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Conversations Inbox

Learn how to read and utilize your Conversations inbox.

Michael Stephenson avatar
Written by Michael Stephenson
Updated over a week ago

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

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.
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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

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

Person/Silhouette

You are the assignee of this conversation

Envelope

The channel is an email

Chat Bubble

The channel is messenger (live chat)

Mobile Phone

The channel is SMS

Telephone Receiver

The channel is an in-app call

Chatbot

Boltbot participated in the conversation

Lock

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)


Searching Conversations

  • To search for conversations, click the magnifying glass icon above the inbox.
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Filtering Conversations

Filters applied to the conversations inbox remain active even after you navigate away from the page, ensuring a seamless experience when you return.

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

  • Bolt Assistant (Participation)

  • Bolt Assistant (Handoff)

  • With Person

  • Participation (You)

  • 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

  • Privacy

  • Conversation Flagged

  • Blocked for External Participant by Moderation

  • Time

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.
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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

  • 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.

WhatsApp

  • 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.


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