Team inboxStart by understanding the situation.
Someone may be asking a simple question. They may be checking on an earlier request, or explaining something that has gone wrong. The inbox brings the exchange and its working context together so your team can decide what will help.
We’ve designed TruCom around that everyday work: finding the question, knowing who is responsible and keeping the next step clear for everyone involved.
Choose a view that tells you what needs attention.
Begin with the conversations you are responsible for, the work waiting for an owner or the departments you help with. A shared inbox is easier to work through when each teammate knows which queue they are looking after.
Search helps when you remember a customer, a phrase or a conversation detail. Filters can narrow the list by things such as department, teammate, channel, priority, tags and read state. Use them to find the work you need, then open the conversation to understand the full request.
Agree who checks unassigned conversations. A message being visible in the shared inbox is useful; knowing who will pick it up is what moves it forward.
Look beyond the latest message.
Check where the conversation came from, what the customer has already explained and whether someone has replied. Read the current thread before asking for information that is already there.
The available customer details and earlier conversation history can help you understand the background. What you see depends on the customer record, linked identities and your workspace access. A message from another channel should be treated as its own conversation unless the available record establishes the connection.
The original channel also matters when replying. A website chat and a connected business messaging account have different delivery conditions. Your team works from the inbox while replies still use the conversation’s connection and its messaging rules.
Let the team see who is taking it forward.
Picking up or assigning a conversation gives the work a person responsible. Departments help organise the team around the questions they handle, while workspace permissions determine who can see and manage each conversation.
If another teammate is better placed to help, pass the question on with a short explanation of what has happened and what you need them to do. Assignment and a useful private note work together: one makes responsibility visible, the other explains the work.
Amina confirms that the details have been received, leaves a note for Billing and assigns the conversation to Chidi. Tomi knows why another person is joining, and Chidi knows what needs reviewing.
Before replying, check whether a teammate is already involved. Viewing and typing indicators can help you coordinate, alongside the assignment and the messages in the thread.
A customer reply and a private note do different jobs.
A reply goes to the customer through the conversation’s channel. Use it to answer their question, ask for a missing detail or explain what happens next.
A private internal note is for your team. Use it to record a finding, ask an eligible teammate for help or explain a handover. The customer does not receive that note as a reply.
“Thanks, Tomi. Chidi in Billing will review the correction and update you here.”
“Chidi, the confirmed name and invoice number are above. Please review the correction.”
Check the message mode before sending. Keep private notes useful and specific: what you know, what has been tried and the next action you are asking for. A customer update is still needed when an internal discussion changes what they should expect.
Give the person enough to move forward.
A useful reply answers the actual question and makes the next step easy to follow. If you need more information, explain which detail would help. If you have instructions to share, keep them clear and in the order the customer should try them.
Your knowledge base gives the team a consistent reference for common questions. Share the relevant article with enough explanation for the customer to understand why it helps. In Ada’s example, Amina gives the route to the receipt and shares the article so Ada can return to the steps later.
When Agent Copilot is available in your workspace, it can help summarise a conversation, find relevant knowledge or prepare a suggested reply. Read the suggestion, check that it fits the situation and decide what to send. Your team remains responsible for the answer.
Choose a next step that fits the work.
Sending a reply does not always finish the request. The next action depends on what is still needed. Keep the conversation’s assignment, status and any follow-up work consistent with what you have told the customer.
Another person needs to help.
Assign the conversation to the appropriate teammate or department, add the context they need and explain the handover to the customer.
You are waiting for a useful time to return.
Snooze the conversation when that suits the situation, so it can return to attention later. Make sure the customer understands what you are waiting for or when they should expect an update.
The issue needs an investigation.
Create a linked ticket to track the work with an owner, status and the details needed to continue. Explain where updates will appear and how the customer can check back through the Support Centre.
The question has been answered.
Confirm the outcome where appropriate, record anything the team needs to know and bring the conversation to a close. Use a status that reflects the work still outstanding.
Automations can handle supported routine actions when their triggers and conditions match. Your team decides those rules and should understand how they affect the inbox they work from.
A few habits worth agreeing on.
The tools are easier to use when people have the same expectations. Before a busy day in the inbox, agree on a few ordinary decisions.
- Who picks up waiting questions?
Decide who checks the unassigned queue and how departments share responsibility when someone is away.
- What makes a handover ready?
Pass along what the customer needs, what has already happened and the specific next action. Make the assignment clear.
- When does a conversation need a ticket?
Agree which requests need a separate follow-up record and where customers should expect updates.
- What does finished mean?
Keep statuses understandable. Make sure a closed conversation reflects a clear outcome or a next step that is being tracked elsewhere.
Try one question together: have a customer ask, let a teammate answer, pass it to someone else and check that the context still makes sense.