--- title: "Bring customer conversations into one team inbox" description: "Answer WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, RCS, SMS, Telegram and email in one team inbox, with one thread per customer, assignment, tags and AI handover." canonical: "https://omnichannels.ai/platform/unified-inbox/" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-10" publisher: "BroadNet Technologies" brand: "OmniChannels.ai" --- # Bring customer conversations into one team inbox Canonical: https://omnichannels.ai/platform/unified-inbox/ Language: en Publisher: OmniChannels.ai by BroadNet Technologies The Omni Inbox gives your agents one place to read and answer customer messages from every conversational channel, with each customer's history in a single thread. **Short answer:** The OmniChannels.ai Omni Inbox is a shared team inbox for customer messages. Conversations from WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, RCS, two-way SMS, Telegram and email arrive in one thread per customer. Supervisors assign conversations to agents and tag them, and agents reply with text, media, approved templates and attachments. When a chatbot or AI agent hands over, the agent picks up the same thread with the earlier messages in view. ## What agents can do in the Omni Inbox - **One thread per customer:** Messages from the same customer on different channels sit in one thread, so agents see the whole conversation before they reply. - **Agent assignment:** Assign each conversation to a named agent, so everyone knows who owns it and customers are not answered twice. - **Tags for sorting and reporting:** Tag conversations by topic, such as billing, delivery or sales, to find them later and see what customers ask about. - **Handover from bots and AI agents:** When a chatbot or AI agent passes a conversation on, it lands in the inbox with the bot's messages in the thread. - **Reply with media and attachments:** Send images, documents and other files in a reply, within what each channel allows. - **Use approved WhatsApp templates:** When the 24-hour service window has closed, an agent can restart the conversation with a Meta-approved template from the inbox. - **Messenger, Instagram and RCS:** Answer Facebook Page messages, Instagram DMs and RCS replies next to WhatsApp, SMS, Telegram and email. - **Arabic and English replies:** Agents read and write in Arabic with right-to-left text, or in English and other languages. ## What the inbox handles on each channel | Item | Details | |---|---| | WhatsApp | Free-form replies inside the 24-hour service window; approved templates to reopen a conversation after it closes. | | Facebook Messenger | Messages to your connected Facebook Page, answered within Meta's messaging rules. | | Instagram | Direct messages to your Instagram professional account. | | RCS | Replies and suggested-reply taps from customers on RCS-capable phones. | | SMS | Two-way SMS replies on numbers set up to receive them; alphanumeric sender IDs cannot receive replies. | | Telegram | Replies to people who have started a chat with your Telegram account. | | Email | Incoming mail through IMAP and replies through SMTP from your own verified sender. | ## How to set up the shared inbox 1. **Connect each channel:** Link your WhatsApp Business account, Facebook Page, Instagram professional account, Telegram account, email mailbox and any two-way SMS or RCS senders. 2. **Invite your agents:** Give each support or sales agent their own login so replies are made under a named person, not a shared password. 3. **Agree assignment and tags:** Decide who assigns conversations, which agents cover which topics and hours, and the short list of tags everyone uses. 4. **Set bot handover:** If you use a chatbot or AI agent, agree when it passes conversations to people and who receives them. 5. **Test every channel end to end:** Send a message on each connected channel from a test phone or mailbox and reply from the inbox before you announce it to customers. ## When a shared inbox is the right tool ### A good fit when - Customers message you on several channels, and replies are currently scattered across phones and apps. - More than one agent needs to answer the same WhatsApp number, Facebook Page or Instagram account. - You want clear ownership of each conversation and tags you can report on. - You plan to let a chatbot or AI agent answer first, with people taking over. - Your team supports customers in both Arabic and English. ### Good to know before you start - Each channel keeps its own rules: WhatsApp needs templates after 24 hours, and Instagram and Messenger have Meta's reply windows. - Matching one customer across channels depends on the identifiers each channel shares, such as a phone number or email address. - Replies to alphanumeric SMS sender IDs are not possible; two-way SMS needs a number that can receive messages. - The inbox is not a ticketing system or CRM. Connect those tools through the API and webhooks. ## Shared inbox questions ### Which channels appear in the Omni Inbox? WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, RCS, two-way SMS, Telegram and email. Each channel keeps its own rules, such as WhatsApp's 24-hour service window. ### Does the inbox combine a customer's conversations from different channels? Yes. Conversations are kept in one thread per customer, so an agent sees earlier WhatsApp, SMS or email messages before replying. Matching relies on the identifiers each channel provides. ### Can we assign conversations to specific agents? Yes. Conversations can be assigned to a named agent and tagged by topic, so ownership is clear and you can see what customers ask about most. ### Can a chatbot or AI agent answer first and pass to a person? Yes. Chatbots and AI agents powered by BroadNet AI can handle the first replies and hand the conversation to an agent in the inbox, with the earlier messages kept in the thread. ### Can agents reply on WhatsApp after 24 hours? Only with a Meta-approved template. Free-form replies are allowed inside the 24-hour customer service window, which reopens when the customer writes again. ### Can I connect the inbox to my helpdesk or CRM? Yes, through the REST API and delivery webhooks. Our engineers can help you plan the integration with your helpdesk or CRM. Updated: 2026-10-10