Use the Inbox to read conversations and reply to customers

The Inbox is where you read customer messages and reply from your business. Start with a conversation, check who and where you are replying to, and read the notice above or inside the message box before sending.

How it works

Customer, conversation, and ticket: what is the difference?

A customer is the person contacting your business. Their customer profile can bring together their details and linked ways of contacting the business. See customer profiles and linking identities.
A conversation is a message thread on a particular channel and line. A channel is the service, such as WhatsApp or Telegram. A line is the particular connection, such as one business number. One customer can have several conversations.
A ticket follows a particular customer need, not the whole lifetime of a conversation. One conversation can contain several tickets. See tickets, tasks and comments.

Use Conversation to read the thread and reply. When tickets exist, Ticket opens the selected ticket’s record. With several tickets, Tickets on this conversation lets you choose one by topic and status. The ticket’s story is for reading; return to Conversation to send a customer message.

When a customer name is shortened in the conversation header or details panel, hover over it or focus it with your keyboard to read the full name.

The ticket header also shows its status and owner. With ticket-management access, open either pill to change it. Status changes and assignments appear in the ticket story. Assigning omotto does not hand back a conversation you took over. See ticket statuses and owners for the five states and workspace status settings.

In the ticket record, Tasks and comments holds promised and internal work alongside private team comments. Only open tasks marked Promised to customer put a ticket in Promised. Comments and replies here are not customer messages. When omotto stands down from a team request, it can settle that task itself as Done or Let go, with its explanation in the task. See tasks, replies, mentions and editing.

The Inbox also has views for different kinds of work and ticket history. This article covers the everyday conversation screen.

Priority, Everything else, and unread indicators

Priority includes conversations that need human attention and conversations with real activity during the last two hours. Automated-only sends do not by themselves make an old conversation recent. Everything else holds the remaining conversations, ordered by recency.

Imported history normally stays outside Priority. An explicit need for human attention can still bring an imported conversation into Priority, but it remains read-only.

These indicators mean different things:

Indicator	What it means
Unread number	Messages have not yet been marked read. Opening the conversation marks it read for the team, not just for you.
Needs you	There is an open request for human involvement, called a need. Open it to review the request in the internal channel.
Approval or Review	An approval or review is pending. This chip can replace the unread number; a missing unread number does not mean there are no unread messages.
Warm highlighting	An attention item has not yet been attended to, or a pending item is urgent. Reading a message and resolving the underlying work are different actions.
Handling indicator	Shows whether the bot, a person, or a pause is controlling replies. It is separate from unread status.

The separate Needs you: … count beside Priority counts conversations needing you, not every conversation in the Priority section. Recent activity alone can put a conversation there without increasing that count.

For how to answer requests, approve actions, or guide the bot privately, read Support Team and the internal channel.

Read voice messages, pictures, documents, and rich messages

Voice messages: use Play voice message, Pause, and the progress bar. Start playback to reveal the speed button, then select the displayed speed, such as 1×, to cycle through 1×, 1.5×, and 2×. The button appears only while the message is playing. Playback starts at 1× and remembers your speed choice while the page remains loaded. Only one voice message plays at a time. Open Transcript when one is available. If playback fails, Download audio offers the file instead.
Pictures and video: open a picture for a larger view, or use the video controls. A media placeholder means the file is not ready; Media unavailable means it cannot currently be opened. A scan-timeout notice says that the check did not finish and the send was stopped.
Documents: open the attachment link. Opening a document yourself is not proof that the bot read it.
What the assistant saw: expands the available image description. A shared contact card can also have a disclosure with this name. Opening or copying a shared contact card does not automatically add a customer or verify their identity.
What the assistant read: expands the available document-reading information. Statuses are Waiting to read, Reading, Read completely, Partially read, and Could not read. The disclosure can show total pages, pages read, pages not read, and the available text. Partially read does not mean the whole document was understood.
Rich messages: WhatsApp templates, product cards, buttons, shared contacts, locations, and submitted forms can appear as structured messages rather than plain text. A customer’s button choice can appear in the thread too. External media may require an explicit open action instead of loading automatically.

For file-reading limitations, see customer attachments. For checking why a reply was given, see understanding bot replies.

Memory audience indicators

The Memory panel can show For … with label names and a Hidden badge beside a saved fact. These explain what the bot may use with the customer; staff who can read the panel still see the full fact. The lock continues to mean that the fact needs verification. Edit audience and verification in the customer memory editor.

Where to find it

Open Inbox from the sidebar.

