Conversations is no longer available for purchase as of January 3, 2023.
If you are a Conversations Agent, you can respond to incoming chats, emails, and messages from Facebook Messenger right from the Conversations unified inbox. This allows you to communicate with leads and customers from one place. In addition, all interactions are stored in the unified inbox and can be used for later reference.
Take note
- All users with Agent permissions will be able to see and respond to messages in the Conversations unified inbox
- Once a message is opened, it will appear as “Read” for all agents
- Agents responding to inbound messages can insert Saved Responses
- Personalization tags in messages are not supported at this time
- If a message is marked as complete, it will appear as “Complete” for all agents
Responding to chats
When you receive a chat from a visitor, a red dot will display next to the Conversations icon in the left menu:
The message will also appear in the left menu of the Conversations unified inbox. You can choose to respond to the message using chat or email.
A green dot in the message indicates that the visitor is still online:
Note that Conversations will automatically select chat or email depending on whether the visitor is online or offline.
To engage with a visitor using chat:
1. Click the message in the left menu of the unified inbox.
2. The message will load. Make sure “Web Chat” is selected in the channel dropdown:
3. Type your message in the message composer.
Used Saved Responses in your chat
Saved Responses is a time-saving solution that lets you create and reuse commonly used phrases in your communications. To insert a Saved Response into your message, click the Saved Responses icon next to the "Web Chat" label. Next, click the category dropdown then click the saved response you wish to use in your message.
Note that the use of personalization tags is not supported at this time.
4. Click "Send" when finished.
The visitor will see your message in the chat widget and will be able to respond. In addition, you’ll see your response in the conversation thread above the message composer.
The chat label under both the visitor’s message and your message indicates that the exchange took place over chat.
If the visitor is no longer online, you can respond to their message using email instead.
To do so:
1. Click the channel dropdown then click “Email.”
2. Type your response in the message composer located at the bottom of the conversation and/or insert a saved response.
3. Click the “Send” button to submit your reply.
Note that in order to use the email option, the visitor must submit their email address to you via the Form block in the Chatbot Automation or be a known contact in your ActiveCampaign account.
Your email will be sent to the recipient and a thread of the chat will be included.
You’ll also see your email response in the conversations thread above the message composer. Messages in the conversation thread will show both the chat label and email label because the conversation took place in both channels.
Responding to emails
You can respond to inbound emails from your contacts. This includes replies to emails sent from the unified inbox, replies to campaigns and automation emails, and any emails forwarded to the unified inbox.
Each new email that arrives in the unified inbox will either be associated with an existing contact and any conversation that may already exist. In the case of an email received from an unknown email address, a new Contact record will be created with a new conversational thread in the Inbox.
1. From the Conversations unified inbox, click the message in the left menu to open it.
2. The message will load. To reply to the contact’s email, make sure “Email” is selected in the channel dropdown.
3. Type your message in the message composer.
Used Saved Responses in your email reply
Saved Responses is a time-saving solution that lets you create and reuse commonly used phrases in your communications. To insert a Saved Response into your message, click the Saved Responses icon next to the "Email" label. Next, click the category dropdown then click the saved response you wish to use in your message.
Note that the use of personalization tags is not supported at this time.
4. Click the “Send” button to submit your response.
The email will be sent to the contact. You’ll also see your email response in the conversations thread above the message composer. The email flag in the conversations thread indicates that the conversation happened through email.
Responding to messages from Facebook Messenger
You can respond to inbound messages from Facebook Messenger. Note that Facebook's Messenger Platform Policy specifies that once a visitor interacts with your page through Messenger, your business has up to 24 hours to respond.
Each new message that arrives in the unified inbox will have a new conversation thread. A contact record will not be created for any visitors who contact you via Facebook Messenger.
1. From the Conversations unified inbox, click the message in the left menu to open it.
2. The message will load. To reply to the contact’s message, make sure “Messenger” is selected in the channel dropdown.
3. Type your message in the message composer.
Used Saved Responses in your reply
Saved Responses is a time-saving solution that lets you create and reuse commonly used phrases in your communications. To insert a Saved Response into your message, click the Saved Responses icon next to the "Messenger" label. Next, click the category dropdown then click the saved response you wish to use in your message.
Note that the use of personalization tags is not supported at this time.
4. Click the “Send” button to submit your response.
The message will be sent to the visitor. You’ll also see your Facebook Messenger response in the conversations thread above the message composer. The Messenger flag in the conversations thread indicates that the conversation happened through Facebook Messenger.
Marking a conversation as “Complete”
Once the conversation is done, you can click the “Complete” button at the top of the interaction to mark it as finished.
A checkmark next to the message in the left menu indicates that the conversation is complete.
If a visitor reopens the chat widget from the same device, they will see their chat history load in the widget, even if they did not submit their email address to the Email Capture Form. Any new message they send via chat or email will be added to their conversations history in your unified inbox and the conversation will be marked as “Open.” If a visitor clears their browser cookies or sends a message from a new device, then a new Conversation thread will start.
Note that it's not possible to delete a Conversation thread from your account.
Sending a chat thread
You can send a thread of a chat to a contact by sending them a follow-up email from the Conversations unified inbox. This must be done immediately following a chat message.
From the conversation, select “Email” in the channel dropdown. Then type your response in the message composer, and click the “Send” button. When the contact receives your email, they’ll see your message and a record of their conversation.