Managing Conversation Read Status

Understanding Conversation Read Status

In your CRM, conversations have a read status that indicates whether a message has been acknowledged or handled. An unread status acts as a visual flag, helping your team quickly identify which leads or customer inquiries still require attention. A conversation remains unread until a deliberate action is taken, such as sending a reply or manually changing its status.

Why This Matters

This system provides several key advantages for managing your team's communications:

• Prevents Oversight: Simply opening a message does not mark it as read. This ensures messages aren't accidentally considered handled before a proper response is given.
• Improves Organization: Your team's inbox stays organized, with unread conversations remaining prominent until actioned.
• Enables Automation: You can use workflows to automatically update the read status based on specific triggers or conditions.

How Read and Unread Status Works

The system is designed for intentional management. Viewing a message by clicking on it does not change its read status. A conversation will only be marked as read when one of the following actions occurs:

• You send a reply within the conversation.
• You manually click the Mark as Read icon while viewing the conversation.
• An automated workflow uses the Edit Conversation action to update the status.

Manually Marking a Conversation as Read

Follow these steps to manually update a conversation's status.

1. Navigate to the Conversations area from your main CRM dashboard.
2. Open your Team Inbox.
3. Select an unread conversation to open its detailed view.
4. In the top-right area of the conversation panel, click the Mark as Read icon. The conversation will immediately be removed from your unread count and list.

Alternatively, simply replying to the conversation will also automatically mark it as read.

Automating Read Status with Workflows

For scenarios where you want to automatically manage read status, you can use the built-in workflow automation. The Edit Conversation workflow action allows you to set a conversation as read or unread based on triggers you define, such as a contact taking a specific action or a certain amount of time passing. This eliminates the need for manual updates in repetitive situations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does opening a conversation mark it as read?

No. Opening or previewing a conversation does not automatically change its status to read.

Why does a conversation stay unread after I've looked at it?

This is a deliberate feature to prevent messages from being marked as handled before your team has actually replied or taken intentional action.

Does sending a reply mark the conversation as read?

Yes. Replying to an unread conversation will automatically mark it as read.

Can I mark a message as read without sending a reply?

Yes. Open the conversation and click the Mark as Read icon located in the top-right section of the conversation view.

Can I automate this process?

Yes. You can use the Edit Conversation action within a workflow to automatically mark conversations as read or unread based on your specified conditions.