Best practices

A short checklist for getting the most out of Relay from day one.

Overview

Relay works out of the box, but a few habits keep it fast, private, and easy for your team. These are recommendations, not requirements.

Numbers

• Give each number a clear Label (e.g. Sales — Istanbul) so agents and reports read naturally.
• Keep the owning phone online and charged. The link is a WhatsApp linked device; if the phone goes offline for a long time WhatsApp can drop the session and you'll re-scan.
• Don't connect the same number in two tools at once. Use Relay as that number's inbox.

Team & permissions

• Grant the minimum each agent needs. New agents can already reply, accept, and resolve. Turn on extras (Monitor, Take over, Reports, Templates…) only for the people who need them. See Agents & permissions.
• Treat "Manage customers" as sensitive — it reveals real phone numbers. Grant it only to trusted staff. See Masking & privacy.
• Turn on two-factor for the Admin account and for agents who handle sensitive chats.

Everyday efficiency

• Set up quick-reply Templates for your common answers before your team starts — it pays off immediately.
• Define Topics (keyword auto-tags) so Reports can break conversations down by subject.
• Tune the requeue timer in Settings so an unanswered chat returns to the Queue after a period that matches your response targets.

Keep your data safe

• Run backups from the start. Relay stores everything on your server — follow Operations → Backup and keep a copy off the server.
• Take a backup before every update (docker compose up -d --build).

Next steps

You're set up. Head to the Inbox overview to see how your team will work day to day.