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Manage group conversations in the Inbox

How to add and remove customers from group conversations.

Beth-Ann Sher avatar
Written by Beth-Ann Sher
Updated over a week ago

Sometimes you’ll want to loop another customer into a conversation, the same way you might CC or BCC someone in an email. For example, a customer might need to get their manager’s input on a specific issue, like pricing.

The Messenger can only have 1 user/lead per conversation. When you add participants they'll be part of the conversation by email only.


Add or remove participants

There are two ways you can add or remove participants from a conversation:

1. In the conversation header

Go to the three dot menu in the conversation header and click Manage participants or use the shortcut ⌘/Ctrl K and search for "Manage participants".

Add new participants by searching a name or email from your contacts list.

Remove participants by selecting the remove button next to their name or email address. When a participant is removed from a conversation, they won't see any new replies.

After clicking Update in the modal your changes will take place immediately.

No one will receive email notifications when you add or remove participants from the modal.

2. In the composer

You can also add or remove participants from within the composer. Click into the composer to reveal the names field, then click on a name to show the address(es) of people you’re sending a message to.

Add new participants in the "To" or "Cc" or "Bcc" fields by searching for a contact's name or entering an email address.

Remove participants either by clicking on their name or using backspace to delete them. When a participant is removed from a conversation they won't see any more replies unless a customer CC's them back into the conversation.

Send the message.

Note:

  • Adding or removing participants in the composer will only take effect after you send a message.

  • Currently, there is no way to add new participants to a conversation via Workflows. This must be managed manually from the conversation header or the conversation composer.

Adding teammates as participants

If you add a teammates email address to a conversation and they are a member of your workspace, the email will not be sent to them. This function is in place because it's meant to act as an anti-looping functionality.

If you’d like to loop a teammate into a conversation without notifying other participants, we'd recommend mentioning them in a note.


Behavior in group conversations

Group conversations via the Messenger

The following behavior relates to when a conversation is taking place on the Messenger between a customer and a teammate, and then more participants are added to the conversation.

For the customer on Messenger

  • They will see a new event in the Messenger when a new participant is added or removed from the conversation.

  • Their replies from the Messenger will be sent as an email to all other participants in the conversation. The sender address will look like this john.doe.onchat@examply.intercom-mail.com

  • Only the original customer will receive replies in the Messenger. All other participants will receive replies by email.

For other participants

  • They will only receive new replies by email.

  • Their replies will be sent to the user on Messenger and also emailed to any other participants. They can add or remove participants when replying.

  • If they reply back and remove the user on Messenger, the conversation will split into a new email conversation with the other participants.

Group conversations via email

The following behavior relates to when a conversation is taking place over email between a customer and a teammate, and then more participants are added to the conversation.

  • All participants will receive replies by email only.

  • Participants can add or remove other users when composing their replies.

  • All replies will be threaded in the same conversation.

Customers replying to email conversations

When a customer replies to an email and adds or CCs a new email address, that address will be added as a participant in the conversation. However, if the customer removes addresses which were previously included, those addresses will still remain listed as participants in the inbox conversation unless a teammate removes them.

All replies from participants will be threaded within the same conversation. The recipients of each reply are shown in the email headers, so teammates should ensure they are replying to the correct participants.

Managing external participants

External participant could be someone who:

  • Was BCC’d by a participant and replied.

  • Is the member of an email group address (e.g. a Google Group) that is involved in an Intercom conversation.

  • An existing participant replying with alternate email addresses.

Screenshot 2024-12-12 at 12.46.56.png

All replies (including external replies) will be added into the same conversation thread. When external participants reply, teammates can choose to add them as a participant or ignore them and not change the overall list of participants associated with a conversation.

If you add them as a participant:

  • They will be visible to the other participants when the email is sent.

  • The composer will default to replying to them as they sent the last message.

  • The other participants will be put in CC.

If you don’t add them as a participant, the composer will default to replying to the last sent message in the conversation, which can be from either a participant or a teammate.

Note:

  • When teammates have added someone as a participant, the reply will continue to include an option to edit participants.

  • There is a limit of 50 BCC recipients per reply.

Tip: You can see and delete conversation history in email conversations before adding new participants.


Add a customer to a conversation on the move

If you have the Intercom Conversations app, you can easily add a customer to the conversation while you’re on the move.

Tap Actions in the top right hand corner of your screen, then select Add customer and enter the email address of the customer you’d like to add.

You can remove a customer on the mobile app too. Tap Actions in the top right hand corner of your screen, then select the name of the customer you’d like to remove and select Remove customer.


Remove company email addresses from group conversations

When you receive incoming messages from customers, your company’s support addresses (e.g. support@exampleapp.io) are often included. You’ll need to mark these addresses as company addresses so we know to ignore them, and not show them as participants in the conversation.


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