Set it up

Open a conversation and customer details

Select a conversation from the list.
Check the customer’s name and channel symbol at the top.
Check the line name beneath the customer name, when shown.
Select the customer name at the top to open the details panel.

On a wide screen, details can appear beside the thread. On a phone, use the back control to return from details to the conversation, or from the conversation to the list.

The details panel brings together the available customer information, contact routes, and labels. Its Tickets tab shows customer tickets. Memory shows saved customer memories. History shows messaging-consent events and the outcomes of reports that have been reviewed. This panel tab is not the History view for closed tickets. When the conversation has a task with an Expert, the External help section shows its state; Open — no expert reply pending means the Expert has answered or asked something back, so nothing is being waited on until the bot asks again. Select the customer name within that panel to open the full customer profile, when the link is available. What you can see or change depends on your permissions.

A name alone is not proof that two conversations belong to the same person. Pay attention to warnings about how the customer was identified, and check the channel. A WhatsApp contact may have no shared number, and a website visitor may be anonymous. Do not guess a destination from the name.

Send a direct reply to a customer

Open the correct live conversation.
Check the customer, channel, and line in the header. If To: appears above the message box, check that name too; it is a recipient reminder, not a destination picker.
If the bot is handling the conversation, tell it what to do in the Internal channel, or take over to reply yourself. When the bot is not live or is off on that line, the screen can allow a direct reply without taking over first.
Type your message. Enter sends; use Shift+Enter to add a new line.
Select Send or press Enter when your reply is ready.
Check the sending or delivery indicator beneath the message.

The normal message box sends to the customer. Internal channel is a separate place for private correspondence and approvals. Its messages are not direct customer replies. Guiding the bot there can lead to a later customer reply or business action; private does not mean “nothing can happen.” Use the team-channel guide for that flow, and Experts for outside correspondence.

To quote a message:

On a computer, hover over the message to reveal its controls. On a phone, tap the message to reveal its controls, or press and hold to open its actions sheet.
Choose Reply.
Check the Replying to preview before sending.

Use Clear reply to remove the quote without clearing your text. Quoting does not change the recipient.

Message actions also offer copying and, where allowed, emoji reactions. Available reactions depend on the channel and its messaging window. For editing or removing an already sent message, see editing and deleting messages; do not assume deleting text from your draft changes a message already sent.

Start a conversation on a particular WhatsApp line

Where available, Start conversation opens a thread with an existing WhatsApp contact. It is not a form for adding an arbitrary new phone number.

Select Start conversation.
Use Search contacts to find the existing contact by name.
Choose the WhatsApp contact.
Choose the Line to reply from.
Select Open conversation.

The contact and line start unselected. Opening the thread sends nothing. The usual takeover, messaging-window, WhatsApp-template, and consent rules still apply.

If the selected line cannot reach that contact, choose the line on the WhatsApp account that already messages them. If there is no suitable connected line, check lines or contact support. The option depends on your reply permission and available connected lines.

Attach files and understand preparation states

Use Attach or Attach a file in the message box. On a phone, the + control opens Attach, emoji and Coach. The options depend on the channel and device; you may see Document, Camera, or Photos. On a computer, you can also drag files onto the thread or paste a screenshot into the message box.

Where available, From the pool lets you choose an existing file from your file pool. Some channels can offer pool files as links rather than direct attachments. Check the note in the attachment menu.

Add the file or files.
Check their previews and any warning.
Add a caption if needed.
Select Send. If files are still preparing, the button shows Waiting for files… and waits for them.

You can send up to ten files in one send. Accepted file types and sizes depend on the channel; a refused file shows a reason. Large supported images may be reduced before upload, with the before-and-after sizes shown.

State or message	What to do
Upload percentage	Wait for the upload to finish.
Checking… / Still checking…	The safety check is not finished. Waiting does not mean the customer has received the file.
Couldn’t check	Use Retry to check again, or remove the file.
Upload failed.	Use Retry upload or remove the file and add it again.
Too large, unsupported type, too many files, or storage limit	Follow the displayed reason. Remove or replace the file, reduce the number, or check plan storage.
Failed virus check	The file is blocked from sending. Remove it and use a safe replacement.
A pool file changed	Remove it and choose it from the pool again.

Remove an attachment with its remove control. Send without these files removes the problem files; check the remaining files and caption, then select Send. omotto does not silently send just the ready files while leaving failed ones behind.

Stop is available while a send is still waiting for files. It is not an undo for a message already sent. If you leave while a file is being checked and later see a notice that it was dropped, attach it again; the caption can remain without the file.

