#Inbox

#What it is

The Inbox is where every customer conversation lives, from every channel: WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Messenger, WeChat, SMS, email and your website chat. It is where your team reads what customers wrote, sees what the AI answered, and replies themselves when a person is needed.

#The problem it solves

Customers write on different apps, at different times, to a team of several people. Without one shared place:

• messages are spread across WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and your website;
• two people answer the same customer, or nobody does;
• nobody knows which customer has waited longest;
• a new agent cannot see what was said before;
• a conversation that is "waiting for the customer" or "to look at tomorrow" gets lost in the pile.

The Inbox puts all conversations in one list, shows who is handling each one, keeps the full history (including what the AI said), and lets you park a conversation without losing it.

#How it works

Every conversation has two separate pieces of information. Keeping them apart makes the Inbox easier to understand.

1. Who is answering (the handler):

Handler	Meaning
AI	The AI is answering this customer.
Human	A person is handling it. The AI stays quiet.
Closed	The conversation is finished.

A conversation starts with the AI. It moves to Human when the AI hands it over or when someone on your team takes it. It moves to Closed when someone closes it.

2. How far along it is (the status):

Status	Meaning
Open	Needs attention or is being worked on. This is the normal state.
Pending	You answered and you are waiting for something, for example the customer's reply or a check with another team.
Resolved	The question is answered.
Snoozed	Hidden until a time you choose. It comes back by itself.

Closing a conversation also marks it Resolved. If a customer writes again, a Pending, Resolved or Snoozed conversation comes back to Open automatically, so a new message is never missed.

#1. Finding conversations (List view)

The list on the left shows conversations, with the one that needs you most near the top. Each row shows the customer's name, the channel icon, the last message, the handler, the status, any labels, and how long the customer has been waiting.

#The filter tabs

Tab	Shows
All	Every conversation that is not snoozed.
AI-handled	Conversations the AI is answering, with no hand-over.
Needs human	Handed to a person, and someone is assigned.
Waiting	Handed to a person, but nobody has taken it yet. Start here.
Mine	Conversations assigned to you.
Unassigned	Conversations nobody is looking after.
Resolved	Conversations marked resolved.
Snoozed	Conversations you parked until later.
Closed	Finished conversations.

The number on each tab is how many conversations it holds. The tab you choose stays in the web address, so you can bookmark a view or share it with a teammate.

#Other ways to narrow the list

• Channel icons on the far left. Click a channel to see only its conversations. Each connected number or account has its own icon.
• All labels. Pick a label to see only the conversations that have it. See Labels.
• Sort by longest waiting. Puts the customer who has waited longest at the top.
• Blue dot. A conversation that needs attention: the customer wrote last, or the AI tried to answer and failed.

#2. Board view

Click Board to see the same conversations as columns: Waiting, AI, Human and Closed. The Human column has one box for each person on your team, so you can see who has how much.

Drag a card to change it. A drop does the same thing as the matching button:

• Drag to AI: gives the conversation back to the AI.
• Drag to a person in the Human column: assigns it to that person.
• Drag to Waiting: it needs a person, but nobody has it yet.
• Drag to Closed: closes it.

List and Board show the same conversations. A change in one shows in the other.

When to use which: use the List to work through conversations one by one. Use the Board to see the whole team's workload at a glance.

#3. Reading and replying

Click a conversation to open it. Messages from the customer are on one side. Replies from the AI and from your team are on the other, with a label showing who sent each. Above the messages there are three tabs:

• Messages: the conversation itself.
• Notes: private notes from your team. See Notes.
• Activity: a history of what happened to the conversation: who took it, who assigned it, status changes, snoozes, labels added or removed, and escalations. It answers "who did what, and when".

To reply, type in the box and click Send (or press Enter; Shift+Enter starts a new line). Next to the box you can:

• Attach an image from your computer.
• Attach from the media library to reuse a picture you uploaded before. See Media Library.
• Share a product (only when you have connected an online store). See Share a product.
• Add an emoji.
• Reply to one specific message, so the customer sees which message you are answering.

Under a message that failed to send, the reason is shown in red, for example an expired access token.

On an SMS conversation, a small counter under the box shows how many characters and how many text parts your message uses, because each part is billed by your SMS provider. See SMS.

#When the reply window is closed

WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger only let you send free text within 24 hours of the customer's last message (WeChat: 48 hours). After that, the message box is replaced by an amber notice, and a list of your approved message templates appears instead.

• Pick a template and send it. If it has blanks, fill them in.
• If the customer answers, the window opens again and you can type freely.
• The server enforces this rule, so free text cannot be sent by mistake.

A marketing template needs the customer to have agreed to marketing messages. A utility template (for example an order update) can be sent to someone who has been talking to you. See WhatsApp Templates.

