Automatically releasing agent capacity for inactive messaging conversations

<body>
<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Configuring the automatic release of an agent’s messagingcapacityallows admins to specify how long a conversation can remain active without input from an end user before it’s considered inactive. Depending on youromnichannel routing configuration, marking a conversation as inactive can remove the ticket from an agent’s capacity, allowing another conversation to be routed to them without requiring them to manually update the ticket status.</p>
<div class="article-banners">
<div id="docs-wmp-link">
<a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5411234991258-plan" rel="noopener" target="_blank">What's my plan?</a>
</div>

<div class="article-banner" id="suite_all">
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<strong>All Suites</strong>
</td>
<td>Team, Growth, Professional, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>

</div>
<div id="docs-ai-summary">
<p id="docs-ai-summary-toggle">Summary: <span id="up-triangle">◀</span><span id="down-triangle">▼</span></p>
<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">You can configure automatic release of agent capacity for inactive messaging conversations by setting an inactivity period and ticket status changes. This helps manage agent workload by freeing capacity when end users don’t respond, and can send reminders to prompt user engagement. The feature supports omnichannel routing and business rules, improving ticket handling without manual status updates.</p>
</div>

<div class="body">

<p class="p" dir="ltr">Configuring the automatic release of an agent’s messaging <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4776409839770" target="_blank">capacity</a> allows admins to specify how long a conversation
can remain active without input from an end user before it’s considered inactive.
Depending on your <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4828787357210" target="_blank">omnichannel routing configuration</a>, marking a conversation as
inactive can remove the ticket from an agent’s capacity, allowing another conversation
to be routed to them without requiring them to manually update the ticket status. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">This article describes how admins can configure the auto-release capacity
settings, including the inactivity period and the ticket and messaging session status
when a ticket becomes inactive. Additionally, admins can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9496171412378" target="_blank">send up to three reminders</a> to end users when their
conversation becomes inactive.</p>
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics: <ul class="ul" id="messaging_inactivity_timer__ul_iwt_4rq_1bc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_d1b_hpz_1bc">About active and inactive messaging tickets</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_fr2_prq_1bc">Considerations when using the capacity release settings</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_mfm_prq_1bc">Configuring the auto-release capacity setting</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_d1b_hpz_1bc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About active and inactive messaging tickets</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">In conversational support, there’s a concept of active and inactive tickets. <ul class="ul" id="topic_d1b_hpz_1bc__ul_smn_hpz_1bc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Active tickets</strong> are those with recent responses from the end user. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Inactive tickets</strong> are those that haven’t had a response from the end
user in a specified period, or that have a status other than <em class="ph i">New</em> or
<em class="ph i">Open</em>. By default, Zendesk defines a messaging ticket as inactive
when an end user hasn’t sent a reply in the last 10 minutes. This includes
conversations deemed inactive by <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10440912714266" target="_blank">end-user presence
detection</a>.<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The capacity release settings, including the
inactivity period, apply only to messaging conversations already
assigned to agents. All unassigned messaging conversations have a
default inactivity period of 10 minutes.</div>
</li>
</ul>
The ticket’s activity classification, as well as the ticket status applied to
it, can impact routing, business rules, and an agent’s <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4776409839770" target="_blank">capacity</a>. </div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_fr2_prq_1bc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Considerations when using the capacity release settings</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Consider the following when turning on and configuring the automatic
release of agent capacity:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_fr2_prq_1bc__ul_is3_jpz_1bc">
<li class="li">If you don’t use the auto-release capacity settings, Zendesk applies a
default inactivity period of 10 minutes without a response from the end
user. </li>
<li class="li">The auto-release capacity settings are applied to all open messaging tickets
currently assigned to agents and to those that are created or reopened after
these settings are saved. </li>
<li class="li">When using the default inactivity period and the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4828787357210#topic_glj_pmr_wbc" target="_blank">messaging activity routing</a> setting
for omnichannel routing is turned off, a messaging ticket no longer counts
towards an agent’s capacity when it becomes inactive, but the ticket's
status doesn’t change. </li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9496171412378" target="_blank">Inactivity reminders</a> are available
for the Web Widget, iOS and Android SDKs, and Zendesk-supported social
messaging channels.</li>
<li class="li">The auto-release capacity setting provides a powerful way to manage agent
capacity when used with omnichannel routing, but can also be used
effectively with other business rules that rely on changes in ticket status. </li>
<li class="li">You must be an admin to configure the auto-release capacity setting. </li>
<li class="li">To avoid any unexpected behavior, we recommend turning on the auto-release
capacity setting during a low-volume time. </li>
<li class="li">It can take up to 10 minutes for updates to the auto-release capacity
setting to begin working. </li>
<li class="li">If an AI agent is in use, inactivity reminders are sent to end users from
that AI agent, and the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6447066520986" target="_blank">avatar and bot name</a> associated
with it are displayed with the message. If no AI agent is in use, the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4500747797914#topic_ubc_nmd_btb" target="_blank">logo associated with the Web
Widget</a> appears with the message.</li>
<li class="li">For assigned tickets, the inactivity period begins <em class="ph i">when an agent first
replies to the conversation</em>. Conversations remain active until the
agent replies and the inactivity period ends, or the ticket status is
manually updated.</li>
<li class="li">When you turn on the auto-release capacity setting, a new <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886739098" target="_blank">standard ticket field</a> becomes
available: <strong class="ph b">Pause messaging reminders</strong>. Admins can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5494868102426" target="_blank">add this field to ticket forms</a>,
allowing agents to exclude specific tickets from receiving inactivity
reminders. The field can also be used as a condition or an action in
triggers and macros.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_mfm_prq_1bc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Configuring the auto-release capacity setting</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Admins can use the auto-release capacity setting to help agents manage their capacity
