If you haven't done so already, check out Conversation assignments overview & uses cases for an introduction and sample use cases.
The ability to assign conversations to individual team members is available in Professional and Enterprise. The ability to create and assign conversations to teams is only available to Enterprise customers.
Assuming you're either a Professional or Enterprise customer, you'll notice an option in your Site Settings (you need to click the "less common" link to expand the settings).
By default, the conversation assignment feature is turned off.
Once this feature is turned on, you'll notice a new assignments navigation pane on the far left side of your Inbox page.
Assignment Navigation
Each link in the menu filters the inbox conversations accordingly. All number counts are for open conversations. A blue dot next to the number means there is at least one unread conversation in that "view." A red dot next to the number indicates there is at least one stale unread conversation (unread for greater than 5 minutes).
All (Available to Admins only)- View all conversations in the service.
Unassigned - Unless otherwise directed by a Zing, conversations will come into the unassigned box by default. They disappear from the unassigned inbox once assigned to a user or team.
My Inbox: Conversations assigned to you or a team that you're a part are consolidated here with the option to select the specific team inboxes or see only conversations to you.
Other Teams (Available to Admins only) - Here you'll see all other teams in the service that you're not a member of.
Teammates - This section shows a list of all team members on all teams (not just team members on your teams). This list is sorted in alpha, click the sort icon to toggle views between all teammates or just those that are online.
How the red badge count works
This badge count will show a sum of the following:
Unread messages for your teams.
Unread messages assigned directly to you.
Unread messages that are unassigned.
📌 Note: If you are an administrator, even though you see all teams, you'll only see the red badge count for conversations in teams for which you are a member.
Manage the "Unassigned" inbox and Teammate Views
If any users in your service would prefer not to view the Unassigned inbox, this can be toggled off from My Settings menu. Users can also toggle between viewing all team members or only members of teams the user is in.
How to create and manage teams (only available to Enterprise customers)
Browse to Admin Settings > Teams.
Here you can create, update, and delete teams.
📌 Note: Removing a team member from a team will prompt you to re-assign their contacts to another team member. Similarly, deleting a team will prompt you to re-assign the deleted team's contacts to another team or individual.
How to assign manually
There are several ways to assign:
At the top of the conversation feed section.
By dragging and dropping the "conversation cards" into the assignment navigation on the left. Try it, it's fun!
In the profile pane on the far right of both the Inbox and Contact pages.
When creating a new contact.
From the bulk actions button on the Contacts screen.
When importing / creating contacts via CSV or API.
When creating contacts using the Zapier integration.
Assigning automatically using a Zing
When this "assignments" feature is turned on within Settings, you'll notice a new action in the Zing builder interface. This action allows you to assign or un-assign. Keep in mind that you can also use the action filter to narrow focus.
A few examples of auto-assigning that are available today.
Assign a conversation to a team based on a specific set of keywords.
Assign a conversation to a team based on a contact's attribute.
Assign a conversation to a team based on the segment the contact belongs to or the tag that is applied.
Escalate a conversation to someone based on the time it's gone unread.
⭐️ In first half of 2018, we'll be releasing an AI (artificial intelligence) based "intent" trigger that will allow for assigning based on the "intent" of the message. Imagine being able to trigger assignment automatically based on whether or not someone asks for the wifi password. Currently keywords are being used to solve this problem; however, AI and NLP (natural language processing) is much more accurate and doesn't require the user to set up all those keywords!
Using the "Assignment Event" Trigger
You also have the ability to perform any other action based on the "assignment" trigger. For example, a Zing could be configured to send an escalation text message to a manager whenever a conversation is assigned to a specific individual or team.
Notification options
When the conversation assignment feature is turned on, there are a few related notification options that appear in the notifications section. My Settings > Notifications.
