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The Live Chat inbox

Written by , Founder, AskVault · Reviewed by Aashiq
Last updated: · 5 min read

What the Live Chat inbox is for

When the bot escalates (or an agent claims an open conversation), it lands in the Live Chat inbox. From here your team takes over. One unified interface for every channel.

Three core uses:

  1. Real-time handoff from the bot. Bot escalates, agent picks up within 30 to 60 seconds, customer keeps chatting through their original channel.
  2. Manual reply during outage moments. Bot is paused (maintenance, your call) and your team handles replies manually.
  3. Proactive outreach. Open a conversation with a customer who didn't initiate, e.g., responding to a webhook event.

Available on Growth and above. Growth+

What you see in the inbox

The default view shows open and escalated conversations sorted by most-recent activity. Each row carries:

  • Customer email or anonymous ID.
  • Channel icon (widget, WhatsApp, Slack, etc.).
  • Status badge (Open, Escalated, Claimed, Snoozed).
  • Last message preview truncated to about 80 characters.
  • Tags as colored chips.
  • SLA state if a policy applies.
  • Assigned agent if claimed.

Click any row to open the conversation in full view.

Claim flow

Two paths to claim:

  • Click Claim in the conversation header. Conversation moves from open or escalated to claimed. Your name shows in the header.
  • Bulk claim. Multi-select multiple conversations, then apply Claim. Useful for assigning yourself a batch of similar conversations.

Once claimed:

  • Bot stops auto-responding.
  • Your replies flow back through the customer's original channel.
  • Other team members see your name as the assignee; they avoid stepping on the conversation.

To release a claimed conversation, click Release in the header. Conversation returns to the open pool.

Reply UX

The reply composer supports:

  • Plain text typed into the composer.
  • Markdown formatting (bold, italic, lists, code blocks).
  • Canned responses via the slash menu (/welcome, /refund-policy, etc.).
  • File attachments up to 10 MB each.
  • Internal notes as agent-only annotations (toggle the Note mode).

Send with Cmd/Ctrl+Enter. The reply appears in the customer's channel within about 2 seconds.

Channel-specific behavior

The inbox abstracts channel differences but a few specifics matter:

  • Widget. Real-time. Customer sees a typing indicator from the human.
  • WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord. Customer sees the reply in their app. Read receipts work where the channel supports them.
  • Email. Reply sends as an email back to the customer. Subject line preserves the original thread.
  • Voice. Transcribed reply turns into spoken text via TTS. Only available during active calls.
  • SMS. Replies sent via your Twilio number. 160-character segments auto-split.

For all channels, the customer's experience is consistent with what they expect from that channel. They don't need to know there's an inbox behind the scenes.

Filters and saved views

The inbox supports filtering by:

  • Status. Open, claimed, escalated, snoozed, resolved, archived.
  • Channel. Filter to a single channel or a set.
  • Tags. Single tag or AND/OR combinations.
  • Assignee. "Me", a specific agent, or unassigned.
  • SLA state. In-compliance, at-risk, breached.
  • Date range. Last 24 hours, last 7 days, custom.

Save filter combinations as saved views. Useful for specialized queues (Billing team's view, At-risk customers view).

Real-time updates

The inbox auto-refreshes every 10 seconds. Three update modes:

  • Auto-refresh (default). Updates land in the view as they happen. Unread badges increment in real time.
  • Manual refresh. Click refresh to pull latest. Useful for high-volume views where auto-shifting feels jumpy.
  • Notifications. Slack or email alerts for new escalations.

Configure under Settings > Inbox > Refresh Mode and Settings > Notifications.

Multi-agent coordination

For teams with multiple agents on the inbox:

  • Assignment shows in real-time. Two agents looking at the same view see each other's claims.
  • Conflict detection. If two agents try to claim the same conversation within 1 second of each other, the second gets a notification and the first wins.
  • Typing indicators between agents. If your teammate is composing a reply, you see "Sarah is typing" in the conversation view.
  • Internal mentions. @-mention teammates in internal notes to pull them in.

Productivity features

A few features that compound over a day of inbox handling:

  • Keyboard shortcuts. J and K to navigate, R to reply, N for note, T to tag, S to snooze, Cmd/Ctrl+Enter to send.
  • Quick claim. Hover a conversation row, click the Claim button without opening.
  • Bulk actions. Multi-select with Shift+click, apply tags, resolutions, or snoozes to all.
  • Canned responses. Slash menu in the composer. Type / to see your saved replies.

Limits

  • Plan availability. Live Chat is on Growth and above.
  • Team member count. 3 seats on Growth, 10 on Business, unlimited on Enterprise.
  • Conversation retention. 365 days standard, 6 years Enterprise.

Common pitfalls

Inbox feels overwhelming. Default view shows everything. Build a saved view for your specific role (e.g., "Billing escalations only") and pin it.

Replies sent to the wrong channel. Confirm the channel icon in the conversation header matches before composing. Auto-routing is reliable but worth double-checking on first-time channel use.

Two agents reply to the same conversation. Use the claim flow; whoever claims first owns the reply. The second agent sees the claim and skips.

Snooze forgotten. Snoozed conversations re-surface when timer expires. Track your snoozed pile with a saved view.

FAQ

Can I disable the bot per conversation?

Yes. Claim the conversation; bot stops auto-responding. Release to let the bot resume.

Can agents see canned responses for the wrong language?

Configure canned responses per language under Dashboard > Canned Responses > Localization. The inbox auto-filters by conversation language.

Are there mobile apps?

Mobile-responsive web app today. Native iOS and Android apps on the roadmap.

Can I export the inbox as CSV?

Yes. Apply your filter, click Export. CSV includes columns plus conversation transcript links.

How are SLAs counted in the inbox?

SLA timers run during open and escalated states. Pause during snoozed and claimed. Reset at resolved. Visible in the SLA badge per conversation.

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