# Conversation Workbench
| Item | Content |
|—|—|
| Suitable for | Agents, Administrators |
| Menu location | Left **Conversations** |
| Plan dependency | None (some sidebar capabilities such as SLAs and Shopify orders depend on the plan and integrations) |
A conversation is a dialogue between a customer and your company. All channels (website, email, WhatsApp, etc.) ultimately end up here.
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## 1. How to slice the left-hand list
Under **Sessions**, there are multiple entry points:
| Entry point | What you see |
|—|—|
| All conversations | All conversations you have permission to access |
| Mentions | Conversations where someone @mentioned you |
| Participating | Conversations you are participating in |
| Unattended | Conversations that no agent has actually taken over yet |
| Folders | Custom filters saved by you or your team (e.g. ‘VIP + Opened’) |
| Team | Conversations assigned to a team |
| Channel | Conversations under a specific inbox (website, email…) |
| Tag | Conversations tagged with a specific tag |
The list can be filtered by status, assignee, and sort order. Whether the unread badge appears depends on whether unread counts are enabled for the workspace.
### 1.1 Session State
| Status | Meaning | Typical Usage |
|—|—|—|
| Open | In progress, needs follow-up | Currently chatting, awaiting your reply |
| Pending | Awaiting bot / Captain / customer | Assistant is replying automatically; or you explicitly marked it as pending |
| Handle later (Snoozed) | Temporarily left the queue | Agreed to follow up in the afternoon; will return at the scheduled time or when the customer speaks again |
| Resolved | Session ended | Question answered; if the customer sends another message, it will usually reopen |
New conversations from blocked contacts will go directly to Resolved and will not reopen automatically.
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## 2. After opening a conversation
In the centre is the message stream, at the bottom is the editor, and on the right are contact and conversation details.
### 2.1 Understanding Messages
– **Customer messages**: Inbound.
– **Replies from you or a colleague**: Outbound, sent to the original channel (website widget, email, WhatsApp, etc.).
– **Private notes**: For internal use only; not visible to customers. Ideal for noting things like ‘Refund agreed’, ‘Emotionally agitated’, etc.
– **Activity log**: automatically generated by the system, such as ‘Zhang San resolved’, ‘Tag added’, etc.
– **Failed outbound**: Marked as failed when rejected by the channel or due to a network failure. You can retry following the on-screen prompts (depending on the channel).
Channels such as WhatsApp have a **24-hour session window**: once a customer’s last interaction exceeds this window, you cannot send regular messages at will and must use approved **templates**. See [Quick replies and templates](./20-canned-responses-and-templates/).
### 2.2 Write a reply
1. Type text in the input box, and insert emojis and attachments (there is a limit on the number of attachments per message).
2. Type `/` to invoke [Quick Replies](./20-canned-responses-and-templates/).
3. When you need to discuss internally, switch to **Private Note** before sending.
4. Select the send shortcut in your profile: `Enter` or `Ctrl/⌘ + Enter`.
5. If a personal signature is enabled, it will follow the messages you send (website, email, and API channels support illustrations in signatures).
6. Voice notes: If recording is enabled in the workspace, you can record and send a voice note (depending on whether the channel supports it).
7. Captain Tasks (if enabled): Allows the AI to **rewrite, summarise, or suggest replies**, which are sent after your confirmation. See [Captain](./7-captain-assistant).
In the email channel, you can also edit email fields such as the subject and CC (subject to what is displayed in the editor).
### 2.3 Session Actions (Title Bar / More Menu)
| Action | Description |
|—|—|
| Resolve / Reopen | End the current session or resume when the customer returns |
| Snooze | Select tomorrow, next week, next customer reply, or a custom time |
| Assignment | Assigned to an agent or team; mutually exclusive with the bot owner |
| Priority | Low / Medium / High / Urgent |
| Tags | Multi-select, used for reporting and automation |
| Participants | Add colleagues to this conversation, and they will see it under ‘Participating’ |
| Mute | Resolves the conversation and **blocks the contact**, after which inbound messages from this customer will no longer automatically reopen it. Please proceed with caution. |
| Translation / Other tools | Depends on workspace features |
Bulk actions: Select multiple conversations in the list to assign, resolve, tag, etc. in bulk (subject to the actions provided in the interface).
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## 3. Right sidebar
Draggable section order. Common blocks:
| Block | Purpose |
|—|—|
| Contacts | Name, email, phone, social profiles; open full contact page |
| Conversation Information | Channel, ID, Creation Time, SLA Status |
| Contact properties | Custom fields, such as membership level |
| Past conversations | Conversation history for the same contact |
| Macro | Execute a set of actions with a single click; see [Macros](./19-macros) |
| Shared Files | Attachments sent in this chat; you can jump back to the original message |
| Contact notes | Saved to the contact, visible across all conversations |
| Linear / Shopify etc. | Only appears when the corresponding integration is connected |
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## 4. Auto-assignment, Captains and Bots
When a new session comes in, the following may happen:
1. **Captain or Agent Bot takes over**: Conversations are often ‘Pending’, with the assistant answering first; if unresolved, it will **transfer to a human agent** (removing the bot assignee and changing to Open).
2. **Enable inbox auto-assignment**: Distribute open conversations to online agents via round-robin / load balancing.
3. **Unclaimed**: Remains in Unassigned and appears in ‘Unattended’; colleagues on duty, please claim.
Once you become the person in charge, new customer messages will trigger notifications according to your notification settings.
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## 5. Folders (Customised Views)
Once you have set up filters in the conversation list (e.g. Status = Open, Tag = VIP, a specific inbox), you can **save as a folder**, which will appear under ‘Folders’ in the sidebar. Ideal for duty desks: ‘My unresolved’, ‘Email backlog’, etc.
Folders are filter shortcuts and do not duplicate chats. Deleting a folder does not delete the chats.
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## 6. Initiate a conversation
The **Compose / New conversation** option near the sidebar allows you to proactively start a chat with a contact (which channels can be used depends on whether the contact has an established identity in the corresponding inbox, as well as channel rules, such as WhatsApp templates).
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## 7. Frequently Asked Questions
**Replied, but the customer hasn’t received it?**
Check whether outbound messages have failed. For website channels, confirm that the customer’s page still has the widget open; for emails, check the spam folder and sending domain; for WhatsApp, check the 24-hour window and template status.
**Why is the session still pending?**
Captain / Bot or assignee. Transfer to a human agent or manually change the assignee to yourself.
**Customer replies after resolution?**
It will usually reopen automatically. If the contact is muted / blocked, it will not.
**Changed the widget position, but it hasn’t updated on the customer’s end?**
The bubble position is defined in the embedded script on the website, so you must paste the new script back onto the website. See [Channels and Inboxes](./12-channels-and-inboxes).
**Unable to send attachments?**
Check the storage quota, the number of attachments per message, and whether the channel permits the file type.
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## Related documents
– [My Inbox](./my-inbox)
– [Contacts](./5-contacts)
– [Channels and Inbox](./12-channels-and-inboxes)
– [Automation](./18-automation)
– [Captain AI Assistant](./7-captain-assistant)