The Inbox is where ongoing conversations live. Your agent handles them on its own, and you only open the Inbox when you want to watch, or take over.
For conversations that are already finished, use Conversation Histories instead.
Before you start
- You need at least one agent on a message channel — WhatsApp, widget, Instagram or Messenger. See Agents.
- A conversation appears the moment a customer writes; there is nothing to create here yourself.
Steps
- 1
Find the conversation
The list is on the left. Search by text, or use Filters to narrow by Platform and Agent. Each row carries a badge showing who is answering right now — AI or Human.
An indicator shows whether the list is updating Live or by Polling. Either way it refreshes itself; you do not need to reload the page.
The Inbox list with its filters - 2
Read the thread
Click a row and the full history opens on the right, every message labelled as the customer, your agent, or a teammate. Messages sent from a WhatsApp template are marked with a green Template badge.
A conversation thread - 3
Take control before replying
You cannot type while the AI is in control — the composer shows Take control to reply to this conversation. Click Take Control and the agent stops answering.
While you hold control the agent stays silent. When you are done, click Give to AI — if you forget, that customer's next message goes unanswered.
The Take Control button - 4
Write your reply
The composer is at the bottom. Enter sends.
On WhatsApp you can only reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that an amber warning replaces the composer and you must wait for the customer to write again — or reach them with a WhatsApp Business template.
The composer
Good to know
- The composer is missing entirely — your role lacks the
update inboxpermission. Ask an administrator. - Taking control does not end the conversation. It is a handover, and you can hand it back at any point.
- The Inbox only covers message channels. Live phone calls are not shown here; their transcripts appear in Conversation Histories once the call ends.