Use the inbox to manage the conversations that need attention from your team.
The inbox brings together customer replies, support questions, order follow-up, and conversations that a playbook, route, or AI agent escalates to a person.
On desktop, the Inbox shows the conversation list on the left, the selected conversation history in the center, and the customer profile on the right. On mobile, the list, conversation, and profile appear in separate views. The screenshots use fictional data.
Open a conversation to read the question and internal notes before replying.
Also review the customer profile for the information available alongside the conversation. On mobile, the profile has its own view.
If you are comparing the Inbox with playbooks and campaigns, start with How Hellotext works.
If you are setting up AI or playbook escalations, read AI handoff to Inbox.
If you want to ask for satisfaction after conversations are resolved, use CSAT Pulse.
If you want to follow up on low loyalty scores after delivery, use NPS Pulse.
How conversations move through the inbox
A conversation can start when a customer replies to a message or writes through a connected channel such as Webchat. The Inbox also receives cases that a playbook, route, or AI agent hands off to the team.
Your team can keep the conversation unassigned, assign it to a teammate, reassign it to someone else, or close it when no further action is needed.
A new customer reply can reopen a closed conversation. Its assignment depends on the business’s conversation ownership settings.
Keep reading: Conversation lifecycle in Inbox.
Find the work you need
Use state, teammate, and label filters to move between priority work, unassigned conversations, your assigned queue, reminders, mentions, and completed conversations. Before searching within a view, open Show filters and choose its state, even if it already appears selected; check the teammates and labels. Then search for the customer by name, alias, email, phone number, or conversation ID.
Keep reading: Filter and search conversations in Inbox.
Assign clear ownership
Every conversation should have a clear owner when a person needs to respond.
Use assignments to decide who is responsible for the next reply. This keeps customers from waiting while multiple teammates assume someone else is handling the conversation.
When Assign to me appears at the top of an open conversation, you can use it to take responsibility for the next reply.
Keep reading: Assign conversations.
If the conversation was escalated by an AI agent, playbook, or route, also review AI handoff to Inbox.
Organize access, teams, and capacity
Roles define what each teammate can see and do. Teams group the people who can receive routed conversations, while Inbox capacity helps distribute work automatically among eligible teammates.
Configure access permissions and workload distribution according to each person’s responsibilities.
Keep reading: Team roles and permissions.
For routing and workload, read Teams and Inbox capacity.
Track response health
Response rules help teams understand which conversations are on track and which ones need faster attention.
Use response times when you want operational visibility across channels, teammates, and teams.
Keep reading: Response times and response rules.
To receive alerts for incoming messages, assignments, and mentions on a device, read Inbox browser notifications.
Admin and ownership tasks
Some team tasks affect account control rather than daily conversation handling. Keep ownership changes deliberate and limit them to the right administrator.
Keep reading: Transfer business ownership.
Replying with the message editor
When replying from the inbox, the editor’s available tools depend on the active channel and conversation context. Depending on the channel, you can use formatting, tracked links, personalization tags, and rich content.
In this WhatsApp example, the reply editor is empty below the history. Before typing, review the customer’s question and the conversation’s internal notes.
Keep reading: Message editor overview.
For website conversations, also review Webchat Widget playbook.
For social conversations, review Instagram DM fundamentals and Facebook Messenger fundamentals.
For marketplace post-sale conversations, review Connect Mercado Libre.
For satisfaction after closed conversations, also review CSAT Pulse playbook.
For loyalty feedback after delivered orders, also review NPS Pulse playbook.