Released: September 3, 2025
This release transforms Messenger into a more powerful recruitment channel with the introduction of a control for Anonymous Conversations. You can now require visitors to authenticate with their email before starting a chat, turning Messenger into a reliable source of inquiries with verified contact information.
Alongside this major change, we’ve added new Bolt Agent settings for greater customization in messenger and expanded our real-time voice experience with an upgraded model and new multilingual voices.
Anonymous Conversations for Messenger
You can now control how visitors begin a chat. Choose whether they can start conversations anonymously or must first provide their email. If they haven’t shared their information yet, they’ll see a short form that quickly captures their details and turns them into inquiries before the chat begins.
New Setting: Allow Anonymous Conversations is now available in your Messenger settings (Conversation Settings → Messenger).
Previously, anonymous conversations in Messenger were always allowed. To maintain this experience, the new setting is enabled by default, allowing visitors to still start chatting without needing to identify themselves.
You now have the option to disable this setting, which requires authentication with an email before chatting.
Authentication Process for Anonymous Conversations: When Allow Anonymous Conversations is disabled, visitors go through the following flow:
The visitor enters their email address.
Element451 sends a verification code to the email address.
The visitor enters the code to confirm the email.
When the email matches an existing contact record:
If no Prospect or Application milestone exists for the contact, they are presented with a short lead capture form. Upon completion, they will receive a Prospect milestone.
The contact is linked to their record, and their past chat history is displayed.
When the email does not match a record:
The visitor completes a short lead capture form.
A new contact record is created and assigned a Prospect Milestone.
The contact can begin a new Messenger conversation.
Response Style for Bolt Agents in Messenger
Customize how each individual Bolt Agent responds in Messenger chats with a new "Response Style" setting.
Limit by Email + SMS for Bolt Agents
Restrict Bolt Agent replies to specific email addresses or phone numbers within your conversation inbox.
Real-Time Voice Upgrade
Updated to the latest OpenAI real-time voice model.
Added two new multilingual voices: Marin and Cedar, each supporting 20+ languages.
Stronger Inquiry Capture in Messenger: By requiring authentication, every conversation begins with a verified email and basic student information. This transforms Messenger into a reliable inquiry channel, providing you with powerful data (such as intended major and term) to personalize future outreach.
Customizable Agent Engagement: New Bolt Agent settings enable you to define response styles and restrict where agents can reply, providing more control over how and where they interact with students.
Richer Real-Time Voice Interactions: An improved voice model, powered by OpenAI and featuring expanded multilingual voices, creates a more engaging and accessible experience for diverse audiences.
