Skip to main content

Assigning, Transferring & Chat Followers

Summary​

In a multi-agent WhatsApp customer support operation, efficiently routing conversations to the right team member ensures rapid response times and prevents duplicate work. Wabixo provides real-time conversation ownership controls, allowing team members to manually claim or reassign chats, safely take over conversations with status confirmation prompts, filter inboxes by agent or bot, and follow active threads without disrupting primary ownership.

1. Understanding Conversation Ownership​

Every customer conversation in Wabixo has a clear ownership state displayed in the chat header and the inbox list:

Ownership Lifecycle:

  • 1. Incoming Inquiry: New messages enter through automated bots, keyword flows, or auto-assignment rules.

  • 2. Bot Handling (Unassigned): Handled autonomously by automation until claimed or routed to a team member.

  • 3. Assigned to Agent: Dedicated to a specific teammate and displayed in their personal Mine queue.

  • 4. Transferred: Reassigned to another colleague or department via the chat header dropdown.

  • 5. Followed: Monitored simultaneously by supervisors or collaborators via the Bell icon without changing primary ticket ownership.

  • Unassigned / Bot (BOT): The conversation is handled autonomously by automated reply flows, keyword actions, or the AI Agent. No human agent is currently designated as the exclusive owner.

  • Assigned to an Agent: A specific team member is responsible for responding to and resolving the inquiry. This chat appears directly in the agent's Mine view.

  • Team Group Affiliation: If the assigned agent belongs to one or more internal departments (e.g., Support Tier 1, Sales Inquiries), their assigned team group tags appear next to their name in the chat header stack.

  • Chat Followers: Additional team members who monitor the conversation for coaching, escalations, or cross-department handoffs without changing who owns the ticket.

2. Assigning or Transferring via the Chat Header​

The primary control for conversation ownership is located on the top-right of the active chat interface.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [Avatar] John Doe (+91 98765 43210)       [ Assignee: Priya Mehta v ] [Open v]|
|          Assigned: Priya Mehta (Sales Team)                                   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Steps to Assign or Transfer:​

  1. Open the conversation thread from the left sidebar.
  2. In the top-right header action bar, click the Assignee Selector dropdown.
  3. Use the built-in search bar to quickly locate a colleague by typing their name or email address.
  4. Select the target recipient:
    • Teammate Name: Immediately reassigns the conversation to that agent. The conversation will instantly reflect their name and move into their personal Mine queue.
    • Bot (Bot): Reassigns the conversation to automated system handling.
  5. Once selected, Wabixo updates the conversation in real time across all logged-in agent dashboards.

3. Reassignment & Takeover Safeguards​

To prevent agents from accidentally overriding or stepping on a colleague's active conversation, Wabixo includes a built-in Takeover Safeguard:

When Does the Safeguard Trigger?​

If you attempt to update the conversation status (for example, clicking Pending or Solved) on a conversation currently assigned to a colleague, Wabixo intercepts the action and presents an alert modal:

Change Status & Reassign?
"This chat is currently assigned to [Agent Name]. Do you want to assign it to yourself or keep it assigned to them?"

Action Choices:​

  • Assign to Me: Reassigns the conversation to your account and applies your status change. Use this when you are taking over resolution of the inquiry.
  • Keep Assigned: Keeps the original agent as the assigned owner while successfully updating the conversation status. Use this when assisting a teammate with closing or snoozing a chat on their behalf.
  • Cancel: Aborts the status change and leaves both status and assignment completely untouched.

4. Filtering Conversations by Assignee in the Left Sidebar​

You can filter your inbox view to locate specific conversations based on ownership:

1. View Modes (Top of Sidebar)​

  • All Chats: Displays every conversation across your organization's selected WhatsApp Business phone line.
  • Mine: Displays only conversations where you are explicitly designated as the assigned agent.

2. Sidebar Assignee Filter​

Under the search bar in the desktop sidebar, expand the Assignee section to filter the list:

  • Everyone: Shows conversations across all team members and unassigned bots.
  • Unassigned (Bot): Filters exclusively to conversations handled by automation or awaiting human pickup.
  • Specific Agent Name: Filters the conversation list to threads assigned to that specific team member.

5. Chat Followers System​

Not every interaction requires transferring full ownership. In complex support or enterprise sales scenarios, multiple team members may need visibility into a customer's inquiry.

What is a Follower?​

A follower is an agent or supervisor who has subscribed to an active conversation thread. Followers can track customer updates and internal notes without stripping the assigned agent of their ticket ownership.

Using the Followers System:​

  1. Open the active conversation and look at the Right Details Panel.
  2. Below the customer identity header, locate the Follow / Following action buttons:
    • Follow Button (Bell icon): Click to subscribe yourself as a follower. The button changes to Following (BellRing icon) with an active highlight.
    • Following Button (BellRing icon): Click again anytime to unfollow and stop tracking the conversation.
  3. Followers Counter & Modal (Users icon badge):
    • Click the follower counter badge to open the Followers Modal.
    • Review the complete list of team members currently following this customer.
    • Add Followers: Select any colleague from the "Add followers..." dropdown to add them to the thread.
    • Remove Followers: Click the X icon next to any teammate's name to remove them from the follower list.

6. Automated Assignment & Routing Rules​

In addition to manual transfers, Wabixo includes automated routing capabilities configured under Settings → Auto Assignment:

  • Priority Group Hierarchies: Route incoming inquiries to specialized team groups in a defined order.
  • Business Hours Verification: Route chats to on-duty teams during operating hours and trigger out-of-office materials after hours.
  • Agent Capacity Safeguards: Prevent agent burnout by enforcing a maximum number of concurrent active conversations per agent.
  • Inactivity Timeout Reassignment: Automatically reassign conversations to a secondary group or return them to the Bot if an assigned agent does not respond within the configured threshold.
  • Automated Canned Messages: Dispatch pre-configured templates or replies when an agent is busy, offline, or off-shift.

7. Customer Troubleshooting & FAQs​

Problem: The "Change Status & Reassign?" alert popped up unexpectedly​

  • Why it happens: You tried to change the status (e.g. marking as Pending or Solved) on a conversation assigned to someone else.
  • How to resolve:
    • If you are taking over the customer inquiry, click Assign to Me.
    • If you are simply helping your teammate clean up their queue without taking credit/ownership, click Keep Assigned.
    • If you clicked the status button by mistake, click Cancel.

Problem: A transferred conversation is not appearing in my "Mine" tab​

  • Check active WhatsApp line: Confirm that the active WhatsApp phone number in the top header matches the line where the conversation originated.
  • Check sidebar filters: Ensure your left sidebar does not have active tag or date-window filters that exclude the transferred conversation.
  • Verify assignment: Switch to All Chats, search the customer's phone number, and verify that your name is displayed in the header Assignee dropdown.

FAQ: Does the customer know when a conversation is assigned or transferred?​

No. All assignment selections, transfers, and follower subscriptions are strictly internal to your Wabixo workspace. The customer only sees standard messages sent from your verified WhatsApp Business phone number.

FAQ: Can multiple agents work on the same conversation?​

Yes. While each conversation has one primary assigned owner to maintain clear accountability, any number of team members can subscribe as Followers to review messages and collaborate via Internal Notes.