Heep Unified Inbox: One Thread Per Guest, Whatever the Channel

The question we asked ourselves when designing the inbox was not “how do we display several channels”. It was: how do you recognise that two messages come from the same person?

We settled on three signals: the phone number, the email address, the Instagram or Messenger handle. As soon as one of them shows up a second time, even six months later, even on a different channel, the conversation is stitched back onto the existing thread. Hence: one memory, one history, one place to take over.

We see that case every week. A guest sends an Instagram DM on Sunday evening. No reply, the team is in service. Monday, she calls back: without a single thread, a second ticket opens with no context. It is not rare: 73 % of guests use at least 2 different channels for the same booking, WhatsApp then a call, or an Instagram DM then email.

Your guests don't think in channels

A guest who messages you on Instagram on Sunday evening doesn't remember choosing Instagram: they picked the channel closest to hand. Monday morning, they'll call from the car. Tuesday, they'll send the bank details by email for the deposit.

For them it's one conversation. For most restaurants, three files, three people, no shared context.

• Under a minute The first-response time Heep aims for, across every written channel, where an inbox watched by hand answers between two services.
• 1 thread Per guest, regardless of how many channels or days between exchanges.
• Fewer enquiries lost What used to land on three channels, handled by three people, lands in one thread with its context. Measure the gap on your own 60-day before/after.

To see a real unified inbox from the team's side: book a 15-minute demo

How Heep automatically merges every channel

Matching works both ways: a number seen on a missed call finds an Instagram DM, an email finds a WhatsApp thread from last summer. And the memory follows the thread: preferences, allergies, birthdays.

The trade-off is deliberate: when no signal overlaps, we do not invent a link. Two numbers, no shared email, and the threads stay separate until someone merges them by hand. A visible duplicate beats two guests mixed into the same file.

Case study · 80-cover brasserie, Lyon

A guest sends an Instagram DM on Sunday evening for a party of 6 on Friday. Monday morning she calls, unanswered. Heep recognises her number on the missed call, writes to her, retrieves her DM, and proposes slots in the same conversation. Booking confirmed in 90 seconds.

4 gains to measure over your first 60 days

1. Enquiry-to-booking conversion

   Context follows from one channel to the next; friction disappears.

2. Internal duplicate replies

   No more risk of a manager confirming a table that was declined on another channel.

3. Team time per case

   The team no longer digs through five tabs to piece a conversation back together.

4. The "they know me" effect

   Guests notice the "they remember me" effect, the number one trigger for loyalty.

Activating the unified inbox in under 10 minutes

1. Connect WhatsApp Business via QR code, Heep imports the last 30 days of history.
2. Link your booking email by forwarding the address to the Heep relay.
3. Connect Instagram via Meta Business Suite, OAuth authorisation in 2 clicks.
4. Switch on missed-call recovery: an unanswered call triggers a WhatsApp message, then an SMS.
5. Verify the merge with a test from 2 channels using your personal number.

The connection takes those ten minutes. Full go-live is counted in days: Meta verification and setting your rules.

What is left is the settings, and they are yours: who gets notified on which channel, from what time the AI answers on its own, when a thread is handed to the team. The "Take over" button pauses the AI on that thread, and that one only. Up to you whether that is the exception or the rule.

To go further: from guest question to confirmed booking, Meta-compliant WhatsApp campaigns, and turning Instagram DMs into bookings.