Inbox

Open it from the Inbox list (opening a thread marks it read automatically) and reply; "Send via" only lists channels the tenant has actually configured, defaulting to the conversation's own channel. An unread conversation is marked by a dot and bold text in the list; the browser tab's title also shows how many conversations are unread, e.g. "(3) Inbox".

Every row in the list (any channel) shows the customer's name, the number or email under it, and the staff member on it at the right with a small person icon. The name is the one on the contact (a name you typed always wins), else the name on the website order, else the name the customer's channel sends (the WhatsApp profile name, the name on the email's From line, the name typed in the website chat), else the number or email, else "Unknown". The profile name is kept when the customer writes in and has no name yet, and fills in older chats that only showed a number the next time the customer writes. The staff member is the person the conversation is assigned to; if nobody, the order's closer; if nobody, the last person who replied; nothing when nobody on staff has touched it.

When a business has not connected its own email (the Resend app in Settings > Apps, or its own sending domain), an email reply goes out from Lazycom's shared address as "<Business name> via Lazycom" (just "<Business name>" on a plan that removes the Lazycom branding), and the customer's answer still comes back into the same conversation. The line above the reply box says which address will be used. It only replies to the customer in that conversation, and has limits: a number of emails per hour and per day for each business, a smaller number of new email addresses per day, and a daily limit across Lazycom. When a limit is reached, the reply is not sent (nothing is queued), the message says why, and the text stays in the box. Switching on the Resend app in Settings > Apps, or setting up your own sending domain in Settings → Email sending, removes these limits. The plan must include email replies.

Lazycom checks the wording and links of every reply sent from its shared address. Most go at once. If something needs a person to look (for example a link shortener like bit.ly, many links to other websites, or a request for a password or card number), the reply is held: its line in the thread says "Held for review by Lazycom support" and shows as not sent, the owner gets a notice in the bell and by email, and Lazycom support then sends it or decides not to. Nothing is lost, and a held reply is not a strike. Advise: link to the business's own website, and never ask customers for passwords or card numbers by email. A reply Lazycom decides not to send shows as "Not sent"; send a new one without the link.

Once a sending domain is verified in Settings → Email sending, email replies go out from that address (for example hello@yourbrand.com) with the From name set there. Customers' answers still come back into the same conversation.

Type / at the start of the reply box and pick a saved reply by its shortcut; it fills the box, ready to edit and send.

Switch the reply box to "Private note". A note stays in the thread for your staff only: it is never sent to the customer and never shows as the conversation's preview in the list.

"Resolve" closes a conversation; the list's Open / Snoozed / Resolved / All filter shows it under Resolved. "Reopen" brings it back, and a new message from the customer reopens it on its own.

"Snooze" in the thread header hides a conversation from Open until a chosen time (1 hour, 3 hours, tomorrow 9 am, next Monday 9 am, or a custom time). It waits under the Snoozed filter and comes back to Open when the time is up, or straight away if the customer writes in. The thread shows "Snoozed until …".

"Remind me" in the thread header's More menu sets a reminder on a chat (1 hour, 3 hours, tomorrow 9 am, next Monday 9 am, or a date and time), with an optional short note such as "Ask if the parcel arrived". When the time comes the bell rings for you, and for the person the chat is assigned to if that is someone else. The chat stays where it is (unlike Snooze it is not hidden). Open reminders show at the top of More with a Done button. Setting it again moves it. The bell is checked about every 15 minutes, so it can be a few minutes late.

Tick labels from the "Labels" menu (to list every chat with a label, such as "Bought" or "Follow up to buy later", press Filter over the conversation list and pick the label; tap the label's chip under the tabs, or "Any label", to show them all; the label works together with Open, Resolved and All, so pick All to see resolved ones too). Labels are put on by hand to sort chats: a label never counts a sale, even one called "Bought". The Bought numbers in Chat numbers count orders; staff who see every conversation can also pick the Assignee and the Department. Putting an unassigned conversation on a department that assigns automatically gives it to that department's available member with the fewest open conversations. Staff are not offered the business owner as an assignee; the owner sees themselves in the list, so an owner who answers chats can take them.

