Inboxes
Inbox Overview
An inbox is the workspace where Waveline brings together calls, messages, people, answering rules, and routing for a work line. A personal inbox represents one teammate, while a shared inbox represents a business purpose such as a main line, department, team, or location. An inbox can have one phone number, multiple numbers, or no directly assigned number.
This overview explains how the settings work together and directs you to the detailed guide for each one.
Need an inbox first?
Use Create an Inbox to create a shared inbox. Personal inboxes are created automatically for the organization Owner and for teammates who accept an invitation. See Shared vs Personal Inboxes if you are unsure which one you need.
Configure your inbox
Choose the inbox
Open Inboxes on the web and select the inbox you want to review.
Before you begin
To change an inbox's settings, you need its Manager role or an organization role that lets you manage that inbox. Managing phone numbers and archiving shared inboxes require an organization Owner or Admin. See Inbox Participants for the differences between inbox roles and organization roles.
- Confirm whether you are reviewing a personal or shared inbox.
- Select the inbox representing the person, team, department, or location you intend to configure.
- Know which phone numbers, if any, and which teammates should be connected to it.
- Decide what callers should experience during open hours, after hours, and when nobody answers.
- Have access to an external phone when you are ready to test.
Where to find an inbox
Ready to review an inbox?
Open Inboxes and select the personal or shared inbox you want to configure.
Search the inbox list by name or use the available filters. See Viewing and notifications to choose which inboxes you follow, and Inbox Participants for access details.
Tour the inbox settings
Identity and access
Numbers
Choose which phone numbers bring calls and messages into the inbox. Changes require an organization Owner or Admin with access to manage it.
Caller name
Choose the registered caller name used by this inbox's numbers where supported. This web setting is available to Owners and Admins.
Viewing and notifications
Choose which eligible inboxes you follow and whether to receive their message, missed-call, and voicemail notifications.
An inbox can work without a phone number
A numberless inbox has no direct external dial-in or text address and cannot originate external calls or texts. It can still support internal calls, transfers, messages, and forwards from other inboxes. Direct to Cell attempts fall back to the app or an enabled deskphone or SIP device.
Answering and routing
Ring Users
Configure the Default Ring Order by choosing which members and calling methods ring first and which provide backup.
Call flow
Preview the inbox's routing and select the preview to open the call-flow builder.
Numbers, people, ring order, hours, and call flow have different jobs
- Numbers provide direct external calling and messaging addresses for the inbox.
- People gives teammates Viewer, Member, or Manager access to a shared inbox.
- Ring Users contains the Default Ring Order, which determines which eligible teammates and calling methods ring, in what order, and for how long.
- Inbox Hours set the inbox's open and closed times.
- Call flow sets the caller's route through menus, ringing, voicemail, forwarding, and other destinations.
A teammate needs the inbox's Member or Manager role before they can join its Default Ring Order. Viewers do not ring. Adding someone to People does not automatically add them to the ring order.
Caller experience
Default Voicemail Recording
Upload or generate the reusable greeting callers hear before leaving a message.
Follow-up and inbox lifecycle
Personal inboxes use most of the same call, audio, schedule, number, and routing settings. Their assigned teammate can have the Member or Manager role; a personal inbox does not accept additional working members. Eligible Owners and Admins can also follow a teammate's line as a Viewer. See Personal inboxes and organization roles.
Review these defaults before using the number with customers
A new inbox begins with:
- Always Open Inbox Hours.
- Starter routing that checks Inbox Hours, uses the Default Ring Order in Ring Users during open hours, and sends after-hours or unanswered calls to voicemail.
- Inbound recording and its disclosure enabled.
- Outbound recording and its disclosure disabled.
- Missed and Voicemail selected for Unhandled Calls.
- Waveline's built-in voicemail greeting and hold music until custom audio is uploaded.
Review each setting based on how this particular person, team, department, or location should operate.
Schedule exceptions
Inbox hours support several daily open periods, overnight hours, recurring calendar holidays, and custom dates. Custom dates override holidays, and holidays override weekly hours. See Inbox Hours.
Generated greetings and disclosures
In the web app, you can generate the default voicemail greeting and inbound/outbound recording disclosures from a script. Supported call-flow steps also offer generated audio. Hold music uses uploaded audio instead. See Default Voicemail Recording and Call Recording.
