{"Status":true,"Message":"","Response":{"post":{"postuid":"e0e0486d-0c93-48b7-a9e1-0ee1c3372447","tenantuid":"d8b744fc-2e70-4089-bb80-dd1d08f6c7b2","projectuid":"fc6490ac-7527-4f49-b06e-46f701280e85","title":"Chat Notifications and Teams","slug":"article/chat-notifications-and-teams","html":"\u003Cp\u003ENotifications make sure someone hears about a conversation even when nobody has the inbox open. Alerts go to \u003Cb\u003Eteams\u003C/b\u003E, such as Support and Sales, and each team has its own Slack channel and email addresses. Set them up under \u003Cb\u003EInbox\u003C/b\u003E, then \u003Cb\u003EMessenger settings\u003C/b\u003E, then \u003Cb\u003ENotifications\u003C/b\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022teams\u0022\u003ETeams\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvery conversation is routed to one team, and all of its alerts go to that team. Each team has:\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ctable border=\u00221\u0022 style=\u0022border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\u0022\u003E\u003Cthead\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Cth\u003EField\u003C/th\u003E\u003Cth\u003EWhat it\u0027s for\u003C/th\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003C/thead\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ETeam name\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EFor example \u0022Support\u0022 or \u0022Sales\u0022. Shown in alerts and in the inbox.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWhich conversations belong to this team?\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EA short description the AI uses to route conversations, for example \u0022Prospects: pricing, plans, demos, trials, comparisons\u0022.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EAlways for these pages\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOptional page patterns, one per line, such as \u003Ccode\u003E/pricing/*\u003C/code\u003E or \u003Ccode\u003E/request-a-demo/\u003C/code\u003E. Chats started there always go to this team. A pattern that starts with a host only matches that site, for example \u003Ccode\u003Eapp.example.com/*\u003C/code\u003E.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ESlack channel\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWhere this team\u0027s alerts post. \u003Cb\u003ETest\u003C/b\u003E sends a test message.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EEmail alerts to\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EThis team\u0027s email addresses, one per line. \u003Cb\u003ETest\u003C/b\u003E sends a test email.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EReply-to on emails to visitors\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOptional. For example \u003Ccode\u003Esales@example.com\u003C/code\u003E, so replies to follow-up emails reach this team.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003C/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first team is the default. Click \u003Cb\u003EAdd a team\u003C/b\u003E to add more.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cfigure\u003E\u003Cimg class=\u0022lazy-load\u0022 data-src=\u0022https://graffiti-auf7e6dwhxhcbwek.z03.azurefd.net/d8b744fc-2e70-4089-bb80-dd1d08f6c7b2/fc6490ac-7527-4f49-b06e-46f701280e85/images/101eedf61d18431097a5c6a769ae474c.png?v=-479388938\u0022 data-width=\u0022986\u0022 data-height=\u00221276\u0022 style=\u0022max-width: 100%;\u0022 alt=\u0022The Notifications tab with Support and Sales teams, each with a description, page patterns, Slack channel, alert emails and reply-to address, followed by the alert switches and visitor email settings\u0022/\u003E\u003Cfigcaption\u003EMessenger settings, Notifications tab\u003C/figcaption\u003E\u003C/figure\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022how_a_conversation_finds_its_team\u0022\u003EHow a conversation finds its team\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIf it started from a \u003Ca href=\u0022/article/chat-proactive-messages\u0022\u003Eproactive message\u003C/a\u003E that names a team, it goes to that team.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOtherwise, the first team whose pages match the page the chat started on.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOtherwise, the AI reads the visitor\u0027s first message and picks the team whose description fits best.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIf none of these decide, it goes to the first team.\u003C/li\u003E\u003C/ol\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA teammate can move a conversation to another team from the inbox. Its later alerts then go to the new team.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022connecting_slack\u0022\u003EConnecting Slack\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESlack alerts use your project\u0027s Slack connection. Connect Slack in your project\u0027s \u003Cb\u003ESettings\u003C/b\u003E, then pick a channel for each team. Public channels work straight away. For a private channel, invite the HelpGuides app to it first.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022when_alerts_are_sent\u0022\u003EWhen alerts are sent\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Ctable border=\u00221\u0022 style=\u0022border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\u0022\u003E\u003Cthead\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Cth\u003ESetting\u003C/th\u003E\u003Cth\u003EDefault\u003C/th\u003E\u003Cth\u003EWhat it does\u003C/th\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003C/thead\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EAlert when a new chat starts\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOn\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EEvery new conversation, with the visitor\u0027s first message, even while the AI is answering. It also says when the chat came from a proactive message.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EAlert when a conversation needs a person\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOn\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWhen the AI hands off, or the visitor asks for someone. Also covers the alert when a visitor leaves their details for a follow-up (see below).\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EAlert when a visitor writes to the team\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOn\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWhen a visitor writes in a conversation waiting for, or assigned to, a person. At most once every 10 minutes per conversation.