Customers (CRM)

Employee WhatsApp lines

Overview

A line is a WhatsApp number an employee owns — the phone they talk to customers from — linked to Duwam as a linked device. Each line has its own inbox, and each customer on the line is one conversation. These conversations are separate from the "Inbox" that the main customer-service number feeds.

The point: the employee keeps working from their phone as usual, the company sees the same conversation in Duwam, and a colleague or supervisor can answer from the same number when the owner is away.

How do I add a line? (company admin)

1. Open Settings → Channels → WhatsApp → the "Employee lines" tab.
2. Press "Add a line".
3. Type the "Line name" (up to 80 characters) and choose the "Line owner" — an active employee enabled in Customer management.
4. Press "Create". The window offers "Scan now" or "Later", and the owner is notified to link the company WhatsApp.

A counter at the top shows how many lines you use out of your plan's. At the cap, "Add a line" is disabled: "Plan limit reached — archive a line or upgrade".

How do I link the number?

The line's owner or the company admin links it — from the line's card → "Link now", or the admin sends the request with "Ask the employee to link". The employee also finds a company-WhatsApp card for their line in their personal settings.

1. A window asks you to scan a QR code with WhatsApp on your phone.
2. On the phone: WhatsApp → Settings → Linked devices → Link a device, then scan.
3. A message confirms the link.

Instead of scanning, you can link with the phone number: type it in international format, get the code, and enter the eight-character code in WhatsApp under Linked devices → Link a device → Link with phone number instead. If it takes too long, the window says the link timed out — close it and start again.

Each line's card shows its status: "Connected", "Needs re-link" or "Not linked".

Who sees a line's conversations?

• The company admin sees every line.
• The line's owner sees their line.
• Anyone with the "Supervise employee WhatsApp lines" permission sees and answers every line's conversations. Without it, an employee sees only their own line.

Everyone also needs Customer management enabled. There is no per-line access list.

Where do I read them?

Conversations → "Employee lines" — between "Inbox" and "Groups".

• The rail: one circle per line with its picture or initials, its unread count and a status dot. Hover and it grows, showing "line | owner" above the number. The rail hides when you see only one line.
• The list: its head is the line's picture, name and status, with "All", "Unread", "Open" and "Closed" tabs and "Search conversations". A row may carry "Unanswered", or "Team" when the other side is a colleague.
• The conversation head: the line it goes through and its number.
• The details panel: before a conversation is open it shows the line's card; with one open it shows an "Employee number" card saying the conversation went through the employee's WhatsApp number.
• The line's picture: click it to open it large. In settings, "Line picture" chooses "The employee's Duwam picture" or "The number's WhatsApp picture".

What can I do on a line conversation?

• Write with the same composer as the inbox: text, file upload, library files, canned replies with "/", voice notes, and replying to a specific message (⋮ → "Reply").
• Templates for the customer only, with merge fields. Buttons that open a next template arrive as text choices, and the answer comes to you.
• "Send Later" — text only, no repeat, cancellable only by its author.
• Internal notes with @mentions of people who can see the line.
• Open and close the conversation, mark it unread, the AI assistant and translation (when AI is on), the image gallery, drafts and the Files tab.
• What the employee typed on their phone shows in the conversation marked "From phone".
• ✓ and ✓✓ ticks (sent, delivered, read) for messages sent from Duwam. Phone-typed messages carry none.
• The customer's emoji reaction shows on their bubble.
• The line's tag is put on every customer the first time they talk to the line.

When a line drops

• The company admin and the line's owner are told the line needs re-linking.
• In the conversation, the composer is replaced by a note that the line is not linked and its owner should re-link it; the admin also gets a Settings button.
• Text sent during a short drop is kept: "The line is offline right now — it will be sent automatically when it reconnects". Media is not kept for later.
• A line that never connected stops trying after 30 minutes.

Reassigning, unlinking and archiving

From the card's menu: "Rename", "Reassign", "Line picture", "Line tag", "WhatsApp groups", "Unlink", "Archive line".

• Reassigning does not move the phone: a linked line stays on its current owner's phone — unlink it so the new employee can scan.
• Unlinking stops sending and receiving until it is linked again, and cancels queued replies.
• Archiving hides the line and refuses any new link; its conversations are kept, and their summaries show on the customer's page.
• Deactivating the employee unlinks their lines automatically.

What lines do not do

• They stay out of the "Inbox", send no campaigns, trigger no automations, get no auto-reply and no satisfaction survey.
• No assignment, no star, no SLA timers and no work orders from a line conversation.
• Messages always leave from the employee's number, never the customer-service number, and are not held by quiet hours.
• A colleague is not a customer: a conversation between the line and a colleague creates no contact, tag or bell.

Notifications

The line's owner (if enabled in Customer management) gets "New message on your line" in the bell and on their phone — one per unread conversation. Being mentioned in a note notifies you too.

FAQ

Q: "Add a line" is disabled. A: Either your plan is Basic (no lines), or you reached your plan's cap. Archive a line you no longer use, or upgrade from Plans & billing.

Q: Does the admin see the employee's personal chats? A: They see every conversation on the linked number, because the line is the employee's own number. That is why a line should be the work number.

Q: I wrote from my phone — does it show in Duwam? A: Yes, marked "From phone", without delivery ticks.

Q: The employee moved to another job. A: "Unlink", then "Reassign" to the new employee so they scan from their phone, or "Archive line" if it is no longer needed.

Quick reference

Related articles

• Inbox — the customer-service number's conversations
• WhatsApp groups — groups on lines and the main number
• WhatsApp notifications — the main number and quiet hours
• Mobile app — answering from the phone
• Teams & permissions — the supervision permission