Choose what you view and which notifications you receive
Follow an inbox
If you are an Owner or Admin who can open an inbox but do not work in it, use Viewing → Add me as a viewer to follow it. You can also use the eye control in the web inbox list.
- Following a teammate's personal inbox adds its calls and messages to your All views and the inbox filter.
- Shared inbox activity remains in the All views available to you through your organization role. Following that inbox also includes its unread messages and unhandled calls in your badges.
- Viewing an inbox does not make you ring, add you to its ring order, or make it your default inbox.
You can stop following an inbox using the same control. This removes your Viewer role; it does not take away access granted by your organization role.
Choose notifications for this inbox
Open Notifications and set Notify me about this inbox. This controls notifications in the mobile and desktop apps for new messages, missed calls, and voicemails in that inbox. It changes your own notifications, not your teammates'.
You need a Viewer, Member, or Manager role in the inbox to use this control. If you have access through an Owner or Admin role alone, add yourself as a Viewer first. The web inbox list also has a bell control for this setting.
Turning these notifications off does not stop incoming calls from ringing and does not remove unread or unhandled badge counts. Your Availability still applies: when you are Unavailable, Waveline does not send these notifications.
For more information about finding these controls on mobile, see Open inbox settings in Mobile App Overview.
Recommended configuration order
- Confirm whether the inbox should be personal or shared.
- Give a shared inbox a clear name and assign the appropriate people and roles.
- Review its assigned phone numbers.
- Configure the Default Ring Order and Inbox Hours.
- Review Call Recording, Default Voicemail Recording, Hold Music, and Unhandled Calls.
- Review the published routing in Call Flows Overview.
- Test the complete caller and teammate experience.
You can also manage inbox settings on mobile
You can also review or change Default Ring Order, Schedule, Call Recording, and Phone Numbers in the mobile app. Shared inboxes include People, and eligible inboxes show Viewing and Notifications. The settings you can edit depend on your role and inbox access.
For more information, see Open inbox settings in Mobile App Overview.
Rename a shared inbox
Use a label that tells teammates what the shared inbox represents, such as Main Line, Sales, Front Desk, or Portland Office. Avoid naming a shared inbox after one teammate unless the inbox truly represents that person.
- Open Inboxes and select the shared inbox.
- Under General, select the current Name.
- Enter the new name.
- Confirm that the updated name appears at the top of the page and in the Inboxes list.
- Review transfer destinations and internal instructions that may still refer to the previous name.
Renaming a shared inbox does not change its phone numbers, members, messages, hours, ring order, or call flow. Personal inbox names follow their assigned teammate and are not renamed from this field.
Test the complete inbox
- Allow up to one minute after changing calling or routing settings.
- Ask the intended members to sign in, confirm their app or deskphone connection, and set themselves available.
- Call an assigned number from an external phone during configured open hours.
- Confirm that the expected members and devices ring in the correct order.
- Answer and verify that both people can hear each other.
- Place another call and leave it unanswered. Confirm the intended voicemail greeting plays and that the message appears.
- Test the After Hours route using the configured schedule or a temporary date override.
- Place an outbound call using the inbox and confirm the expected caller ID, recording behavior, and disclosure.
- If the inbox has a number that supports messaging, exchange a test message and confirm that the intended members can see the conversation.
- Review Call History, recordings, voicemail, and the Unhandled list for the test activity.
- Remove any temporary testing override when finished.
Concurrent Calls can change who rings during testing
By default, Waveline can skip a teammate who is already on another call. If that teammate enables Allow Concurrent Calls in Preferences, their eligible devices can ring for a new call. Answering the new call places the current call on hold.
When you no longer need a shared inbox
Archive a shared inbox only when the inbox itself is no longer needed. If the team, purpose, or location is changing but the inbox will still be used, rename and reconfigure it instead.
Choose the right action
- The inbox still has a purpose: Keep it, then update its name, members, numbers, hours, ring order, and call flow.
- The inbox is no longer needed, but its numbers are: Archive the inbox, then assign its numbers to another inbox.
