This guide is designed to be your go-to resource for mastering the two core features of our platform: the collaborative Inbox and the Chatbot. We will walk you through the essential steps for setup, daily use, and key strategies to enhance your customer communication.
1.0 The BusinessChat Inbox: Your Command Center for Customer Conversations
The BusinessChat Inbox is the central hub for all live customer interactions. It serves as the command center for your support team, enabling them to resolve issues, build customer relationships, and seamlessly manage conversations escalated from the chatbot. Mastering the Inbox is the first step toward delivering exceptional, real-time customer service.
1.1 Navigating the Inbox Interface
The Inbox organizes conversations into several distinct views, allowing your team to find and manage the interactions that matter most quickly.
My Conversations: This is your personal workspace, showing only the conversations explicitly assigned to you (the user logged in).
Chatbot Conversations: A complete view of all conversations currently being handled by the chatbot.
Unassigned: This queue contains conversations that have been escalated by the chatbot or a customer and are awaiting a human agent to take ownership.
Teams: These are shared inboxes accessible to all members of a specific team (e.g., "Sales" or "Support"), fostering collaboration on related queries. This view is best suited for Admins or supervisors who want to keep an eye on the general operations and customer support. Users should not use this view to reply to conversations, as it will confuse which conversations are assigned to them and which are assigned to other users on the same team.
Conversations by Topic: This view lets you filter to see all conversations tagged with a specific topic, such as "Returns" or "Shipping Inquiry," making it easy to analyze trends.
Note: In a single-user setup, the "Team" and "My Conversations" views are identical since all inquiries are routed to one person. However, in multi-user teams, the "Team" view displays the aggregate total of all conversations, meaning it will always show a higher volume than any individual agent's personal view.
1.2 The Conversation Lifecycle: From First Message to Resolution
Handling a customer query in the Inbox follows a clear and structured workflow. Here is a step-by-step guide to managing a conversation from start to finish.
1. Identifying New Messages
A new or unread message is clearly indicated by a blue line next to the conversation in your list. The blue line appears only in the My Conversations view.
2. Message Appearance Logic
Any new message from a customer will automatically move that conversation to the top of its respective view, ensuring that active queries receive prompt attention.
3. Replying to Customers
You can respond to customers by typing a free-form message directly in the reply box.
For frequently asked questions, you can use pre-made Saved Replies to provide fast, consistent answers.
The reply box also supports a variety of attachments: Files, Images, Location pins, Voice notes, and Emojis.
Note: When two agents try to reply at the same time , the conversation stays assigned to the first agent it was automatically or manually assigned to.
4. Collaborating with Notes
Internal notes are a crucial tool for team collaboration. These notes, highlighted in yellow, are visible only to your team members and are completely hidden from the customer. Use them to share context, ask for help, or leave reminders.
While the notes help different users understand the context of the conversation or the customer’s need, there’s no automatic alert for the user if mentioned in a note. The user will only be able to pay attention to the note and see if the conversation is reassigned to them, or manually view the conversation from the team’s view.
5. Assigning & Reassigning
Within any open conversation, you can use the dropdown menu to manually assign it to a specific user or an entire team. This ensures the right person handles the query, promoting accountability.
6. Closing a Conversation
It is essential to understand the two different types of "closed" statuses:
BusinessChat Closure: This is an organizational action taken by an agent. Once a customer's issue is resolved, it is best practice to close the conversation. This keeps the inbox tidy and allows the chatbot to re-engage the customer if they message again.
Meta's 24-Hour Window: WhatsApp automatically closes a conversation session hours after the customer's last message. This is a Meta rule to prevent spam.
Visual SLA Indicator: A circle appears next to the conversation to help you manage this deadline:
Yellow Circle: 20–21 hours.
Orange Circle: 21–23 hours.
Red Circle: Final hour (23–24 hours).
Note: While a conversation is Open or assigned to a human agent, the Chatbot is muted. It will not trigger 'Incorrect Input' responses or Menu options while you are conversing. The Bot only resumes control once the conversation is formally closed by the agent.
7. Re-Opening a Conversation
You can re-open a closed conversation in two ways26:
If the 24-Hour Window is Active: You can manually re-open it from the "Closed" tab and continue with free-form messages.
If the 24-Hour Window has Expired: You cannot send a free-form message. You must use an approved "Utility" message template. Once the customer replies to this template, a new 24-hour window opens.
Note: Sending a Utility template to re-open a chat incurs a 0.4 SAR per message cost per Meta's pricing. The 24-hour window only restarts if the customer replies to this template.
1.3 Essential Inbox Tools for Efficiency
The Inbox includes tools designed to streamline your workflow:
Searching Conversations: Use the main search bar to search all conversations' internal notes. Use the search bar in the right-hand panel to find keywords within a specific conversation.
Customer Details Panel: The right-hand panel displays the customer's name, contact details, and—if your ecommerce store is connected—a history of their previous orders.
Bulk Actions (For Admins): Admins can bulk-close multiple conversations using time filters (e.g., close all inactive for >48 hours) via the Conversations settings in the general account Settings.
2.0 Automating with Chatbots: Your 24/7 Frontline Support
The BusinessChat Chatbot is your 24/7 frontline support team. Its primary goal is to handle repetitive queries automatically, freeing up human agents for complex issues.
2.1 The Basic Chatbot Core Components
The Basic Bot is built using simple components:
Menu Message: The first message a customer sees, presenting main options.
