Message requests and muted people
When somebody new writes to you, their message waits as a request that only you see. Let them in, hide the conversation so it stays private to you, or mute them. Your muted list is yours, and Unmute takes anyone back.
What a message request is
When somebody writes to you for the first time, by email or on WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram, Terry does not put them straight into the team's Chat and Inbox. Their message is kept in full, and it waits as a message request for the person it arrived for: whoever connected that account or mailbox. When nobody owns it, your admins decide.
Newsletters and other bulk mail, and email from colleagues on your own domain, never become requests.
While a request waits:
- Nobody else on your team sees the person or their messages, in any list or in search.
- Terry does not draft or send an answer, and does not hand the conversation to a rep.
- You get one alert, in Terry and by email: "Janet sent you a message". More messages from Janet add to the same request without another email.
You find your requests in Chat, under the Requests filter at the top of the list, with the count beside it. The bell at the top of the page opens Alerts, which shows them too, and Home lists them among the things waiting for you.
Ask me first, or let them straight in
Whether new people wait as requests at all is your choice, for each channel: Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram and email. Open Settings, Notifications, press Edit on Where alerts go, and go to step 3, New senders.
- Ask me first holds every new person as a message request, as described above.
- Let them straight in treats a new person like any other conversation: the team sees them, Terry drafts an answer, and if your workspace answers automatically, Terry answers them too.
For example, an influencer who gets hundreds of new Instagram messages a day and wants each one answered picks Let them straight in for Instagram, and keeps Ask me first for email. Someone whose relatives write to the business account keeps Ask me first.
The choice belongs to the person whose account the message arrived on. Until you choose, the workspace default applies, and an admin sets that default on the same page. The screen tells you which one is in force (Your choice or Workspace default). The admin's card is called Workspace default for new senders. Whatever you choose, Mute stays on every conversation.
Your three answers
On a request in Chat, press Let in and choose from its menu.
| Answer | What happens |
|---|---|
| Let in | They become an ordinary conversation in Chat and the Inbox, including the messages that were waiting. Terry may draft an answer to what waited for a person to review, but never sends it on its own, whatever your auto-reply setting. New messages after that are handled like anyone else's, and they count in your team's reply numbers from then on. |
| Hide | A private conversation. It shows in your own Chat and Inbox and nobody else's. Terry never answers on its own, and only you are told when they write. |
| Mute | Their messages are still kept, but you are never alerted and they stay out of your lists. They go on your Muted people list. |
Busy people use Hide for a friend or relative who writes to the business account, and Mute for anyone they do not want to hear from at all.
Mute someone you already talk to
Any conversation can be muted: in Chat, open the More menu in the header and press Mute for me; in the Inbox, open the conversation's More menu (the dots) and press Mute. It is for you only: you stop getting alerts about that person and they leave your lists, while your teammates carry on as before. To keep a person away from the whole team, an admin can use Archive on the person (in the person's drawer on Prospects), or close the conversation in the Inbox with Move, Close, no deal. Then nobody is told when they write, and Terry does not draft or answer.
Your muted list
Open Settings, Notifications and look at the Muted people card. Everyone you muted is listed with their name, where they wrote from and when you muted them. Only you see your list. An admin can tick Show the whole team to see everyone's lists; each person unmutes from their own.
Unmute puts a person back where they were. Somebody you muted from a request goes back to your requests (Chat, Requests), where you can let them in or hide them. Somebody you muted from a conversation comes back into your lists. You are not emailed about them again just because you unmuted them.
In Classic
- Requests are on Home, under the bell (Alerts), at the top of Chat, and on the Message requests page.
- The choice for new senders is on Settings, Notifications, under When someone new messages you.
- Mute is a button on any conversation in Chat or the Inbox.
- To keep a person away from the whole team, close the conversation as Lost or Not a fit.
To switch dashboards, see The new dashboard.