Where are my threads and conversations in groups?

This article provides a guide on how threads behave in groups and where to locate them.

Skip to:

• What are threads?
• Which threads appear in the Workflows tab?
• Which threads appear in the Conversations tab?
• What happens to threads in groups when agents are removed?
• What happens to threads in groups when contacts are unassigned?
• How do I give threads to agents in groups?
  
  

What are threads?

Threads hold the conversation history between agents and contacts in a group. In groups, there’s only one thread for each contact in a group. 

Many Agents can share threads, but only one agent can message on a thread at any one time. The contacts that agents will message in groups depends on the assignment status of contacts. To determine which agents can message on a particular thread, admins can assign contacts to specific agents in a group or leave contacts unassigned in groups.

• • When unassigned, threads are available to any agent in the group on a first-come-first-served basis.
  • When assigned, only the assigned agent can receive and send messages on the thread. At any point in time, the shared thread can be unassigned or reassigned to a different agent in the group. 

Which threads appear in the Workflows tab?

The Workflows tab has workflows, which collect individual threads and are available to agents based on the group, the targeting of the goal, and if agents have read replies from contacts. For more information about creating goals, see How can agents message contacts?

Note: Hustle recommends messaging contacts from the Workflows tab, instead of the Conversations tab, to ensure every contact is messaged promptly and conversations don’t get lost.

The two types of workflows available to message in are:

• Begin Sending Messages workflows: Also known as Initial workflows; where you begin the conversation with contacts and send the first message of a goal. For more information, see How do I text using the Hustle web app?
• Reply to...unreads workflows: Also known as Response workflows; where you reply to unread messages from contacts. For more information, see How do I text using the Hustle web app?
  
  

When a contact replies to your initial message, their response will appear in your response workflows first as a reply. Based on the assignment status, the reply can eventually become available to other agents in the group after a period of time set by an admin. For more information on this window of time, see What can organization admins do?

In summary, on the Workflows tab:

What threads appear in the Conversations tab?

The Conversations tab allows agents to search for specific threads they own so they can make changes including applying tags, opting out contacts, editing a contact's profile, marking a lead action, or following up on a conversation at a later day or time. Threads in the Conversations tab may not be available in the Workflows tab due to many factors; however, the main reasons involve the contact’s assignment status (unassigned vs assigned) and the status of the conversation (read or unread).

Included in the Conversations tab are:

• Threads where you were the last agent to text the contact.
• Threads for every contact who is currently assigned to you.

Note: Hustle doesn’t recommend using the Conversations tab to manage the replies of active goals; use the Conversations tab to review captured data and if necessary to message on specific threads as needed.

There are two filters for the Conversations tab; 

• All: The All filter includes all threads including assigned and unassigned threads where you were the last agent who messaged on the thread.
• Unresponded: The Unresponded filter includes all threads from the All tab, where the last message on the thread was from the contact.

Note while reviewing the Conversations tab:

• Since threads are group-specific, some contacts may have multiple threads in the Conversations tab with multiple conversation histories.
• Opening a conversation will mark the thread as read and it will be removed from reply workflows. Once a conversation has been marked as read, it’ll be available for review based on the assignment status of the thread:
  • Assigned threads: Every thread of every contact currently assigned to you.
  • Unassigned threads: Threads where you were the last agent who messaged on the thread.

In summary, on the Conversations tab:

What happens to threads when agents are removed from groups?

When agents get removed from groups, depending on the assignment status of the contact, threads may no longer be available to other agents in the group.

• If contacts are reassigned, unread replies will be available to the assigned agent via Workflows once the response window passes. Read replies will also be available to the assigned agent via the Conversations tab.
• If contacts are unassigned, only unread messages will be available for other agents in the group via Reply workflows after the response window passes. Read messages will continue to be locked to the removed agent.
  
  

What happens to threads when contacts are unassigned in groups?

When contacts are unassigned in groups, their threads will typically be available for review in the Conversations tab of the last agent who sent a message.

For more information on unassigning contacts, see How do I unassign contacts?

How do I give threads to agents in groups?

Using the Conversation Review in the Admin Panel, admins can assign threads to other agents in case the owner of the thread isn't available.

To assign a thread to another agent in a group, open the thread in the current agent's conversations and click Assign

After choosing which agent should reply, the thread will move to the new agent's Conversations tab. Additionally, a URL to that agent's conversations will pop up which admins can Copy so they can easily let the new agent know they have a new thread.

• It can take up to 20 minutes for re-assigned threads from active workflows to become available for new agents to message on.
• Assigned threads in groups are available via the Conversations tab.