Bot Path & Buttons: The bot can have up to 10 main menu buttons. Each button directs the customer down a specific path.
Button Actions: Actions include "Send a message," "Talk to a team," "Return to main menu," "End conversation," or the special "Track Order Status" function.
2.2 Basic Chatbot Initial Setup
1. Adding Languages
Your chatbot can communicate in multiple languages (up to 3). Navigate to Chatbot > Settings > Add Language. You must write a friendly welcome message for each language added 39.
Note: If you only use Arabic, you can skip this. The language selection message only appears if more than one language is active.
2. Naming Your Bot
Enter a unique "Bot Nickname" in settings. This helps customers distinguish between the bot and humans.
3. Displaying Employee Names
Toggle the checkbox under the bot's name to display the specific agent's name (First + Family Name) when a human takes over.
2.3 Designing the Conversation Flow
3.1 Crafting Your Main Menu Message
This is the first message seen after language selection. It should concisely explain how to interact with the bot.
3.2 Building Your Menu Buttons
You can add up to 10 buttons. For each, you define the Button Name and the Automated Response. You can also drag-and-drop to reorder them.
Note: While buttons are the primary navigation tool, the bot does not support exact text matching. If a button is named 'Support' and the customer types 'Support', the bot will treat it as an Incorrect Input.
3.3 Button Actions
After a customer receives a response, you can attach up to 3 action buttons:
Talk to a team: Transfers to a human team.
Return to main menu: Restarts the conversation.
Go to a menu button: Jumps to another button without going back to the main menu.
End the conversation: Formally closes the interaction.
Note: When 'Track Order' is used, the bot asks the customer to enter their order number. It then pulls the status from your connected store (Shopify/Salla/Zid).
2.4 Fine-Tuning with the Chatbot Operator
The Operator (المقسم) defines rules for exceptions outside the main flow.
2.1 Handling Common Scenarios Automatically
Idle Customer: Routes customers to a human team after they’ve stopped responding to the bot for at least one hour.
Incorrect Input: Guides customers back to the menu if they enter an unrecognizable input.
Outside Hours: Informs customers that you are closed.
Agent is Busy: Reassures customers if an agent hasn't replied yet.
Note: If a customer stops interacting in a sub-menu and returns after some time , the bot will reset to the main menu
Note: The 'Outside Hours' message relies on the specific working hours configured in [Account Settings > Team > Working Hours]. Ensure these are set correctly."
2.2 Enhancing the Customer Experience
Conversation Rating: Requests feedback 10 minutes after closure. This is meant to evaluate the employee’s performance based on customer satisfaction.
Reconnect with Same Agent: Routes returning customers (within 24 hours) to their previous agent. This will prevent the chatbot from re-engaging with customers who return within 24 hours.
2.5 Testing and Launching
Testing: Use the "Test" feature to scan a QR code and interact with the bot on your phone in real-time.
Launching: Once satisfied, click Launch to go live.
3.0 Synergy: How the Inbox and Chatbot Work Together
The true power of BusinessChat comes from the seamless interaction between the Chatbot and the human-powered Inbox.
3.1 The Escalation Pathway: From Bot to Human
The chatbot handles initial queries. When the customer explicitly requests a person (e.g., by clicking "Talk to an Agent"), the conversation is automatically escalated. The Idle customer operator rule can also escalate conversations.
Escalated chats appear in the "Unassigned" view of the Inbox if no employee of the assigned team is available.
Once the working hours conditions are met, the conversation will be moved to the specific team inbox and assigned to the available employee with the fewest conversations, based on the assignment limits preconfigured in the team settings.
Note: at this point, the conversation will be visible in the user’s My Conversations view and the Team’s view.
3.2 Relationship with Automation Flows
It is important to understand the relationship between the chatbot and other automations (like Cart Abandonment).
Chatbot: Handles direct, real-time conversations initiated by the customer.
Automation Flows: Triggered by behavior over time (e.g., abandoned cart).
Note: If a customer replies to a Marketing Campaign or an automation message, the Chatbot will trigger the Main Menu immediately.
3.3 Handling Post-Closure Replies (The "Thank You" Loop)
If a user replies "Thanks" after an agent closes the chat. It will open the chat.
4.0 Advanced Team and User Management
Essential for administrators and team leads, this section covers critical features for managing agent workload, controlling platform access, and ensuring operational efficiency.
4.1 Workload and Availability Controls
To prevent agent burnout and manage chat distribution effectively, the platform offers specific workload controls:
Agent Concurrency Limits: This feature allows administrators to set a maximum number of concurrent conversations that can be assigned to each agent within a team. This prevents individual agents from becoming overloaded and ensures that new chats remain in the "Unassigned" queue until an agent has the capacity to handle them.
Watching Mode: This allows a user, typically an admin or manager, to be logged into the platform to observe conversations and provide support without being automatically assigned new chats from the queue. This is the default status for Admins and Owners, allowing them to supervise operations without disrupting the chat queue, whereas standard Users default to "Active."
4.2 User Role and Permission Definitions
Clear definitions of user roles are crucial for administrators to manage security and access control effectively.
Role | Key Responsibilities & Permissions |
Owner | Full administrative control; cannot be deleted. Possesses all Admin permissions. |
Admin | Manages users, edits business settings, exports customer lists, accesses all reports and conversations. |
User | Standard agent role with access limited to assigned conversations and team views based on specific permissions. Cannot export data or manage users. |