Coexistence Sync

What syncs between the WhatsApp Business app and Avox on a Coexistence connection - chat history, contacts, and messages sent from the phone.

With a Coexistence connection, the same WhatsApp number works in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone and in Avox at the same time. This page explains what moves between the two, and where you see it in your dashboard. For the idea behind Coexistence itself, see Coexistence, explained.

You choose Coexistence in step 1 of the setup wizard as Existing number (Coexistence). A New number (Bot only) connection has no phone app, so nothing on this page applies to it.

What syncs, at a glance#

From the WhatsApp Business app	When	Where it shows in Avox
Your chat history	Once, right after you connect - only if you chose to share it	The Inbox, and new contacts in Contacts
Your contacts and their names	After you connect, and whenever the app's contact list changes	Contact names in Contacts, the Inbox, and Calls
Messages your team sends from the app	As they're sent	The customer's conversation in the Inbox
Messages customers send to your number	As they arrive	The Inbox

Each of these reaches Avox as an event from Meta, which you can see in Logs under the event types history, smb_app_state_sync, smb_message_echoes, and messages. See Meta webhooks for what each contains.

Chat history import#

During signup, the WhatsApp Business app on your phone asks how to handle your existing chats: share all of them, or start new threads with current customers. This is a one-time choice made in the app and it can't be changed later.

If you share your history:

Meta sends the history to Avox shortly after you connect, in batches.
Each message is added to the matching customer's conversation in the Inbox at its original date and time - both what customers sent and what you sent from the phone - with a new contact created for any number Avox hasn't seen yet.
Imported messages are stored once. If Meta resends a batch, nothing is duplicated.

Customer messages in the imported history count toward the received totals on Overview for the days they cover. Sent totals and the delivery rate follow the messages you send from Avox. Automations respond only to new messages, so imported history never triggers them.

Contact sync#

Your WhatsApp Business app's contacts sync into Avox. For each synced contact:

A contact is created in Contacts if the number is new to Avox.
The name from your app's contact list becomes the contact's name in Avox.

When a name changes later in the app's contact list, Avox picks up the new name. You can still rename a contact in Avox at any time - see Renaming a contact - but a later change in the app's contact list replaces it.

Removing someone from the phone's contact list keeps them in Avox, with their whole conversation.

Messages sent from the phone app#

When someone on your team replies from the WhatsApp Business app instead of Avox, Meta tells Avox about it, and the reply appears in that customer's conversation in the Inbox at the time it was sent. Everyone sees the full conversation, whichever device each reply came from, so nobody answers the same customer twice.

New messages#

Every message a customer sends to your number arrives in Avox and in the WhatsApp Business app. Your team can answer from either.

Things to know#

Keep the app installed and signed in. The phone app and Avox share one number. Removing the number from the WhatsApp Business app, or registering it somewhere else, affects the connection. If your connection shows Disconnected or Error, see Health.
The 24-hour window applies everywhere. Replies from the Inbox follow WhatsApp's messaging window rules.
Your team sees everything. Everyone in the Switchboard - Admins and Managers - sees synced history and contacts. See Members and roles.
Forwarding sends new customer messages only. With Message forwarding on, new messages customers send are forwarded to your server; imported history and replies sent from the phone stay in Avox.
Event timing. Sync arrives as events from Meta and is processed in the order received. A large history import can take a little while. Watch progress in Logs.

Troubleshooting#

You see	Try this
No chat history after connecting	History arrives only if you chose to share it on your phone during signup. Check Logs for `history` events. That choice can't be changed later.
A contact's name keeps changing back	The name comes from your phone's WhatsApp Business contact list. Change it there, or rename the contact in Avox after the sync.
Replies from the phone don't appear	Check Logs for `smb_message_echoes` events and their status, and the connection on Health.
An event shows `failed` in Logs	Open it to read the error, then see Logs.

Last updated 10 October 2026