Overview
The Conversations module's left panel displays an inbox, or list, of all conversations from all channels with search and filter functionality. Each thread, or box, provides at-a-glance information about the specific conversation using formatting and icons.
A Guide to Conversation Inbox Indicators and Markings
External Participant's Name: Displays the external participant's name
If the identity of the conversation's external participant cannot be determined, the name will be "Unknown Visitor."
If the name is bold, it is an unread conversation
Last Message Preview: Displays a preview of the last message sent or received. The sender's name will also be listed if the last message was sent from an internal user.
Tags: If the conversation has any tags, those will display as chips.
Profile Picture:
Picture = The external participant has been associated with a user record
Initials = The external participant has been associated with a user record but has no profile picture.
Person Icon = Unknown visitor/have not been associated with a user record
Time Since Last Message: The time since the last message was sent or received is displayed in m (minutes), h (hours), d (days), M (months), or Y (years).
Formatting + Icons:
Bolded Name: Unread conversation
Gray Background: Conversations that have at least one participant
Blue Background: Conversation currently being viewed
👤 Person Icon: Conversations in which you are the assignee
✉️ Envelope Icon: The conversation is an email
💬 Chat Bubble Icon: The conversation is live chat
📱Mobile Phone Icon: The conversation is SMS
📞 Telephone Receiver Icon: The conversation is an In-App Call
🟢 Green Circle: The external participant is online (appears next to the picture)
Search Conversations
To search for conversations, use the magnifying glass above the inbox.
Filter Conversations
Preset Filters
By clicking Inbox, you can quickly filter the inbox using preset filters. You can select a filter from the list to display only those conversations:
Inbox: Displays all conversations
Assigned to Me: Displays open and closed conversations assigned to you
Assigned to Me & Open: Displays open conversations assigned to you
Assigned to My Team: Displays open and closed conversations assigned to your primary team
Assigned to My Team & Open: Displays open conversations assigned to your primary team
Participating: Displays open and closed conversations in which you are a participant
Open: Displays conversations that are currently open
Closed: Displays conversations that have been closed
Favorite: Displays conversations you have marked as a favorite
This Week: Displays conversations for the last seven days
No Reply: Displays conversations where the external participant was the last to reply
Phone Calls: Displays phone calls (in-app calling user only)
Chatbot Handoff: Displays conversations where the Chatbot handed the conversation off to your human staff
Chatbot Participated: Displays conversations where the Chatbot participated in the conversation
Advanced Filtering
To see additional filtering options, click on the funnel. This feature will narrow your search even more; you can select from the following filters:
Assigned To
Status
Chatbot Participation
Chatbot Handoff
With Person
Your Participation
No reply
No reply is the display of messages where the external participant was the last one to reply. This is often used in combination with the "Status = Open" filter to ensure that only active conversations are included in the results. This way, conversations that have already been closed and where the student had the last word are excluded.
Anonymous
With Tag(s)
Type (channel)
Favorite
Attachments
Time
💡Tip: To track active conversations, filter open/closed conversations in your conversation listings.
Bulk Actions - Delete, Close, Favorite/Unfavorite
You can use the checkbox to perform the following bulk actions:
Delete
Close
Add to favorites
Remove from favorites
Once you check the box, you can uncheck the conversations you want to exempt from your bulk action.
Conversation Threading
When messages are grouped together within a single conversation, we refer to it as a thread. It is important to understand how we sync messages.
SMS
To prevent spam, only inbound messages from known senders will be directed to Conversations, creating a new thread.
SMS messages are grouped into threads based on the phone numbers of the sender and the recipient. This means that if the student's mobile number and your outbound number in Element451 remain the same, all SMS messages exchanged between you and that student will appear as a single conversation, regardless of who from your team is communicating with the student.
If your institution has multiple outbound numbers, messages will be grouped into separate threads based on the outbound number used for each student.
If you have previously communicated with a student, closed the conversation, and the student subsequently sends another text message, that conversation is reopened with the retained conversation history.
Live Chat
When a student reopens an old conversation from the messenger widget, the corresponding thread in your inbox will also be reopened.
If a student has previously used live chat but starts a new conversation from the messenger widget, it will create a new thread.
If this is the student's first time using live chat, a new thread will be created.
Visitors using live chat that have not been associated with a person record in your Element451 instance (Unknown Visitors) will create new threads.
Email conversations are organized into threads based on email address and subject, replicating a typical email inbox.
To prevent spam, only inbound messages from known senders will be directed to Conversations, creating a new thread.
WhatsApp messages will be in one continuous thread, similar to SMS.
After 24 hours, conversations are automatically closed.
To reopen a conversation after the 24-hour period has ended:
You must use a template to send an outbound message, or
The student must initiate a new conversation
Connecting Shared Email Inboxes + Forwarding
You can connect your individual or shared team email (Google or Outlook) to your Element451 Conversations inbox for centralized message management. This enables all emails sent to your email by an email address associated with a user's record in Element451 to be added to your Inbox.
For more information on connecting group email accounts and setting up email forwarding, click here.