Cradle WhatsApp Business
A lot of clients live on WhatsApp now. Cradle WhatsApp Business gives your firm a shared WhatsApp inbox inside the desktop app the team already uses for calls: a shared-inbox claim model and CRM logging, on the channel the customer actually checks. Most Cradle numbers can be enabled as a WhatsApp sender, including the firm's existing landline, so the institutional knowledge stays inside the firm rather than on a senior's personal phone.
Released in September 2026 and available now on the Cradle desktop app, with reading and replying in the Cradle mobile app.
Already a Cradle customer? An admin can request WhatsApp from the admin portal, then connect the firm's WhatsApp Business account and choose the number to send from.
Try Cradle in your browser
Click through the call log, messages and settings. Every contact-bearing row shows the FYI badge so you can see how messages reflect into a client record.
Today
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+64 9 555 0909+61 7 5550 1010Trusted by firms across New Zealand
“The biggest game changer for us is that every call is automatically saved into FYI. That means no more missed notes or chasing people for messages. The accountants can just go back and see the conversation for themselves”
How WhatsApp helps your firm
WhatsApp matters because clients answer it. For professional-services firms, the win is reaching the client on the channel they already check, without losing the conversation history off the firm's books.
Meet clients where they are
WhatsApp is the default messaging app for huge parts of the customer base. Some clients won't answer the phone and don't read email, but reply to WhatsApp in minutes. Cradle WhatsApp will give the firm a way to be there too, from a business number rather than a senior's personal mobile.
One shared inbox across the team
WhatsApp threads visible to the whole firm, claimed when someone replies. No more "who's on the WhatsApp with this client?" The thread is open to the team until a teammate replies; that reply claims it, and the work is attributed to whoever did it. A teammate can join later by sending their own message.
Comms stay inside your firm's tools
Every message lands against the matching client record. No WhatsApp on a senior's personal phone the firm can't see; no institutional knowledge walking out the door when someone leaves. Threads write into FYI and HubSpot automatically, so the conversation history is part of the client engagement record.
How Cradle WhatsApp Business works
Six views: what the feature does, how the 24-hour conversation window shapes replies, how the shared inbox hands threads between teammates, how it compares to personal-phone WhatsApp and the WhatsApp Business app, how to switch it on, and the questions firms ask in demos.
What Cradle WhatsApp does
Send and receive WhatsApp Business messages from a Cradle business number, with the whole team in the loop and every message logged against the matching client record.
The full feature set is in the Cradle desktop app for macOS and Windows. The Cradle mobile app reads and replies to WhatsApp conversations. See all Cradle features, or browse the full list of practice management integrations.
The 24-hour conversation window
WhatsApp Business has a hard rule from Meta about when your team can send free-form text. It's worth being honest about up front because it shapes how the inbox behaves.
How it works
Once a customer messages your business on WhatsApp, you have a rolling 24 hours to reply with any free-form text. Each new inbound message from the customer resets the clock. Inside that window the compose box works normally; the team types and sends.
Outside the window, WhatsApp Business rules don't allow free-form replies: only pre-approved message templates can re-open the conversation.
How Cradle handles it
Inside an active window: the compose box works normally. When the window expires: the compose box is disabled and a banner appears in the thread telling the user the 24-hour window has closed. The thread stays in the inbox; the history is still readable; new outbound messages are blocked until the customer messages again.
Message templates
Pre-approved WhatsApp message templates re-open a conversation after the window has closed, or start one with a customer who hasn't messaged you. An admin writes each template in the admin portal and submits it to WhatsApp for approval; approved templates then appear in the Cradle desktop app when you start or reopen a WhatsApp conversation.
A template can carry a file, such as a price list or a form the firm sends every week. Without an approved template, the customer needs to message first.
Shared inbox, claim on reply
The exact sequence: how a customer's WhatsApp message lands, who can see it, and how teammates hand the thread between each other without stepping on each other's replies.
Customer messages the firm
The message lands in Cradle Desktop. The whole organisation can see it in the Messaging tab, and the 24-hour reply window opens.
First reply claims the thread
Whoever types the first response owns the thread. It leaves everyone else's Messaging tab.
Logged to the matching client
The thread reflects into FYI or HubSpot by phone number, the same way calls do.
