Allowing customers to continue their conversation over email

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The continuous conversations feature lets you keep customer interactions
going by sending an email when they leave a messaging conversation. Customers
can resume the conversation via email or the website. Activate this feature to
enhance user experience, especially during high wait times or offline
hours.
</p>
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<div class="body">
<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. Note that 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>
<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 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.
</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__d8e1593" 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 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__d8e1593" 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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