#Voice notes

When a customer sends a voice note (WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger or Instagram), the Inbox shows a small audio player so you can listen, and the words below it. The AI listens first, writes down what was said and answers that text from your knowledge base like any typed question.

• If voice notes are off, too long (about five minutes) or the provider is unavailable, the message shows Voice note — not transcribed, the audio stays playable, and the customer is asked to type their question.
• Audio is kept for the same time as photos and is deleted with them.
• The Owner chooses who listens under Settings → AI → Voice notes. Only OpenAI and Google Gemini can transcribe.

#4. Taking over from the AI

• Take over stops the AI for this conversation and assigns it to you. Everything you send goes out as you.
• Release to AI gives it back. The AI answers the next message.
• Assign to… gives it to a teammate. Choose Unassigned to put it back in Waiting.
• Close ends the conversation.

The AI never talks over a person. Once a conversation is in Human, the AI stays quiet until it is released.

If your number is also used in the WhatsApp Business app (Coexistence), a message you type on the phone shows here as From the phone app. It counts as a person's reply, and the AI stays quiet on that conversation for 12 hours.

For the rules that decide when the AI hands over on its own, see Handing Over to a Person.

#5. Status and snooze

Under the customer's name there is a status menu (Open, Pending, Resolved) and a Snooze button.

What snooze is. A way to say "not now, remind me later" without closing the conversation.

The problem it solves. Some conversations cannot be finished today: you are waiting for a parcel to arrive, or the customer said "write me on Monday". Leaving them in the list clutters it, and closing them risks forgetting them.

How it works.

1. Click Snooze.
2. Choose Later today, Tomorrow (9:00 AM), Next week (Monday 9:00 AM), or set your own date and time.
3. The conversation leaves every list except Snoozed.
4. At that time, it comes back by itself, as Open. If the customer writes before then, it comes back at once.

Times follow your workspace time zone (Settings, Workspace). A snoozed conversation can still be handed over by the AI's rules, so an angry message never stays hidden.

#6. Labels

What they are. Coloured tags on a conversation, such as Billing, Urgent or Refund.

The problem they solve. Your team needs to sort conversations by topic and find them again. Labels do that without changing who handles them.

How to use them.

1. Admins create labels first under Inbox, Labels in the sidebar (a name and a colour).
2. In a conversation, click Labels and tick the ones that fit. Anyone on the team can do this.
3. In the list, use All labels to show only one label. Labels also appear as coloured chips in each row.

Labels are different from the tags on a contact. A label describes this conversation. A tag describes the person. See Contacts.

#7. Starting a conversation yourself

Click New above the list to write first, for example to follow up on an order.

1. Who? Search your contacts, or pick a channel under Or write to someone new. The fields below it follow the channel: a phone number for WhatsApp, an email address for email.
2. What to say. If the 24-hour window is closed (it nearly always is for someone who has not written to you), choose an approved template. Otherwise write a normal message.

You can start a conversation from a WhatsApp number or an email channel. For email, choose an email channel, type the address, then write a subject and the message. There is no reply window to worry about, and no template. You cannot email someone who unsubscribed or whose address bounced. On the other channels, the person has to write to you first.

#8. Notes for your team

What it is. A message written inside the conversation that only your team can see.

The problem it solves. Agents need to leave information for each other, such as "Customer is waiting for a refund, checked with finance". Without notes, that goes in a separate chat app and gets lost.

How to use it.

1. In the reply box, switch from Reply to Note.
2. Type your note. Type @ and a teammate's name to mention them.
3. Click Add note.

The note appears with an amber background and the writer's name, in the Notes tab and in the messages. The mentioned person gets a notification in the bell at the top and, if they chose it, an email, with a link to the conversation.

A note is never sent to the customer and is never shown to the AI. It does not count as a reply, so it does not stop the waiting timer.

#9. Saved replies

What it is. A ready-made answer you can insert by typing a short code.

The problem it solves. Agents type the same answers many times a day: opening hours, return steps, bank details. This is slow, and each person words it differently.

How to use it.

1. In the reply box, type / .
2. A list of saved replies appears. Keep typing to search, then pick one.
3. The text is placed in the box. Edit it if you need to, then send.

How to create them (Admins).

1. Go to Inbox, Saved replies in the sidebar and click New reply.
2. Enter a Shortcut (what you type after /, such as hours; lowercase letters, numbers, dashes and underscores only), a Title and the Reply text.
3. Save.

Using the customer's details. A saved reply can fill in details by itself:

You write	It becomes
{{contact.name}}	The customer's name
{{contact.phone}}	Their phone number
{{contact.email}}	Their email
{{agent.name}}	Your name
{{contact.city}}	Any of your own contact fields, by its name

If a detail is missing for this customer, the code is left as written, for example {{contact.city}}. This is on purpose, so you notice and fix it before sending.

#10. Seeing who else is there

When a teammate has the same conversation open, a bar above the messages says so, for example "Sara is viewing" or "Sara is typing…".