- Neither the inbox nor its numbers are needed: Archive the inbox, then release the numbers separately.
Archiving does not cancel phone numbers
When a shared inbox is archived, its assigned numbers return to your organization's unassigned number pool. They remain active and continue billing until they are reassigned or released.
What archiving changes
Archiving a shared inbox:
- Removes it from active inbox-management screens.
- Removes its members from that inbox.
- Returns its phone numbers to the unassigned pool.
- Removes the inbox from active Analytics views.
- Does not release its phone numbers or stop their billing.
Only organization Owners and Admins can archive a shared inbox. Personal inboxes cannot be archived from this page.
Waveline will block archiving if an active Member or Manager does not belong to another active inbox as a Member or Manager. Viewer access to another inbox does not satisfy this requirement.
Archive the inbox
- Confirm that the inbox is no longer needed.
- Make sure every active Member or Manager belongs to another active inbox as a Member or Manager.
- Decide where its assigned numbers should go afterward.
- Scroll to Delete and select Delete inbox.
- Review the affected numbers and other changes.
- Type the inbox's exact label to confirm.
- Select Archive inbox.
- Open Numbers and either assign each number to another inbox or release it.
Best practices
- Give each inbox one clear purpose.
- Use personal inboxes for direct work lines and shared inboxes for teams, departments, locations, or common business functions.
- Review Inbox Hours, recording, voicemail, and follow-up defaults before using a number with customers.
- Use names that remain understandable when staff responsibilities change.
- Retest after changing numbers, members, ring order, hours, audio, or call flow.
- Reassign or release numbers promptly after archiving a shared inbox.
Troubleshooting
I cannot find a setting shown in this guide
The settings shown depend on the inbox type and your role. Shared inboxes use People; personal inboxes can show Owner's role instead. Viewers do not see call-handling settings, and Members cannot edit the inbox's configuration. Managing numbers requires an organization Owner or Admin with access to that inbox; only Owners and Admins can archive shared inboxes.
Audio uploads, generated greetings and disclosures, Unhandled Calls configuration, and the call-flow editor are managed from the web app. See Inbox Participants for access details and Mobile App Overview for mobile navigation.
A member can see the inbox but does not ring
Check the person's role under People. Viewers can read the inbox but do not ring. A Member or Manager must also be included in the relevant Default Ring Order, have the appropriate calling methods enabled, and be available. Confirm that the published call flow uses that ring order.
A teammate rings but cannot access the inbox
Confirm that the teammate is an active inbox member. Organization Owners and Admins can also review the teammate's role and inbox access.
Calls enter the wrong inbox
Open the phone number in Assigning Numbers and confirm which inbox it is assigned to. If the number was recently moved, allow up to one minute before testing a new call.
Calls follow the wrong open or after-hours route
Review the inbox's timezone, weekly hours, date overrides, and published Inbox Hours routing. See Inbox Hours for the complete checklist.
The wrong voicemail greeting or hold music plays
Confirm that you edited the inbox associated with the call. For voicemail, also check whether the Voicemail step uses the inbox default or its own greeting.
My changes have not taken effect
Allow up to one minute, then begin a new test call. Changes to call-flow nodes or connections must also be saved and published.
I can open an inbox, but its activity is missing from All or my badges
If you are an Owner or Admin viewing an eligible teammate's personal inbox, turn on Viewing → Add me as a viewer to include it in All and your inbox filter. For a shared inbox you do not work in, following it adds its unread messages and unhandled calls to your badges. Merely opening the inbox's settings does not follow it.
I turned off inbox notifications, but calls still ring
Notify me about this inbox controls new-message, missed-call, and voicemail notifications. It does not control incoming ringing. Review your Availability and the inbox's Default Ring Order.
I cannot rename or archive a personal inbox
Personal inboxes are tied to their assigned teammates. Their labels are not edited from the General section, and they cannot be archived from the inbox settings page.
The archived inbox's numbers are now unassigned
This is expected. Archiving returns its numbers to the organization's unassigned pool without releasing them. Assign each number to another inbox or release it if it is no longer needed.
I archived the wrong inbox
Contact Waveline Support promptly. Avoid reassigning its phone numbers while the request is reviewed. Restoration is not guaranteed.