Allowing customers to continue their conversation over email

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">The continuous conversations feature allows you to automatically send an email notification to customers who abandon a conversation conducted through a messaging Web Widget, encouraging them to re-engage with your agents through their preferred channel.</p>
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<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">The continuous conversations feature lets customers pause and resume messaging conversations via email notifications when agents respond. It helps maintain engagement by sending emails with unread messages, allowing customers to reply by email or return to the chat. This feature requires messaging through a Web Widget, agent workspace, and a support email address, enhancing customer support continuity across channels.</p>
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<p class="p">The continuous conversations feature allows you to automatically send an email notification to
customers who abandon a conversation conducted through a messaging Web Widget,
encouraging them to re-engage with your agents through their preferred channel.</p>
<p class="p">This article includes the following topics:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_srz_5kj_p4b__ul_rc5_x15_nyb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_i1x_vxj_p4b">About continuous conversations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_lbl_bvj_p4b">Activating continuous conversations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_v2s_rrq_p4b">Deactivating continuous conversations</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_i1x_vxj_p4b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About continuous conversations</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">The continuous conversations feature allows both end users and agents to leave (but
not end) a messaging conversation at any time and pick it up where they left off,
without the end user losing track of the conversation.</p>
<p class="p">End users may choose to leave a conversation when the expected wait time is high, when your
business is offline, or there is a long queue, for example.</p>
<p class="p">With continuous conversations activated, an email is sent to the end user informing them when an
agent has left them a message in the conversation (see <a class="xref" href="#topic_urm_yxj_p4b">The end user experience</a>). The continuous
conversation email template is localized and translated based on the user's profile
language in Support. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408893879322" target="_blank">How does Zendesk set a language for a user in
Support?</a></p>
<p class="p">To use continuous conversations, your account must meet the following requirements:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_i1x_vxj_p4b__ul_qbv_f15_v4b">
<li class="li">Zendesk Suite OR Support + Chat (Team plan or higher).</li>
<li class="li">Agent Workspace activated. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581758611866" target="_blank">Activating and deactivating the Zendesk
Agent Workspace</a>.</li>
<li class="li">At least one agent with Chat access. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882929946" target="_blank">About Staff roles in Zendesk Admin
Center</a>.</li>
<li class="li">A <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842868506" target="_blank">support email address</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Consider the following when activating and using continuous conversations:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_i1x_vxj_p4b__ul_vqx_hd5_dfc">
<li class="li">The continuous conversations feature is only available when using messaging
through a Web Widget, and is not available on mobile devices.</li>
<li class="li">Continuous conversation emails are based on your <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886168090" target="_blank">email notification template</a>, and
can't be edited by the agent conducting the conversation.</li>
<li class="li">Email notifications are sent when a conversation is <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7043034053658" target="_blank">deemed inactive</a> with unread
messages from the agent, even if the associated ticket's status is Solved.
However, they will not be sent if the associated ticket's status is
Closed.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_urm_yxj_p4b">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">The end-user experience</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">With continuous conversations activated, an end user who leaves an ongoing conversation from a
website receives an email when an agent responds, allowing them to easily find
and continue the conversation when they're ready. The end user can continue the
conversation by responding to the email, or they can return to the website
conversation.</p>
<p class="p">The example below describes the default experience when you activate continuous conversations.
Here, an end user starts a conversation with a company that is currently
offline. If the end user has provided an email, they will receive an
acknowledgement informing them that email will be sent when the agent responds.
If the end user has not previously provided an email, they will be prompted to
provide one. End user email addresses cannot contain accented characters. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_urm_yxj_p4b__image_pxs_1pq_p4b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/continuous_conversations_info_request.png" width="300"></p>
<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The "We're offline" message from the AI agent is fixed and cannot be
customized.</div>
<p class="p">Later, an agent responds to the original conversation request. If the message from the agent
remains unread until the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7043034053658" target="_blank">conversation is considered inactive</a>,
an email is sent to the end user with the unread agent’s response. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_urm_yxj_p4b__image_gqj_4pq_p4b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/continuous_conversations_email_received.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p">The email includes the number of unread agent messages, a snippet of the
conversation, and instructions for continuing the conversation.</p>
<div class="p">The end user can choose to continue the conversation by responding to the email, or return to the
website to do so.<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The example above uses the default <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883361946" target="_blank">Support account email notification</a>
format. If you are using a customized email template, the continuous
conversations email sent to end users may look different.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested2" id="topic_xwq_yxj_p4b">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title4">The agent experience</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">For agents, the entire conversation takes place in the Zendesk Agent
Workspace. Continuing with the example above, when an agent returns to work,
they are notified that a conversation is waiting for them in their queue, and
they can respond to the conversation as usual.</p>
<p class="p">If the agent leaves a message for the end user in the conversation, and
the message remains unread by the end user, an email is automatically triggered.
When the end user responds, their response is included in the conversation,
indicating whether it was sent via email or messaging:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_xwq_yxj_p4b__image_fy3_zqq_p4b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/continuous_conversations_agent_view.png" width="600"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_ebl_q25_v4b">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Working with other triggers</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If you are using the
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842866074" target="_blank">out-of-office message</a>
trigger, you may
want to deactivate it when using continuous conversations to prevent sending
duplicate messages to the end user.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_lbl_bvj_p4b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Activating continuous conversations</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can activate continuous conversations on the Ticket Settings page in Admin Center. You must
be an admin or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">agent in a custom role</a> with permission to manage ticket
settings to change this setting.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To activate continuous conversations</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_lbl_bvj_p4b__ol_hvt_3rq_p4b">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_lbl_bvj_p4b__d8e1706" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Tickets &gt; Settings</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Continuous conversations</strong> to expand it.</li>
<li class="li">Under the Settings tab, select <strong class="ph b">Switch messaging conversations to email</strong>. <p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_lbl_bvj_p4b__image_pzb_pc5_v4b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/continuous_conversations_setting_2.png" width="600"></p>
<div class="p">This activates continuous conversations and creates an active, editable
trigger, <em class="ph i">Request email for continuous conversations</em>, that sends a
request for the end user's email address after the conversation is idle
for 5 seconds. You can find the trigger on the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5973077601562" target="_blank">Messaging triggers
page</a>.<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> If you do not want to send an email request to end
users – for example, if you are already collecting their email
address at the beginning of the conversation – you can deactivate
this trigger, or update the trigger's actions. </div>
</div>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_lbl_bvj_p4b__image_zkk_rc5_v4b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/continuous_conversations_trigger.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested1" id="topic_v2s_rrq_p4b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title7">Deactivating continuous conversations</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If you choose to stop using continuous conversations, you’ll need to deactivate both
the tickets setting and the trigger created when you activated the feature.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To deactivate continuous conversations</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_v2s_rrq_p4b__ol_dvl_srq_p4b">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_v2s_rrq_p4b__d8e1706" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Tickets &gt; Settings</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Continuous conversations</strong> to expand it.</li>
<li class="li">Deselect <strong class="ph b">Switch messaging conversations to email</strong>, then click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong> at the bottom of
the page.</li>
<li class="li">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>
, click <img class="image" id="topic_v2s_rrq_p4b__image_x4g_z3c_ksb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png"><strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then
select <strong class="ph b">Business rules &gt; Messaging triggers</strong> and open the trigger
<strong class="ph b">Request email for continuous conversation</strong>. </li>
<li class="li">Deselect
<strong class="ph b">Activate this trigger</strong>, then click
<strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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