\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOnly when nobody is online in the inbox\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOn\u003C/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ESkips the alert above while a teammate has the inbox open and is Available\u003C/td\u003E\u003C/tr\u003E\u003C/table\u003E\u003Ch3 id=\u0022when_a_visitor_leaves_their_details\u0022\u003EWhen a visitor leaves their details\u003C/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen a visitor fills in the name-and-email follow-up form in a conversation that\u0027s already with your team, the team gets \u003Cb\u003E\u0022Jane Smith left their details for a follow-up\u0022\u003C/b\u003E, with their name, email and last question. It goes to the conversation\u0027s team in Slack, by team email and as a phone push (under \u003Cb\u003ENeeds a person\u003C/b\u003E). It\u0027s sent under \u003Cb\u003EAlert when a conversation needs a person\u003C/b\u003E, whoever is online. When the form is sent under an AI answer to a buying question, it hands the conversation to your team instead, and you get the usual \u0022needs a person\u0022 alert.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch3 id=\u0022what_an_alert_shows\u0022\u003EWhat an alert shows\u003C/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach Slack alert shows who the visitor is, why the alert was sent, their latest message and the page they\u0027re on, with an \u003Cb\u003EOpen in inbox\u003C/b\u003E button. Email alerts link to the conversation the same way. When the visitor hasn\u0027t said who they are, alerts read \u0022New chat with unknown visitor\u0022. When a message has files or images attached, the alert names them.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlerts and email subjects start with your messenger\u0027s \u003Cb\u003ETeam name\u003C/b\u003E, set on the \u003Cb\u003EGeneral\u003C/b\u003E tab. If you leave it blank, your account\u0027s name is used, or else the project\u0027s name without words like \u0022Documentation\u0022, \u0022Docs\u0022 or \u0022Help Center\u0022, so \u0022DailyStory Documentation\u0022 becomes \u0022DailyStory\u0022. With more than one team, alerts show the team\u0027s name too, for example \u003Cb\u003E[Acme \u00B7 Sales]\u003C/b\u003E in an email subject.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch3 id=\u0022slack_threads\u0022\u003ESlack threads\u003C/h3\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEach conversation gets one Slack thread. The first alert, usually the new chat, starts it, and later alerts reply in it.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAlerts that need someone, \u0022needs a person\u0022 and \u0022left their details\u0022, are also shown in the channel, so they\u0027re never buried.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EVisitor replies stay in the thread.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMoving a conversation to another team starts a new thread in that team\u0027s channel.\u003C/li\u003E\u003C/ul\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022phone_alerts\u0022\u003EPhone alerts\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPush notifications on phones are separate from team alerts. Each teammate turns them on for their own phone and chooses which alerts that phone gets, whatever the team\u0027s Slack and email settings are. See \u003Ca href=\u0022/article/using-the-chat-inbox-on-your-phone\u0022\u003EUsing the Chat Inbox on Your Phone\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch2 id=\u0022emailing_visitors\u0022\u003EEmailing visitors\u003C/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith \u003Cb\u003EEmail team replies the visitor hasn\u0027t seen\u003C/b\u003E on (the default), a teammate\u0027s reply that the visitor hasn\u0027t seen is emailed to them, if they gave an email. The email includes a link that reopens the chat on the page they were on. When the email goes out depends on whether the visitor is still on your website, shown in the \u003Cb\u003EStatus\u003C/b\u003E row of the inbox details panel:\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOnline or idle:\u003C/b\u003E after the wait in \u003Cb\u003EWait before emailing\u003C/b\u003E (3 minutes by default, 1 to 60), in case they read it in the chat first.\u003C/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOffline\u003C/b\u003E (they closed the page, switched away, or left it idle for 30 minutes): about a minute after the reply. A few quick replies go out as one email.\u003C/li\u003E\u003C/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESet a \u003Cb\u003EDefault reply-to address\u003C/b\u003E for teams without their own. Replies to these emails go to the reply-to address. They don\u0027t come back into the chat.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Ch3 id=\u0022who_chat_emails_come_from\u0022\u003EWho chat emails come from\u003C/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETeam alerts and visitor emails are sent from \u003Cb\u003Enoreply@helpguides.io\u003C/b\u003E, with your team\u0027s name as the sender name, for example \u0022Acme Support\u0022. If a \u003Cb\u003ETest\u003C/b\u003E says \u003Cb\u003ETest email sent\u003C/b\u003E but nothing arrives, the receiving mailbox is refusing or holding it. Group addresses and filtered mailboxes often only accept mail from known senders, so add noreply@helpguides.io as an allowed sender or contact, and check the group\u0027s pending or quarantine queue. See \u003Ca href=\u0022/article/troubleshooting-chat\u0022\u003ETroubleshooting Chat\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESee also \u003Ca href=\u0022/article/chat-support-hours\u0022\u003EChat Support Hours\u003C/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022/article/using-the-chat-inbox\u0022\u003EUsing the Chat Inbox\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E","publish_status":0,"post_type":"Article","authoruid":"3dde8c16-763a-4a2b-ae0b-1d8c50c62e3d","author":{"authoruid":"3dde8c16-763a-4a2b-ae0b-1d8c50c62e3d"},"featured_image_updating":false,"meta_description":"Set up team notifications for chats with Slack alerts and email to ensure timely responses, routing conversations based on pages, AI, or proactive messages.","display_toc":true,"has_workingcopy":false,"allow_indexing":true,"sort_order":22,"total_views":3,"date_published":"2026-09-26T16:45:00","date_updated":"2026-10-07T15:58:53.553","date_created":"2026-09-26T16:29:51.733"}}}