Overview
The Conversations module’s left panel serves as your inbox, displaying all conversations from all channels in one centralized location. It includes powerful tools to help you stay organized and streamline your workflow.
Key Features
Unified Inbox: Displays conversations from all channels (SMS, email, etc.)
Search + Filter: Quickly find conversations using flexible filters and search functionality.
Custom + System Views: Create custom views to save pre-configured filters for quick access, or use preset system views to organize conversations efficiently.
At-a-Glance Indicators: Use intuitive formatting and icons to quickly assess conversation status, participants, and channels.
Persistent Filters: Keep selected filters and views active even after navigating away for seamless continuity.
This article will guide you through these features, helping you customize and manage your inbox for maximum efficiency.
Conversation Inbox Indicators and Markings
Conversation Preview
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/not 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
Text Styling/Icon | Description |
Bolded Name | Unread conversation |
Gray Background | Conversation has at least one participant, or the participant is unknown |
Blue Background | The conversation is currently being viewed |
Red Background | The conversation was flagged with the 'alert' type by content moderation |
Yellow Background | The conversation was flagged with the 'warning' type by content moderation |
| You are the assignee of this conversation |
| The channel is an email |
| The channel is messenger (live chat) |
| The channel is SMS |
| The channel is an in-app call |
| Boltbot participated in the conversation |
| This conversation is private (only the author, participants, and assignee can see it) |
🟢 Green Circle | The external participant is online (appears next to the picture) |
Person/Silhouette
Envelope
Chat Bubble
Mobile Phone
Telephone Receiver
Chatbot
LockSearching Conversations
To search for conversations, click the magnifying glass icon above the inbox.
Filtering + Views
The Conversations module allows you to apply filters to streamline your inbox and organize conversations based on your workflow. Filters are accessible through two primary tools:
Views (Preset Filters): Click “Select View” to activate the dropdown menu to choose a preset System View or a saved Custom View.
Advanced Filters: Click the funnel icon to access advanced filtering options or create and edit Custom Views.
Filters and views applied to the conversations inbox remain active even after you navigate away from the page, ensuring a seamless experience when you return.
System Views
System Views
System Views are preset filters provided by Element451 that cannot be changed or deleted. System Views appear under their own heading in the dropdown menu below Custom Views. They provide quick, standardized ways to organize your inbox:
Assigned to Me: Displays all conversations assigned to you.
Assigned to Me & Open: Displays only open conversations assigned to you.
Assigned to My Team: Displays all conversations assigned to your primary team.
Assigned to My Team & Open: Displays only open conversations assigned to your primary team.
Bolt Assistant Handoff: Displays conversations handed off from the Bolt Assistant.
Bolt Assistant Participated: Displays conversations where the Bolt Assistant participated.
Closed: Displays conversations that have been closed.
Favorite: Displays conversations you’ve marked as favorites.
No Reply: Displays conversations where the external participant was the last to reply.
Open: Displays conversations that are currently open.
Participating: Displays conversations where you are a participant.
Phone Calls: Displays in-app calls.
This Week: Displays conversations from the last seven days.
Custom Views
Custom Views
Custom Views are personalized, saved views based on filters you define, allowing you to access conversations tailored to your specific needs and workflows quickly.
For a detailed guide on creating and managing Custom Views, visit our Custom Views article.
Advanced Filtering
Advanced Filtering
The Advanced Filter Sidesheet is accessible by clicking the funnel icon in your inbox. This tool allows you to apply filters to conversations with or without a view selected.
Without a View Selected
Apply filters directly to your inbox on an ad-hoc basis without saving them.
If you want to save your applied filters as a new view, use the Conversation Views card at the bottom of the side sheet to configure and save the settings. Refer to the Custom Views section above for detailed instructions.
With a View Selected
When a view is selected, its filters are automatically applied to your inbox. Adjust the filters as needed, and follow these guidelines based on the type of view selected:
Custom View Selected
Adjust the filters if needed, and then choose one of two options:
Do Not Save Changes: To apply the updated filters without saving them to the view, click Apply Filters in the top-right corner of the sidesheet.
Save Changes to the View: To update the view with the adjusted filters, click the Update Conversation View button at the bottom of the side sheet.
System View Selected
Since System Views cannot be changed, you can still adjust the filters to build upon the existing ones, but these changes cannot be saved back to the System View.
To save your changes, create a new Custom View using the Conversation Views card at the bottom of the side sheet to configure and save the new view with your updated filters.
Filter Options
Filter Options
When applying filters to your inbox or creating/editing custom views, you can apply one or more of the following filters to customize your inbox view:
Assigned To
Filter conversations based on the assigned individual(s) or team(s).
Select Person
Supports multiple selections—individuals, teams, or a combination.
When adding multiple selections, the filter applies OR logic (e.g., conversations assigned to any of the selected individual(s) or team(s).
Status
Filter conversations based on their current status.
Open: Show conversations that are actively being worked on.
Closed: Show conversations that have been resolved or marked as completed.
Bolt Assistant (Participation)
Filter conversations based on the Bolt Assistant’s involvement.
Participated
Not Participated
Bolt Assistant (Handoff)
Filter conversations where the Bolt Assistant handed off to a human.
Handoff
With Person
Filter by specific external participants.
Select Person
Participation
Filter conversations based on your participation.
Participating
Not Participating
No Reply
Show conversations where the external participant was the last to reply.
No Reply
Pro Tip: The no reply filter is often combined with the open status filter to ensure 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
Filter conversations based on whether the external participant is anonymous.
Anonymous
Not Anonymous
With Tag(s)
Filter by specific tags applied to conversations.
Select Tags
Type (Channel)
Filter conversations by channel type.
Email
Messenger
SMS
WhatsApp
Phone Call
Favorite
Filter conversations marked or not marked as favorites.
Favorite
Not Favorite
Attachments
Filter conversations based on the presence of file attachments.
With Attachments
No Attachments
Privacy
Filter conversations based on their privacy status.
Private
Public
Conversation Flagged
Filter conversations flagged by moderation.
Flagged
Not Flagged
Blocked for External Participant by Moderation
Filter conversations blocked for external participants.
Blocked
Not Blocked
Time
Filter conversations based on the time of the last message sent or received.
Today
Yesterday
This Week
Last 7 Days
his Month
Last 30 Days
These filters can be combined for a highly tailored view of your conversations, whether you’re using them ad-hoc or as part of a saved custom view.
To track active conversations, filter open/closed conversations.
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
By default, to prevent spam, only inbound messages from known senders will be directed to Conversations, creating a new thread. You can, however, enable anonymous conversations by navigating to Conversations Settings > SMS.
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.
Messenger (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 Messenger but starts a new conversation from the messenger widget, it will create a new thread.
If this is the student's first time using Messenger, a new thread will be created.
Visitors using Messenger 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.
By default, to prevent spam, only inbound emails from known senders will be directed to Conversations, creating a new thread. You can, however, enable anonymous conversations by navigating to Conversations Settings > Email.
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, one of the following actions must happen:
You must use a template to send an outbound message
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.