The Inbox holds every conversation on every channel, one thread per lead. Replies land here within seconds, each with its free reply window shown.
Find the conversations that need you
- In the sidebar open Inbox.
- Use the quick chips: All, Unread, Mine, Window open and Waiting on us.
- Search by lead, message or channel.
- Look for the markers on a row: Window open, Closing soon or Window closed, Needs attention and Replied, not yet synced.
- For more, add a filter such as Channel, Assignee or Waiting on. Filters and the open thread live in the link, so a view can be shared.
Needs attention means a send that failed, or a lead waiting on you for more than four hours.
Reply while the window is open
On WhatsApp and similar channels a reply is free for a limited time after the lead's last message. That is the window.
- Open the conversation.
- Type in the box that says Reply on followed by the channel, for example Reply on WhatsApp.
- Check the hint under it: Free while the window is open. or Send now: the window is closing.
- Press Send. Tern says Message queued: it is sent once the guard step clears it.
- For a conversation captured by Tern Bridge, the message arrives in the extension as a draft and the agent presses send in WhatsApp Web. See WhatsApp Web capture and assisted send.
Reply after the window has closed
When the window is closed the composer says Free replies are closed on that channel and lists the cheapest next steps, starting with a call task, which is free.
- Press Create call task to put a call on the owner's My day.
- Or press Choose a template. The Send a template dialog lists approved templates for the channel with a rough price each. Utility templates cost less than marketing ones.
- Templates count against your monthly allowance. See Billing and usage caps.
Replied, not yet synced
This marker means Tern Bridge saw the lead's reply in the WhatsApp Web chat list, but nobody has opened the chat yet, so Tern has the preview and not the full message.
- Open the chat in WhatsApp Web, or
- Press Sync replies in the extension, which opens each waiting chat in turn. WhatsApp marks those chats as read. See Install Tern Bridge.
The marker goes away as soon as the real message is captured.
Organise a conversation
- Open the thread and press More.
- Under Assign choose Assign to me, a teammate or Unassign.
- Choose Snooze until tomorrow to hide it for a day, or Close conversation when it is done. Reopen brings it back.
- For a bridge conversation that is really a support question, choose Mark as support. The next message from this person opens or attaches a ticket.
Link to lead
Sometimes Tern Bridge captures a chat and cannot tell who it is, for instance a lead writing from a number that is not on their record. The thread then shows the chat's name with no lead behind it and a Link to lead button.
- Open the thread and press Link to lead.
- In Find the lead, search by name, phone or email.
- Pick the lead from the results. If nothing matches, the dialog says No lead matches. Check the spelling or create the lead first.
- Leave the box ticked that offers to also save the number or handle on the lead, so their next message links by itself. If the thread only carries a name, there is nothing to save and the dialog says so: new messages in that chat still go to the lead you pick.
- Press the button, which now reads Link to followed by the lead's name.
The whole thread moves onto the lead's timeline and Tern confirms Linked to the lead.
Open a ticket from a thread
- Open a thread that belongs to a lead and press New ticket.
- Fill in Subject, Priority and What happened.
- Press Open ticket. The first response clock starts now. See Support tickets.