How do I make the inbox do routine steps for me?

A rule does a routine step for you when something happens in a conversation, like labeling every new web chat or sending billing questions to your billing team. A macro is a saved set of steps that an agent runs on one conversation with one click. Only admins create and edit both.

Make a rule

1. Go to Settings, then Inbox, then Rules.
2. Click New rule and give it a name.
3. Pick the event that should start it (see the list below).
4. Add conditions if the rule should only apply to some conversations. With no conditions, the rule applies every time the event happens.
5. Add one or more actions. Where an action needs a choice, you pick it from a list: an agent, a team, a label, or a status.
6. Click Create rule. The rule is saved switched off, unless you tick Active (which asks you to confirm).

A new rule starts switched off, so you can check it first. When you turn it on, you are asked to confirm, because from then on it acts on live conversations.

When a rule can run

A rule starts from one of five events:

• A conversation is created.
• A conversation's status changes.
• A conversation is assigned.
• A message arrives in a conversation.
• A conversation is labeled.

What a rule can do

• Assign a conversation to an agent or to a team.
• Add or remove a label.
• Change the status to Open, Pending or Resolved. Resolved also hands the conversation back to the AI, the same as resolving it by hand.
• Send a reply.
• Run a macro.

Assigning an agent with a rule only routes the conversation to them. The AI keeps answering until a person takes over, exactly as it would if the conversation had been assigned by the round-robin. An Assign agent action also never takes a conversation away from someone who already has it.

A rule runs once per conversation

Each rule acts at most once on any one conversation, however many times the event happens again. A rule that labels new chats will not keep adding the label when you remove it by hand.

Run a macro from a conversation

1. Open the conversation.
2. Click Run macro in the thread toolbar.
3. Pick a macro. Its steps run on that conversation right away.

Admins and advisors can run macros. A macro marked Everyone is available to all of them. A macro marked Just me can only be run by the person who made it.

Make a macro

1. Go to Settings, then Inbox, then Macros.
2. Click New macro and give it a name.
3. Choose who can use it: Everyone (global) or Just me (personal).
4. Add the actions, in the order they should run.
5. Click Create macro.

A rule did not do anything

• Check that the rule is switched on in Settings, then Inbox, then Rules.
• Check the event matches. A rule for "A message arrives" does not run when a conversation is only labeled.
• Check the conditions. They have to all be true at the same time.
• Remember it runs once per conversation. If it already ran on this one, it will not run again.
• An Assign agent action does nothing if the conversation already has an owner.