Settings

Search and conversation filters

Use Search above the list. Search can find names, usernames, stored phone or email details, conversation numbers, and words in customer messages or available voice transcripts.

Name and username searches start at two characters.
To search message text, include a word or uninterrupted letter/number sequence of at least three characters. Short separate words do not combine into a longer search term.
Use a conversation number with # to look for that conversation number specifically.
In messages separates message-text matches from identity matches. A message match can open at the matching message.
Searching includes older conversations and outbound-only conversations, not just Priority. Your channel/line and label filters still apply.
Clear the search text to return to the normal grouped list.

Open Filter conversations beside Search:

Control	What it does	Starting state
All conversations	Removes the channel/line restriction.	Selected on an unfiltered Inbox.
Channel or line choice	Shows one channel, or one named line where you have several lines on that channel. Choose one at a time.	No specific channel or line.
Labels	When available, shows conversations whose customer has any of the selected labels. This combines with the channel/line choice. Select up to 10 labels at a time. To select another at the limit, clear one first.	No labels selected.
Show outbound-only conversations	Includes otherwise quiet threads brought back by automated outreach. Turning it off hides that quiet outreach, not conversations needing human attention, and does not delete anything. Search still includes those threads.	On in the Inbox; your choice is remembered.

A dot on the filter button means the selection differs from the Inbox defaults. If you cannot find someone, clear Search, choose All conversations, clear label selections, and check the outbound-only choice. For saved ticket conditions and History filters, use Inbox views.

Waiting-customer sound: frequency, sound, and defaults

Select Waiting-customer sound beside the conversation list. It is a personal reminder for work needing human attention, not a chime for every customer message.

Under How often, choose:

Option	Behavior
Once per event	Plays for a new attention event eligible to sound for you, without repeated reminders for that same event. Existing items are not replayed as new events when you load the page. The compact control says Once.
Every 10 seconds	Repeats while there is unattended work. Default. The compact control says 10s.
Every minute	Repeats about once a minute while there is unattended work. The compact control says 1 min.
Muted	Stops waiting-customer sounds, without removing the work. The compact control says Mute.

Under Sound, choose Bell (the default), Marimba, Sonar, or Double tap. Choosing a sound previews it, even while reminders are muted. Choosing an unmuted frequency also plays a preview.

Repeated reminders quiet while you are present in a conversation with attention work. They also depend on whether the item has been attended to; a newer event can need attention again. A new event may still make a one-off sound even if somebody is already attending to it. Approval sounds play only for team members allowed to approve that item. If you cannot approve it, it can remain visible without making a sound for you. Silence does not remove or resolve the pending approval or request.

These choices apply to you, not to the whole team. The same personal control in notification settings stays in sync with the Inbox control. Muting it does not disable in-app, email, or other notification delivery, and changing notification delivery does not replace this sound choice.

What happens when…

An alert leads to an unsent answer or an Expert review

A private internal-channel note about an unsent answer can offer Show it in the conversation. This opens the exact item in its source conversation. A second conversation button appears only when a saved continuation names the destination; it is not chosen from the customer’s other conversations. Opening either conversation closes the panel while keeping your unsent internal draft for your return. It does not send the answer.

Expert reviews stay in the internal channel, not above the customer’s conversation. When a saved continuation exists, their tags identify the starting channel and the channel the customer continued on, with buttons for the task and destination where available. A review that has already closed opens Nothing to do here anymore, with its recorded ending, closing time and actor when known. A missing continuation link does not turn that settled review back into an open request.

The usage cap is reached

Assistant paused: usage cap reached means omotto has stopped taking new reply work. Customer messages still reach your Inbox. Staff can reply directly while the channel’s sending window allows it. Billed automations are paused; automations within your included runs can keep running.

The notice above the message box and in the customer details explains the pause. If you can manage the cap, Change the cap opens its setting on your billing statement. Raise or remove the cap to resume. If that link is not shown, ask the workspace owner.

Imported history is not a live conversation

Imported history — read-only means you are looking at an archive. You can read it, but cannot send replies from that thread. An imported channel badge may also name the original service.

Open the customer’s live conversation instead. Do not assume an old imported WhatsApp thread is the connected line you should reply from. See connecting WhatsApp and lines.

The messaging window closes

On WhatsApp, the ordinary reply window lasts 24 hours from the customer’s latest message. Another customer message opens or resets it. Outside it, sending requires an approved WhatsApp template; sending a WhatsApp template is not permission to follow it with unrestricted text before the customer replies. See WhatsApp’s messaging policy and the template guide.

