Businesses spend more time than ever managing their online presences, thanks to a wide variety of popular communication channels. Today, millions of businesses use Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger together to interact with customers.

It can be hard for businesses to keep up with the sheer volume of communications and requests in their digital channels. In fact, Facebook Pages alone receive nearly 5 billion comments, messages and visitor posts combined every month.

Now we're making it possible for businesses to link their Facebook, Messenger and Instagram accounts so they can manage communications across all three channels in a single place. The updated inbox makes it easier than ever to communicate with customers anytime, anywhere.

If you actively manage communications for your business across Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, you can save time with the updated inbox by responding to all inquiries within a single app. You'll be able to quickly scan all three channels for new updates and feel confident that you're not missing an important message.

You can reply to Facebook comments, visitor posts, reviews, messages and Instagram comments directly from the updated inbox by tapping on the content you want to answer.

And if you're comfortable with your current process, you can still view and respond to Instagram comments directly within the Instagram App. The updated inbox can help make your individual workflow more efficient, no matter how you work.

Another way we help you serve your customers is by providing an easy way to see basic information about the people who interact with your business. Simply tap the person's name to see their publicly available profile, as well as their previous interactions with your business—then use that knowledge to personalize your communications with them. This feature is currently available for all Facebook interactions in the inbox.

Early testers of the updated inbox say it has allowed them to streamline their workflow and save time. Nicole Chase, admin of Nicssential Oils Silver says:

“The new and improved inbox gives me a quick snapshot of all media channels in an organized and succinct way. It cuts down the time I spend on administrative tasks by around 12%, and it allows me to provide more detailed and personalized service."

The updated inbox will roll out globally to all users of the Pages Manager mobile app in the coming weeks, and will soon be available on other devices. You can get started by connecting your Facebook and Instagram accounts. Simply click on the messaging icon at the bottom of your Page while you're in the Pages Manager App, then navigate to the Instagram tab where you'll be prompted to log in.

If your accounts are already connected via Instagram ads, you'll receive the update automatically—Instagram comments will begin to appear right in your Page inbox. Note that Messenger interactions are already integrated into your Page inbox.

Over time, we'll add additional engagement types to improve the speed and ease with which you see and respond to customer messages.

If your business receives a high volume of daily communications, or if you have entire teams dedicated to online customer service, we recommend building on the Messenger Platform or integrating with Facebook Marketing Partners to manage your interactions.

With Messenger Platform, you can build rich, automated experiences to more easily communicate with large numbers of customers.

With Facebook Marketing Partners, you can handle the flow of incoming communications by chatting live with your customers at scale.

We're committed to equipping businesses with the tools to have friendly, fluid conversations with people, and we want to help you save time by making that process simple and easy. We think the updated inbox is bringing us closer to that goal—try it out and let us know what you think in the comments.