Shared at first. Inbound WhatsApp threads are visible to every user in the organisation until someone picks one up. A message never sits unanswered because the person it was meant for is on annual leave.
Claimed by replying.The moment a teammate replies, the thread moves into that teammate's Messaging tab and out of everyone else's. Two people won't simultaneously message the same client.
Joinable later. A second teammate joins the thread by sending their own outbound message to the same contact. Each outbound bubble is attributed by sender name so the team can see who said what.
Reflected into the CRM. The same attribution flows into the FYI thread document or the HubSpot contact timeline. The institutional knowledge stays inside the firm.
Cradle WhatsApp vs personal phones and the WhatsApp Business app
Most firms are already using WhatsApp with clients, from a partner's personal phone, or from a separate WhatsApp Business install on a shared device. Both work; both leave the conversation history off the firm's books.
| Capability | Cradle WhatsApp | Personal phone | WhatsApp Business app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visible to the team | Varies | ||
| Logs into your CRM / PM tool | |||
| Business sender number, not a personal one | |||
| Works on the firm's existing landline | |||
| Shared inbox with claim-on-reply | Varies | ||
| Comms stay inside the firm's tools | |||
| Same app the team already uses for calls | |||
| Subject to Meta's 24-hour window |
The 24-hour window applies wherever WhatsApp Business is used. That's a Meta rule, not a Cradle choice. The other rows are where Cradle differs: most Cradle numbers can be enabled as a WhatsApp sender so the firm's existing landline can be the number customers message, the team sees the inbox, and the thread writes into the systems the firm already runs the engagement from.
See also: the phone system for accountants page for the broader workflow story, and the FYI integration page for how Cradle activity lands inside FYI.
How to switch on Cradle WhatsApp
Cradle enables WhatsApp for the organisation, then an admin does the rest in the admin portal: connect the firm's WhatsApp Business account, register the number to send from, and add message templates. Once a sender is registered the rollout is org-wide and automatic.
- Set up your Cradle account. The fastest path is to book a 30-minute call so we can talk through user count, the WhatsApp sender market, and CRM connections in one conversation. Self-serve sign-up is at cradle.io/get-started.
- Ask Cradle to enable WhatsApp. An admin requests it from the WhatsApp item in the admin portal's Setup menu, or contacts Cradle support.
- Connect your WhatsApp Business account.In the admin portal, go to Setup, then WhatsApp, choose Continue with Facebook, and fill in the firm's business details.
- Register the number you want to send from.Most Cradle numbers can be a WhatsApp sender, including the firm's existing landline. WhatsApp verifies the number by a text code or a voice call, which works on landlines too. Senders are registered against Australian or UK Cradle numbers. Recipient reach is global, so the team can message WhatsApp users wherever WhatsApp operates.
- Add your message templates. Write the templates the firm needs and submit them to WhatsApp for approval, so the team can start conversations and reopen ones where the 24-hour window has closed.
- WhatsApp appears in everyone's messages. Every user in the organisation sees WhatsApp threads in the Cradle desktop app, beside their texts. No per-user configuration.
The Cradle mobile app reads and replies to WhatsApp conversations too. Templates, photos and documents are in the Cradle desktop app.
Frequently asked questions
Where do Cradle WhatsApp messages come from?
Which countries can I message on WhatsApp?
Do I need a separate mobile number for WhatsApp?
What's the 24-hour conversation window?
Are WhatsApp message templates available?
Will WhatsApp threads log against the matching client in FYI or HubSpot?
Is WhatsApp on the Cradle mobile app?
How does the team avoid two people replying to the same message?
Can I send photos and documents?
How do I switch WhatsApp on for my organisation?
Which Cradle plan includes WhatsApp?
Will customers see when our team has read their message?
Keep reading
More on how Cradle works for AU and UK firms.
Customer stories
Features that pair with WhatsApp
Integrations that pair with WhatsApp
What other firms say
“I can't stress how much this app changed our practice for the better. I wished we would have moved to Cradle earlier as it has not only improved clients phone experiences but also helped with compliance and saved a heap of admin time and $$$.”
Bring your firm's WhatsApp into Cradle
Tell us your team size, the CRM you run on, and the customers you currently message on personal WhatsApp. We'll show you the shared inbox and get your number set up as the sender.