Send an approved template from the Inbox

Open the template option offered in the closed-window notice. Take over first if the notice asks you to.
Under Choose an approved template, select a template. Nothing is selected initially.
Check Will send in. The sender automatically prefers the customer’s language, then an available Hebrew version, then another available approved version. There is no language selector in this picker.
Fill every numbered text field, such as {{1}}. These fields start blank.
Read the preview with your values filled in.
Select Send template.

Changing the template clears the entered values. Sending stays unavailable until every required value is filled and the template supports manual sending. If the displayed language is unsuitable, do not send; review the available template versions.

Sending, delivery, and failed messages

A message appearing in the thread is not, by itself, proof the customer read it.

Indicator	Meaning
Clock	Queued or sending.
One check	The channel accepted the message. This is not a read receipt.
Two checks	Delivery confirmed, where the channel supplies that information.
Blue two checks	Read confirmed, where available.
Red failure symbol	Sending failed. Open or hover over the symbol to read the available reason.

Not every channel provides delivery or read receipts. Missing confirmation does not mean the message did not arrive. If you see Delivery not confirmed in a ticket’s story, treat it as uncertain rather than proof of non-delivery.

A Custom API action failed or its outcome is unknown

A Custom API action changes something in another business system. Approval lets omotto try the action; it does not mean the change succeeded. The conversation records a rejected request as not done, including when per-call approval is off. The bot can retry after a fix, or a teammate can re-propose the action.

For a server error, check the other system before repeating if the action could have partly happened. If a request was sent but no answer came back, the note says it may have been carried out. This is an unknown outcome, not success or a confirmed failure. omotto never re-sends that uncertain attempt automatically. A teammate must check and decide whether a fresh proposal should be approved.

When Service response details is shown, open it for the available status and error details. Service error · staff only (redacted) is a saved copy for your team, even when no shared response fields are selected. Stored sign-in secrets and known customer details are hidden. The copy also appears in the internal channel and, when connected, its staff notification. It is not given to the bot or sent to the customer. The internal channel shows up to 15 recent failed-action notes; older notes stay in the conversation.

The bot still sees only the endpoint’s selected shared response fields; an empty selection or no matching field shares no answer body. If the error body is missing, too large or cannot be safely decoded, a notice explains that it was omitted. Do not copy internal error details into a customer reply.

An order change needs a manual check

If an internal need says an order change or its payment/refund is unconfirmed, check the order in Shopify before taking another action. Finish any payment or refund there if needed. Do not repeat the bot’s edit or add a separate refund just to clear the warning.

Only someone currently allowed to approve Change an order can mark this need as handled. Reading the conversation or taking over does not grant that approval authority. Closing the need records that staff checked and handled it; it does not run a new edit, send a refund or reply to the customer. See Shopify actions and approvals and the team channel.

Troubleshooting

The bot could not reach the team

A separate need asks you to check the conversation and reply if needed. The bot’s reply to the customer is not replaced by a generic failure message. Repeated failures are added to the same need while it stays open, without another immediate alert for each one. Open the conversation, handle any customer follow-up, then close the need when finished. If the problem returns after you close it, a new need can appear.

Sending is unavailable

Read the notice in or above the message box first:

Situation	Next step
The bot is handling the conversation	Tell the bot what to do in the Internal channel, or Take over to reply yourself.
The line is disconnected or unavailable	Check the line connection. Taking over does not reconnect it.
Imported history	Open a live conversation instead.
A messaging window has closed	Follow the channel-specific notice. For WhatsApp, choose a sendable approved template. A channel without a template option may require a new customer message.
No suitable approved template	Set up WhatsApp templates. Some templates need header files or values that the manual sender cannot supply.
A template is blocked by consent	Check messaging consent; taking over does not override the restriction.
The bot is paused for this customer	Check manual timeout and Pause on suspected misuse. A bot pause and permission for you to reply are separate.
You cannot access a reply or approval control	Ask the workspace owner to check your permissions.

A file send fails

For an eligible failed file send, the thread can offer Retry or Skip. You may need to take over first. Skip leaves that failed file unsent; it does not retract files already sent. If the outcome is unclear, check the thread and, when possible, the actual channel before composing a fresh duplicate. Contact support if the state stays unclear or failures keep returning; include the channel, line, time, and visible error.

No waiting-customer sound plays

If you hear nothing, select a sound to preview it, check that the mode is not Muted, click or press a key in omotto, and check the browser tab and device volume. Keep omotto open for these browser sounds. If preview works but no reminder plays, check whether there is unattended work rather than just unread messages. For a pending approval, check whether you are allowed to approve it; an approval can stay visible without sounding for you.