Similar to email, there is a big difference between conversations that have been read and conversations that are complete or closed. It's important to distinguish brand new conversations that haven't been read yet and conversations that have been read but are still in the process of being resolved. By adding this extra step, your team will have extra visibility and can be assured that no requests fall through the cracks.
In summary:
New messages come in, the conversation is opened and marked as unread.
User selects the conversation and it becomes read.
User replies to the contact and attempts to resolve the issue or provide requested information.
While the conversation is ongoing and unresolved, it should remain open so it's front and center for your team.
Then, when resolved, close it.
Medallia Concierge's interface attempts to reinforce the proper workflow process by exposing the close button and by making reply & close a single action.
Ultimately, we want to expose new powerful response and resolution metrics so your team can track trends over time. Here's a sample screenshot from the Analytics page showing the Team Performance.
If you are not closing conversations, you should think about working this step into your workflow. Doing so will set your team up for success and give you a better idea of where your operational opportunities lie. Enabling Escalation Zings will help your management team keep users accountable, learn more here.