Before you start
- A connected WhatsApp number or Website chat. See Channels.
- For messages outside the 24-hour window and for new WhatsApp conversations, at least one approved template. See Templates.
Find a conversation
- Search, the magnifier in the list’s head, opens a field in place of the title. It switches the list to All and matches the customer’s name, phone number and email, and words in the messages. Clear it to return to the folder you came from.
- Filters opens a panel with Teammate, Tag (shown once you have conversation tags), Sort by (Recent or Priority) and Date range (From, To, Include time, and Filter dates by Last updated or Created date). Click Apply. The button shows how many filters are on, and each shows as a chip under the folders that you can remove; Clear removes them all.
- Priority sorts by tag priority first (High, Medium, Low, then untagged). See Tags and macros.
Take over from the agent
1
Open the conversation
Conversations the agent is replying to are in Agent. The bar above the composer reads “Sales agent is replying” (your agent’s name) and the message box says Take over to reply.
2
Click Take over
You see “You’re replying now. The agent is paused for this conversation.” The conversation moves to Mine and the box unlocks.
3
Reply
Type in the box and click Send.
Assign to a teammate
In the conversation header, open More actions, choose Assign to… and pick a teammate. The agent pauses, the conversation moves to that teammate’s Mine, a line in the conversation records who assigned it, and they get a Conversation assignments notification if it is on. To assign several at once, click the avatars of the rows you want. The list’s head turns into a bar showing how many are selected, with Assign to and Clear. Choose a teammate to assign at once, or Agent to hand them to the agent. If some fail you see “Couldn’t assign” with a count, and those rows stay selected so you can try again.Hand back to the agent
Use Hand back to agent in the bar above the composer while a teammate is replying. When nobody is replying, or the conversation is closed, use More actions → Hand to agent. The Hand to agent dialog asks When should the agent reply?
Click Hand to agent. You see “Handed to the agent” and the conversation moves to Agent. For several conversations, choose Assign to → Agent in the bulk bar: it asks “Hand 3 conversations to the agent?” with the choices Reply now and Wait for the customer’s next message.
Reply
The composer has two tabs, Reply and Note. Type in the box and click Send, or press ⌘ Enter (Ctrl Enter on Windows). Enter alone adds a new line. Text you have typed but not sent stays in the box for that conversation while the browser tab is open. If a send fails you see “Couldn’t send message” and your text is still in the box. Hover a message to Copy message or Reply to message. A bar above the box shows what you are answering, with Cancel reply. The tools under the box, shown on the Reply tab:
Templates, attachments and product cards work only in WhatsApp conversations; elsewhere the tools are dimmed with “Only in WhatsApp conversations”. Product cards need your catalog synced to WhatsApp, and one card carries at most 30 products; see Products in WhatsApp. After sending, the message says how many products reached the customer, and a product that did not go as a card shows a badge: Not in catalog, Failed to send, Sent as image, Sent as text or Not confirmed.
Messages from your side show a delivery state: a clock while Sending, one tick for Sent, two for Delivered, two in blue for Read, and Not delivered in red. Website chat conversations show no ticks, and API conversations show only Sent. A failed message carries a note under it that says why and what to do; see Troubleshooting.
Send a template outside the window
When the message box is greyed out because the 24-hour window is closed, click Send template. Templates in the tools row opens the same picker.1
Pick a template
In Choose a template, search under Search templates and choose one under Approved templates. Send from shows the WhatsApp number the conversation runs on and cannot be changed. Message preview shows what the customer will see.
2
Decide who continues
Switch on Agent replies when the customer answers if the agent should handle the reply. Leave it off to keep the conversation with your team.
3
Send it
Click Send template. If the template has variables the button reads Next: fill in the values under Fill in the template, then click Send template.
Start a new conversation
Click New conversation in the list’s head. In the dialog, choose Existing contact and pick one from Matching contacts, or New contact and enter First name, Last name and Phone number with its country code. A number you already have selects that contact instead. Click Select template, then follow the steps above; the last button reads Start chat. A new contact is saved to Customers as soon as you click Select template.Add an internal note
Switch to the Note tab, write under “Write a note. Only your team sees it.” and click Add note. Notes appear in the conversation, marked Note, are never sent to the customer, and work on any conversation, including ones the agent is replying to.Snooze or set aside
Click Snooze conversation (the clock in the header). Under Snooze until, choose The customer replies (it shows as Waiting on customer) or a time: 1 minute, 1 hour, 4 hours, Tomorrow at 9:00 AM, 3 days, 1 week or 1 month. Click Snooze. The conversation moves to Later and the agent stays out of it. The bar above the composer says “Snoozed until” and the time, or “Waiting on the customer”. It returns to Mine when the customer replies, or when the time you picked arrives.Close and reopen
Click Close in the header. You see “Conversation closed”, the conversation moves to Closed, and the next one opens. On a closed conversation the box says Reopen to reply and the bar above it offers Reopen, which brings the conversation back to Unassigned, or to Agent if the agent was replying when it closed. A customer who writes after you closed it starts a new conversation.Block a customer
In the customer details, open Customer actions and choose Block customer. The dialog Block this customer? says “They will no longer be able to message you. You can unblock them later.” Add a Reason (optional) and click Block customer. A Blocked badge appears by their name. Use Unblock customer in the same menu to reverse it.Customer details and summary
Click the customer’s name in the header (or find the panel docked on the right) to see:- The name, Customer since, and Customer actions: Edit customer, Open customer profile and Block customer. Under them, the phone number, WhatsApp username, email and place.
- Spent, Orders and Avg. order, when your store sync has them.
- A Quality score card with Details, on closed conversations the agent’s replies scored below 3.5 out of 5. It lists Understanding, Resolution, Accuracy, Communication, Instructions and Helpfulness, plus the customer’s sentiment and how the conversation ended. See Check replies before sending.
- Conversation summary. Click Summarize conversation to have the agent write a recap; Popcorn writes one only when you ask. It then shows above the messages as Summary, with Summarize again and Hide summary.
- Orders through Popcorn AI: the latest five, with View all.
- Customer tags: Add tag opens Edit tags, and each tag has a × to remove it. These describe the person, unlike the conversation tag.
- Store note, when your store has one.
- Conversation: Status, Started from, Started on, Last seen, Assignee (Agent, a teammate, or Unassigned), WhatsApp line, and Customer ID for API conversations.
See what the agent did
Under an agent reply, Used followed by a tool’s name, or Searched the knowledge base, shows what it relied on. Click Sources with a count, or Details, to open Message source. Tool used names the tool behind the reply. When the agent drew on your knowledge, Knowledge used links each article it cited, or the folder it searched. When it used a built-in action, What the agent did says so in a sentence, such as looking up the customer’s orders, searching your catalog to recommend products, or handing the conversation to your team. Voice notes from the customer show their Transcription. The lines between messages record every hand-off, close and reopen, so you can trace how the conversation reached you.Keyboard shortcuts
Open the list with ?, or from Keyboard shortcuts under Help in the sidebar. Shortcuts work anywhere except while you type in a field, and G sequences are ignored while a dialog or menu is open.Related
- Inbox overview for folders and what sends a conversation to Needs you.
- Tags and macros for triage and saved replies.
- Customers for the full customer profile and order history.