and help end users remember to keep a conversation active if they want. These
settings can also help business rules, such as triggers, to run more effectively on
tickets because they alter the ticket status when a conversation becomes inactive.
The change in ticket status is captured in the ticket’s audit events:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_mfm_prq_1bc__image_n5g_g5q_1bc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/auto-release_capacity_event-aw.png" width="400"></p>
<p class="p">When <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4828787357210#topic_glj_pmr_wbc" target="_blank">omnichannel routing is configured <em class="ph i">not</em> to
count inactive conversations toward agent capacity</a>, the capacity release
settings can increase efficiency by automatically releasing an agent's capacity
without requiring them to manually alter the ticket's status.</p>
<p class="p">Auto-release capacity and inactivity reminders are turned on and configured by
default. The default configuration sends three reminders with simple message
text.</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_mfm_prq_1bc__ul_i5w_zlh_3fc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The initial reminder is sent after five minutes of end-user
inactivity, and updates the ticket’s status to Pending. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The second reminder is sent after another five minutes of end-user
inactivity, and does not update the ticket’s status.
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The third and final reminder is sent after one additional minute of
end-user inactivity, and updates the ticket’s status to Solved.
</li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">You can keep these default settings, customize them, turn off reminders, or
turn off automatic capacity release.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> For accounts created after May 19, 2025, the auto-release capacity setting is
turned on by default. Accounts created before this date need to turn on
automatic capacity release before they can configure this setting and the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9496171412378" target="_blank">inactivity reminders</a>.</div>
</div>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To customize the messaging capacity release settings</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_mfm_prq_1bc__ol_uq5_dsq_1bc">
<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_mfm_prq_1bc__image_tkl_qkz_gqb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_channels_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Channels</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Messaging and social &gt;
Messaging</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Manage settings</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">In the Advanced section of the Messaging settings page, click <strong class="ph b">Capacity
release</strong>. Make sure <strong class="ph b">Turn on auto-release capacity</strong> is
selected.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_mfm_prq_1bc__image_srn_wsq_1bc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/auto-release_capacity.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Inactivity period</strong>, enter a whole number from 3 to 15. This is
the time in minutes a conversation can go without a reply from an end user
before it is considered active. This time is measured from any agent’s last
sent message after the initial ticket assignment. If the agent sends
multiple messages, the time is counted based on the first message the agent
sent after the last message from the end user.
</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Ticket status for inactive conversations</strong>, select a status to
automatically apply to inactive tickets. You can select Pending, On-hold,
Solved, or a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4412575861018" target="_blank">custom status</a> mapped to these
ticket status categories. New and Open statuses can’t be used. Triggers
using the selected status as a condition will fire when the new status is
applied.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Remind customers about inactive conversations</strong>:<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_mfm_prq_1bc__ul_gq1_3l1_bgc">
<li class="li">Select <strong class="ph b">Do not remind</strong> if you <em class="ph i">don't</em> want to send any
messages to end users when a conversation becomes inactive.
Select <strong class="ph b">End messaging session after conversation becomes
inactive</strong> to automatically <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8009788438042" target="_blank">end the messaging
session</a>.</li>
<li class="li">Select the number of reminders (up to three) you want to send to
end users before a conversation becomes inactive. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9496171412378" target="_blank">Sending conversation
inactivity reminders to end users</a> for more
information about using this setting.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Note that if you select Solved as the ticket status for the initial
inactivity period, you will only be able to select <strong class="ph b">Do not remind</strong>
or <strong class="ph b">1 reminder</strong>.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save settings</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<script id="docs-schema-markup" type="application/ld+json">{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "TechArticle",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7043034053658",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7043034053658",
"headline": "Automatically releasing agent capacity for inactive messaging conversations",
"description": "You configure auto-release capacity so inactive messaging conversations change status, release agent capacity, and can send up to three inactivity reminders.",
"articleSection": "Zendesk messaging",
"datePublished": "2024-04-09T21:18:32+00:00",
"dateModified": "2026-09-03T21:53:05.974634+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7043034053658"
},
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Zendesk Help",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/"
},
"about": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com",
"softwareAddOn": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Messaging",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/5282979501978"
}
}
}</script><script id="ai-summary-script">
//<![CDATA[
const ai_summary_style = document.createElement('style');
ai_summary_style.innerHTML = `#styled-article-body{padding:0 0 0}#article-body #docs-ai-summary{background-color:#f3f3f3;border:1px solid #d3d3d3;padding:10px 10px 6px;margin-bottom:16px}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-toggle{font-size:.9em;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:4px;cursor:pointer;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-toggle #up-triangle{margin-left:auto;padding-right:10px;display:none}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-toggle #down-triangle{margin-left:auto;padding-right:10px}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-content{font-size:.9em;padding-left:25px;padding-right:25px;margin-bottom:12px}`;
document.head.appendChild(ai_summary_style);

const toggleAISummary = () => {
const summary = document.getElementById("docs-ai-summary-content");
const upTriangle = document.getElementById("up-triangle");
const downTriangle = document.getElementById("down-triangle");
if (summary.style.display === "none") {
summary.style.display = "block";
upTriangle.style.display = "none";
downTriangle.style.display = "inline";
} else {
summary.style.display = "none";
upTriangle.style.display = "inline";
downTriangle.style.display = "none";
}
};

document.getElementById("docs-ai-summary-toggle").addEventListener("click", toggleAISummary);
//]]>
</script>
</body>