Take over a WhatsApp conversation

When a customer needs a person, your team answers in the inbox. The Front Desk stays quiet until someone gives the conversation back.

Before you start

• You need to be the owner, a manager, or have the right Credit: who owes, record payments: the page holds customers' names and words.
• This page is the Front Desk's WhatsApp view. The same conversations are also in the shared Inbox, with teams, assignment and deadlines (see answer conversations).
• WhatsApp must be connected. See connect WhatsApp.

Steps

1. Open Inbox → Front desk.
2. Select the filter Needs you to see the conversations handed to the team first.
3. Select a conversation. Its messages open, with pictures, voice-note transcripts and each message's delivery state.
4. Check Who answers: at the top of the conversation. If the assistant is still answering, select Take over. It stops answering this customer, and a reply it had prepared is not sent.
5. Select Assign to me so your team knows who has it.
6. Type in Write a reply… and select Reply.
7. When you are done, select Return to the assistant.

When a conversation goes to your team

The Front Desk hands over when the customer asks for a person, when it cannot answer from your information, on a complaint, when something fails, when a reply does not pass its checks, or when today's answers are used up. The customer gets one message that a member of the team will answer here. The reason shows on the conversation, for example Asked for a person or A question it could not answer.

Good to know

• Response alert. If a handed-over customer waits longer than the minutes set under Alert the owner when a customer waits longer than (minutes) (15 by default), the owner gets a WhatsApp customer waiting alert, once per hand-over. See owner alerts.
• The 24-hour window. The page shows until when free replies are possible. After 24 hours without a message from the customer, WhatsApp allows no free reply until they write again, and your reply is refused.
• Drafts. In Drafts mode (or for numbers outside your pilot list), the assistant's text shows as Draft by the assistant; check it and select Send this draft.
• Not confirmed. A message whose delivery was not confirmed shows Not confirmed with Send again, which sends a new message.
• Closing a team case does not wake the assistant. Only Return to the assistant does. See work team cases.
• Erase this customer (owner only) deletes the customer's conversation, pictures, summary and cases. This cannot be undone. See handle a customer's privacy request.
• Someone else was faster. If a colleague takes the conversation at the same moment, you see Another person took this conversation first. See take and give back a hand-off.
• Problems outside a conversation, such as a reply that may not have arrived, are on the Front desk exceptions page (owner and managers).
• Assign to me is the only assignment on this page. Teams, assignment rules, hand-overs and response deadlines are in the Inbox: see assign and hand over and set response deadlines.