Someone writes after they called
The conversation attaches to the same person, across channels. The receptionist does not ask again for the name and address already given on the phone, and you read the call and the message in one file.
Texts, chat and email
Wiring the written channels to the same receptionist, with the same instructions and the same right to write.
What you will have at the end
Written requests arriving by text message, by the chat on your website, through your social inboxes or by email, handled by the same receptionist, with the same instructions as your calls — and gathered in one inbox with a state: to handle, in progress, resolved.
Every conversation keeps its channel, its delivery state and the person responsible for it at your end. A message that could not go out does not vanish: it is visible, with the reason.
Allow ten minutes per channel, most of it spent at the channel provider rather than with us.
Before you start
- The account of the channel you want to wire up: your business page, the professional account, the mailbox
- Administrator rights on that account, to grant access
- The number your text messages go out from, when you already have one
- Your instructions published: written channels lean on them exactly as the voice does
Each channel is an add-on switched on and off independently of the others; nothing is on by default.
The steps
- Step 1
Pick the channel and authorise the account
Authorisation happens at the channel provider, with your account. The channel page says what to have ready beforehand, including what the provider requires on its side.
- Step 2
Read the reply window
Every channel has its rules: some messaging platforms allow a free-form reply only within a window after the person's last message. Outside it, only approved templates go through — the channel page says which.
- Step 3
Check the right to write
Someone who asked not to be contacted again receives nothing, across every channel at once. That check runs before sending, including for a message you approved yourself.
- Step 4
Decide who follows what
Assign conversations to someone on your team, or leave them in the shared queue. A callback due shows next to the conversation that created it.
- Step 5
Check with a real message
Write to yourself from another account. The message should appear in the inbox with its channel, and the reply should go back out with a confirmed delivery state.
One receptionist, several front doors
Written channels are not a second product. It is the same receptionist, with the same approved facts and the same bans, answering by text, through the chat on your website, through your social inboxes or by email. A published instruction applies everywhere at once.
What changes from one channel to the next are the provider's rules: the useful length of a message, the window during which a free reply is allowed, the need for an approved template outside that window. Each channel page names those rules for that channel.
The inbox, its states and who owns a thread
Every conversation lands in one place, with its channel, its state — to handle, in progress, resolved — and the person who owns it at your end. A conversation with no owner stays in the shared queue, visible to everyone whose role opens it.
A message that could not go out does not vanish from the inbox. It appears with its send state and the reason: channel window closed, consent withdrawn, or provider refusal. That is what stops you believing a customer was told when they were not.
The edge cases
Somebody asks to stop being contacted
The withdrawal counts on every channel at once, not only the one where it was expressed. The check runs before each send, including for a message you approved yourself.
You already reply from your phone
A reply sent from the provider's own app does not come back into the inbox unless the channel is wired to read it. Settle on one place to reply from, otherwise two parallel threads answer without seeing each other.
The message arrives outside the reply window
Outside the window, some providers accept only an approved template. The receptionist uses the intended template where one exists; otherwise the conversation waits and you see why.
You mostly get sales pitches
They appear in the inbox labelled for what they are, and are resolved without a reply. You can read them once a week rather than as they arrive: they raise no alert.
If something does not work
The reply does not go out
Look at the delivery state: the channel window may be closed, or the person may have opted out. Both reasons are displayed, and neither can be worked around.
Messages arrive, but in two places
A channel wired twice with two different accounts creates two threads. Remove the duplicate authorisation from the channels screen.
The text sent is not the one you expected
A transactional message uses a versioned template. The conversation shows the exact version used: that is where you see whether the template or the instruction needs fixing.
A customer replies and nobody sees it
Check that the conversation was not marked resolved too early. A reply reopens the thread, but it returns to the shared queue if nobody owns it.
Frequently asked questions
What owners ask about written channels.
Do texts need a different number?
No, your local number can take both. The channels screen shows the number your messages go out from, and you can use an existing one when you already have it.
Does the receptionist answer from the same instructions?
Yes. Approved facts and bans hold for speech and for writing alike; only register is set separately, when you want a different tone in writing.
Why is a reply stuck?
Because the channel's reply window is closed, or because the person withdrew. Both reasons appear on the conversation, and neither can be worked around.
Can I take a conversation over?
Yes, at any point. Assign it to yourself, write in it, and the receptionist stops replying on that thread while it is assigned to you.
Many owners use that for delicate requests: the receptionist greets, you close.
Do written conversations count as a call?
The counted unit is the conversation, whatever the channel. Exchanges inside one conversation are not counted a second time.
Can I turn on a single channel?
Yes. Each channel is added and removed independently of the others, and nothing is switched on by default.
The other help centre articles
Every task has its own.
After this
The page for each channel.