on the Business App).
2. 2Invite your team in Settings and give each person a role.
3. 3Switch on automatic assignment, or agree who picks up unassigned chats.
4. 4Save your common answers as quick replies.
5. 5Decide who sees what. Agents see only leads they own (in Settings → Sales pipeline, Basic and above) keeps each agent to their own customers.
6. 6Install the app on everyone’s phone so a new chat reaches them wherever they are.

Seats on each plan

Team analytics, with first response and resolution times for each person, are on Pro and above. See pricing.

A day in a shared inbox

A typical day, for a shop or a service business with three or four people on WhatsApp:

1. 1Morning. Whoever opens up checks Unassigned: the chats that came in overnight (already answered by your away message, if you use one). Each person presses Assign to me on the ones they will take, or automatic assignment has shared them out already.
2. 2During the day. Everyone works from Mine. A question for the accounts person goes into an internal note on the chat, not a separate message, so the answer and the context stay together.
3. 3Waiting on the customer. A chat that needs the customer to send a photo or a payment is snoozed until tomorrow at 9 am; it comes back on its own if they have not replied.
4. 4Done. Each finished chat is resolved, so Needs attention only shows what still needs someone.
5. 5End of shift. People switch themselves to Away, and new chats go to whoever is still on.

The owner can check any conversation at any time without taking it over, and a Viewer seat lets an accountant or a partner read without changing anything.

On the phone, not just the desk

Fliok installs as an app on every plan: on Android from the sign-in page, on iPhone and iPad from Safari with Add to Home Screen, and on Windows and Mac from Chrome or Edge. Push notifications tell people about new messages; on iPhone they work once Fliok is on the Home Screen (the mobile app). Power users at a desk can work the whole inbox from the keyboard (shortcuts).

Habits that make a shared inbox work

• One owner per chat. Assign it the moment someone starts replying.
• Notes, not side chats. If it matters for the next person, it goes in a note on the conversation.
• Resolve what is done so the list shows only what needs someone.
• Snooze instead of forgetting. A chat waiting on the customer comes back on its own.
• Use Away at the end of a shift, so new chats go to whoever is still working (how Away works).

Frequently asked questions

Can two people use the same WhatsApp Business number at the same time?

Yes. In the WhatsApp Business App, up to four linked devices can be used alongside the phone. With a shared inbox on the API, every teammate signs in separately, and the inbox shows who is handling each chat.

How do I use WhatsApp Business on more than 4 devices?

The app stops at the phone plus four linked devices. A shared inbox on the API has no device limit: each teammate signs in on their own computer or phone. In Fliok, Basic has 6 seats and Pro 15 (seats on each plan).

Do customers see which teammate replied?

Customers see one conversation with your business number and name. Your team sees who each chat is assigned to, and replies from the AI, a chatbot, an automation or the phone app (with coexistence) are labelled as such.

Is a shared WhatsApp inbox free?

Fliok’s Free Forever plan includes the inbox with 1 seat, so you can connect a number and try it. Adding teammates starts on Basic. Meta’s message charges are separate.

Will my team see our old WhatsApp chats?

If you connect an existing Business App number with coexistence, Meta can share up to six months of chat history during onboarding, and Fliok brings it into the shared inbox.