Internal Team Messages - Waveline Support

Internal team messages let teammates coordinate inside Waveline without sending an SMS to a customer or other outside contact. You can message one teammate directly, communicate with everyone participating in a shared inbox, or create an internal group conversation.

Internal messages are not SMS messages

Internal messages remain inside your Waveline organization. They do not use a business phone number, require outbound SMS registration, or include your SMS signature.

Choose who should receive the message

Recipient	Who receives access	Best used for
A teammate	The teammate associated with that personal inbox	Direct questions, individual handoffs, and one-to-one coordination
A shared inbox	Teammates participating in that shared inbox	Department, location, or team-wide coordination
Multiple internal recipients	Teammates who can access the selected personal and shared inboxes	Discussions that require several people or teams

Selecting a teammate's name addresses their personal inbox. Selecting a shared inbox makes the conversation available to people with access to it. Members and Managers can reply from the shared inbox; Viewers can read it. See Inbox roles.

Before you begin

Confirm that the intended teammates have accepted their Waveline invitations.
Decide whether the message is intended for one teammate or everyone participating in a shared inbox.
Use an external conversation instead when a customer or outside contact should receive the message.

Where to find internal messaging

In the web app, open Phone → Messages to review internal conversations. To begin a new conversation, select the Message action beside your account in the sidebar. In the mobile app, open Messages.

When beginning a new message, use the Internal recipient filter on web. On mobile, teammates and shared inboxes are listed under Team. Completed internal conversations appear in the regular conversation list.

Start an internal message from the web app

Select the Message action beside your account in the web-app sidebar.
Change the recipient filter to Internal.
Search for a teammate, or select a shared inbox from your favorites. To make a shared inbox appear here, open its details panel and select Favorite. Favorites you add in the mobile app appear here too.
Add other internal recipients when starting a group conversation.
If from offers more than one inbox, choose the inbox you want to send from.
Write the message and add a snippet or attachment when needed.
Select the send button.

No sending phone number is required for a conversation containing only internal recipients.

Start an internal message from the mobile app

Open Messages.
Select the new-message button.
Find the teammate or shared inbox under Team, or search by name.
Select the intended recipient and add any other internal recipients.
Review the sending inbox at the top. If more than one is available, tap it and choose from Message from.
Write the message and add a snippet or attachment when needed.
Tap the send button.

Internal message recipient selection in Waveline on web and mobile, showing the web Internal filter and the mobile Favorites and Team lists of teammates and shared inboxes.

Choose the sending inbox

You can send an internal message from your own personal inbox or a shared inbox where you are a Member or Manager, even if that inbox has no phone number. Viewer-only inboxes are not sending options. The recipient inbox is not offered as its own sender.

When more than one sending inbox is available, use from on the web or the sending-inbox control at the top on mobile. Check this choice before writing private team information: a conversation sent from a shared inbox can be seen by people with access to that inbox.

In an existing conversation, a sending-inbox choice appears only when the conversation and your access allow it. On the web it appears in the composer; on mobile tap the inbox label in the header. If your personal inbox is the participating sender, replies use it.

Message one teammate

Choose the teammate's name when the conversation should be between specific people. Waveline directs the conversation through that teammate's personal inbox and keeps it separate from external customer conversations.

This is useful for individual questions, status updates, and handoffs that do not need the attention of an entire team.

Message a shared inbox

Choose a shared inbox when everyone participating in that inbox may need to see or continue the discussion. For example, an internal message sent to Support can be reviewed by the teammates who participate in the Support inbox.

Use this for department updates, shift handoffs, location-wide questions, and work that any available participant may need to continue.

Create an internal group conversation

Select multiple teammates or shared inboxes before sending the first message. Waveline keeps the selected recipients together in one group conversation.

A recognizable name can make a recurring group easier to find. See Conversations for instructions on naming group conversations.

Changing the participants

The recipients selected when the conversation begins define who participates in that thread. To include a different set of teammates or inboxes, begin a new conversation and select the intended recipients.

This prevents an existing discussion from unexpectedly being opened to someone who was not originally included.

Keep internal and external recipients separate

Check the recipient type before sending

If an external contact or phone number is included, the conversation can send messages outside Waveline using SMS. Remove external recipients before sending information intended only for your team.

When a customer needs a response, leave the internal conversation and open the customer's external conversation. This keeps internal coordination separate from customer-facing communication.

Use attachments, snippets, and signatures

Attach supported photos, videos, or documents when teammates need additional context.
Use shared snippets for internal replies that the team sends frequently.
SMS signatures are not added to internal team messages.

See MMS and Media and Snippets and SMS Signatures for more information.

Who can access an internal conversation

A direct internal conversation is available through the personal inboxes included in it. A conversation involving a shared inbox can be read by people with access to that inbox; Members and Managers can reply from it, while Viewers cannot.

Owners and Admins may also be able to review the conversation through their organization role. Administrative reading access alone does not let them send from another inbox.

See Inbox Participants and Conversations for more information about working and view-only access.

Send through an authorized AI assistant

With message-sending permission and your authorization, an AI assistant can send eligible internal Waveline messages as you from your own personal inbox or a shared inbox where you are a Member or Manager. Specify the sending inbox, all intended recipients, and exact text. Viewer access alone does not allow sending.

Eligible internal groups are supported; this does not enable external group SMS. Internal-only sends do not incur the external integration sending fee. See AI Integration Access and Messaging.

Best practices

Select a teammate for individual questions and a shared inbox for team-wide coordination.
Include enough context for recipients to understand the customer, call, or task being discussed.
Keep customer-facing replies in the applicable external conversation.
Review every recipient before sharing sensitive business information.
Give recurring internal group conversations recognizable names.
Start a new conversation when a different group of teammates needs to participate.

Troubleshooting

A teammate does not appear

Confirm that they accepted their Waveline invitation and that their account remains active.

I cannot find a shared inbox

Confirm that the inbox is still active. On web, a shared inbox appears only after you favorite it from its details panel. On mobile, find it under Team or search for its name.

The inbox I want to send from is missing

Check that it is active and that you are its Member or Manager. Viewer access is not enough, and an inbox selected as a recipient cannot also be its own sender. For internal-only messages, the sending inbox does not need a phone number.

My SMS signature was not included

This is expected. Signatures apply only to external text messages.

More teammates can see the conversation than expected

Check whether a shared inbox was selected. Its participants can access the conversation.

I need to add another teammate

Start a new conversation containing the complete intended group.

I cannot find an existing internal conversation

Select All, then review the applicable inbox filter for the teammate, shared inbox, or group conversation.

I accidentally selected an external contact

Remove that recipient before sending. If the message was already sent, the external recipient may have received it by SMS.