They asked for a person
Messages like “can I talk to someone?” move the chat to you straight away.
One inbox for every Instagram DM
Automations handle the questions you’ve answered a hundred times. When someone needs a person, the chat moves to Assigned with the reason, automations step aside for that person, and you get an email.
The Inbox in numbers
- automations pause for a person after a hand-off or a manual reply
- 24 hours
- at most one hand-off email per chat in this time
- 30 minutes
- recent messages read for each AI draft
- 10
- teammates on the Scale plan
- 10
Why a shared Instagram inbox matters
Instagram’s own inbox is built for one person on one phone. When a business gets a steady flow of DMs, that turns into missed messages, two people answering the same question, and no record of who said what.
The Askenly Inbox shows every conversation live in your browser. Each one is linked to a contact, with the full history and any email the person shared. Your team works from the same view, so everyone can see which chats need a person and which are already handled.
When a chat is handed to you
Every hand-off says why, so you know what the person needs before you open the chat.
A question had no saved answer
With FAQ hand-off on, any question your FAQ can’t answer comes to you instead of getting a vague reply.
They want to book
Booking replies that need a person show up with the context of what they asked for.
The follow check didn’t settle
If someone still hasn’t followed after being asked twice, the chat comes to you to sort out.
No bot in the middle of a real conversation
The worst automated experience is a bot answering while a person is already helping. Askenly avoids it: after a hand-off, and after any reply you send by hand, automations pause for that person for 24 hours.
They can still comment on your next post and the conversation picks up normally once the pause ends. Nothing about the contact is lost along the way.
Example conversationHand-off
Can I talk to someone?
Of course. I’ve passed this to the team and they’ll reply here shortly.
What the Inbox keeps for each contact
- The full conversation, including files the person sent.
- Their Instagram username and name.
- Any email they shared in the chat for your sales sequence.
- Their bookings, linked from Appointments.
- Tags you add, to find them later.
Inbox questions
Do I need the Instagram app open?
No. Messages arrive in the Inbox as they come in, and you can reply from your browser.
Can my team share the inbox?
Yes. Invite teammates as admins or members: 2 teammates on Growth and 10 teammates on Scale.
Who gets the hand-off emails?
Workspace owners and admins, at most one email per chat every 30 minutes.
Are contacts saved automatically?
Yes. Everyone who messages you becomes a contact, with any email they share in the chat.
How hand-off works, step by step
When a conversation needs a person, three things happen at once. The chat moves to Assigned and is marked unread, with a short reason such as “asked for a person” or “question with no saved answer”. Automations pause for that person for 24 hours. Owners and admins get an email, at most one per chat every 30 minutes, and the bell in the app shows the open hand-off.
A teammate opens the chat, reads the history and replies, either from scratch or from an AI draft. The reply goes out from your Instagram account, so the customer sees one consistent conversation. If they reply again within the pause, nothing automated interrupts.
After 24 hours, automations are active for that person again. If they comment a keyword on a new post next week, they get the normal automated reply.
Set up the Inbox for your team
Invite your teammates
Settings → Team. Choose admin for people who manage settings, member for people who answer chats.
Write your FAQ answers
In an FAQ automation, with hand-off on for questions it can’t answer.
Fill in your business details
Business profile, hours and services, so AI drafts have the right facts.
Check notifications
Settings → Notifications decides who hears about hand-offs.
Why this beats answering in the Instagram app
The Instagram app is built for one person on one phone. It doesn’t show why a chat needs you, it doesn’t stop a tool from replying while you’re typing, and it doesn’t keep a contact record your team can share. The Inbox does all three, in a browser anyone on the team can open.
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