Create an Inbox

Create a shared inbox to give a team, department, or location one place to answer calls and messages. You can connect a phone number, choose the members who should answer, and let Waveline create starter routing—or create the inbox without a number or members and finish configuring it later.

This guide covers the initial setup. For a detailed explanation of inbox settings and behavior, see Inbox Overview.

Before you begin

• You must be an organization Owner or Admin.
• Choose a clear name, such as Main Line, Sales, or Front Desk.
• Decide whether to assign an available Waveline number, buy a number during setup, or create the inbox with no phone number. A numberless inbox can still support internal calls, messages, transfers, and forwards, and you can add a number later.
• Invite any teammates you want to add. They must accept their invitations before they can be selected as members.
• Decide which teammates should receive access to the inbox's calls and messages. You can create an inbox with no members, but no one will ring until members and routing are configured.

A shared inbox is a great place to use a ported business number, especially when customers already know and call that number. It lets your team continue serving customers through the familiar number after it moves to Waveline.

If the port is still pending, you can create the inbox without a number or use a temporary Waveline number for external testing. Connect the ported number to the same inbox after the transfer completes, test it, and then release the temporary number if it is no longer needed.

Create the shared inbox

1. Open Inboxes and select Create inbox.
2. Enter a recognizable Name.
3. Under Phone number, choose one option:
   • Assign a phone number to select an available number or buy a new one; or
   • No phone number to create the inbox now and add a number later.
4. Under Members, add any accepted teammates who should answer calls and access conversations. Select Add me if you should be included; the person creating the inbox is not added automatically.
5. Select Create inbox at the top of the page.
6. Keep the page open while Waveline creates the inbox and opens its settings.

The people selected here start as inbox Members. After creation, use the inbox’s people settings to adjust access. See Inbox Participants for Viewer, Member, and Manager roles. The initial creation form does not ask you to choose those roles.

Your new inbox

Your inbox starts with:

• The selected phone number as its primary number, if you chose one.
• Only the members you selected. Select Add me during creation if you should be included.
• A default ring order containing those members, or an empty ring order if you did not select anyone.
• Starter routing that rings the default ring order and sends unanswered calls to voicemail.
• Always Open hours until you change the schedule.

Allow up to a minute before testing the new inbox.

Best practices

• Name the inbox after its purpose rather than a specific employee.
• Add only the teammates who need access to its calls and conversations.
• Review hours, recording, ring order, and voicemail before advertising the number.
• Test the complete inbound experience after changing members or routing.

Troubleshooting

Related pages

• Invite your team
• Choose or port a number
• Inbox overview
• Shared vs personal inboxes
• Default ring groups
• Business hours
• Call recording
• Receiving calls