This stops two people answering the same customer at once. It updates every few seconds and only shows people in your workspace.

#11. Waiting times

What it is. A red badge such as waiting 12 min on a conversation a person is handling. It shows how long the customer's first unanswered message has been waiting.

The problem it solves. In a busy Inbox, it is easy to miss that one customer has waited an hour while newer messages got answered.

How it works.

• The timer starts when the customer writes and no person has answered.
• A reply from your team clears it. A note does not.
• Sort by longest waiting puts the longest waits first.

Getting an alert. Under Settings, Workspace, set Alert when a customer has waited to a number of minutes. When a customer waits that long, the person handling the conversation is told. If nobody is assigned, the whole team is. Each wait alerts once. Leave the field empty for no alerts. This number is also the target used by the Inbox performance report.

#12. The contact panel

Click the panel button at the top of a conversation to open the details of the person you are talking to:

• name and email, which you can correct on the spot;
• tags, groups and your own contact fields;
• Orders: their latest orders from your connected store, each linking to the order page, with its fulfilment, payment and how long ago it was placed;
• Left in their cart: carts they started and did not finish, with the cart link;
• the lead forms they filled in, with their answers;
• their earlier conversations;
• View full profile (Admins), which opens the person's contact profile.

Orders and carts are matched to the person by their phone number or email, and only ever show their own. Whether someone agreed to marketing messages is shown on the profile and managed on the Contacts page.

#13. Share a product

What it is. A button (a small shopping bag) in the reply box that sends a product from your online store.

The problem it solves. A customer asks "do you have this in blue?" or "send me the link". Searching the shop, copying the picture, the price and the link takes time.

How it works.

1. Click the shopping-bag button. It only appears when your plan includes e-commerce and a store is connected. See Online Stores.
2. Search by product name or SKU.
3. Click Send. The customer gets the picture with the name, the price and the link underneath.

It follows the same rules as any message: it needs an open reply window on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. If a picture cannot be fetched safely, the message still goes out as text.

#14. Draft with AI

What it is. A button that writes a suggested reply for you.

The problem it solves. When a person has taken over, they still often need facts from the knowledge base. Looking them up and typing them out takes time.

How it works.

1. Open a conversation that a person is handling.
2. Click Draft with AI.
3. The AI writes the answer it would give to the customer's last message, using your knowledge base, and puts it in the reply box.
4. Read it, change what you want, and send.

Nothing is sent until you click Send. If your knowledge base has nothing on the question, you are told, and the text is only a placeholder. Drafts use your AI allowance like any AI answer.

#15. Deals and where a conversation came from

• Above the messages, Create deal opens a sales opportunity linked to this customer. Their recent deals are listed next to it. See Deals.
• If the customer arrived through one of your WhatsApp links, the conversation shows which link.

#16. Sources and feedback

Under each AI reply, Sources shows what the answer was based on, and the thumbs let you mark it good or bad. See Answer Review.

#Use it on your phone

You can install the app on your phone or computer, so it opens full-screen with its own icon and tells you when a customer writes.

• Android (Chrome) and desktop (Chrome, Edge): open the menu under your name and press Install app.
• iPhone (Safari): tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Open the app from the home screen. Notifications on an iPhone only work this way, on iOS 16.4 or newer.
• Notifications: go to Settings → Notifications, turn on On this device and allow notifications when your browser asks. Press Send a test to check. In the table, tick Browser for the events you want. By default you get one when a customer writes in a conversation assigned to you and when a teammate mentions you.
• The unread count shows on the app icon where your phone allows it.
• The app needs a connection. Offline, it shows a short page and tries again when you are back online.

The icon and name are your own: the platform owner sets them in Site Settings.

#17. Opt-out words

If a customer writes exactly STOP (or unsubscribe, cancel, end, quit), Threadline records that they do not want marketing messages on that channel. They can write START to agree again. This never stops normal replies in a conversation they started. See Contacts.

#Good to know

• Admins and Agents both see all conversations in the workspace.
• Closing a conversation does not delete it. Find it under Closed.
• A customer writing again after a close starts a fresh conversation with the AI; the old one stays in their history.
• Changing the status, snoozing, adding labels and assigning are all recorded in the Activity tab.

#Common questions

A customer wrote but the AI did not answer. The conversation may be in Human, where the AI stays quiet. If it is in AI, see Troubleshooting.

I took over by mistake. Click Release to AI.

Can the customer see my notes? No. Notes are for your team only.

The saved reply still shows {{contact.name}}. That customer has no name saved. Add it in the contact panel, or type the name yourself.

Where did my snoozed conversation go? Open the Snoozed tab. It returns to the list at the time you chose, or when the customer writes.

Why can I only choose a template? The reply window is closed. The customer has not written for more than 24 hours (48 on WeChat).

I do not see Share a product. Your plan needs the e-commerce feature and a connected store with products.