How many chats came in, bought and are waiting. On a computer they show beside the conversation list whenever no chat is open; on a phone tap Numbers at the top of the list. Pick Today, Last 7 days (the default), Last 30 days or Custom dates, and every number follows. The period you pick stays while you open chats, go back to the list or show more, and changing it keeps the list's filters (status, label, product). The numbers: New chats (chats that started in that time; imported history is not counted), Bought (the top tile adds two kinds of new chat with an order that is not cancelled: an order made from the chat, and an order from the same phone number within 14 days; it shows the share of new chats that bought, and "by same phone" shows how many of the total are phone matches. A match isn't proof the chat made the sale, and Bought here isn't the figure used for pay. By staff also shows each person's labels for the period, counted on the chats assigned to them now; tap one to open those chats. A very busy period may not show same-phone sales: the screen says so, and a shorter period brings them back), Waiting on us (open chats waiting for your reply right now, with how long the oldest has waited; this one is always "now"), and Resolved (chats closed in that time). Under them each label shows how many chats were given it in that time, and the labels under Filter over the conversation list carry the same counts; pick one to open those chats. "From chat to sale" shows new chats, how many were answered and how many bought. Each person counts only the chats they can open. By staff lists each staff member the chats are assigned to, plus "Not assigned": their new chats, Bought in chat (only their new chats with an order made from the chat), Same phone (their new chats with an order from the same phone number within 14 days instead: it may not be their sale, so it is kept apart, and a chat is never in both; the two together make the top Bought tile). A chat with a "Bought" label but no order from the chat is not in Bought in chat. Then "No reply, follow up" (open chats where the customer read our last message over a day ago and has not answered, the same as the list's "Read, no reply"), and their average first reply, which is the same figure as First response in the Agents report. It counts only your business hours when you have set them, and all hours when you have not; the table says which. Someone who has answered chats in the period has a row even if they have no new chats. Someone who cannot see every conversation sees only their own row. The owner only gets chats automatically from a department they have added themselves to.

A chat with a phone number has a Call button under the heading (it opens your phone or calling app) and a Log call button. Pick what happened (Spoke to them, No answer, Call back later with a time, or Wants to buy later with the date they want to buy; it shows in Follow-up like a callback), add a note, and press Save call. It appears in the thread as a private note only your staff see; if the chat has an order and you may confirm orders, the call is also counted on the order and a callback time is kept there.

The contact panel beside the thread shows the contact, their orders and automations. For website chats, orders only show once the tenant's website has verified who the visitor is; an email typed into the chat is not enough.

On the order's page, click "Message customer", then pick WhatsApp, Text message or Email. Only ways that can reach that customer are offered; the others say why (for example, WhatsApp only lets a business write first within 24 hours of the customer's last WhatsApp message). The chat opens with the order pinned at the top ("Open order" goes back to it); nothing is sent until you write and press Send.

On the order pinned at the top of a chat, "Insert confirmation message" puts a ready message (items, total, delivery address, "reply YES to confirm") in the reply box to edit and send. When the customer agrees, click "Customer confirmed". "Cancel order..." asks why first (the business's own reasons), then "Cancel order". It is the same move as on the order page: the same permission (confirming orders), and a closer only for their own orders. Cancelling never refunds by itself. Once an order has been dispatched, it can't be cancelled; use the order page for delivery steps.

When a customer writes about an order that is still New (the pinned order, or their only New order), a blue "Suggestion:" line can appear above the messages: "The customer seems to confirm order …" ("Customer confirmed"), "… seems to want to cancel …" ("Cancel order...", with "Customer asked to cancel" chosen as the reason), "… wants to change the address …" ("Open the order"), or "… is asking where order … is" ("Insert a reply", which you can edit before sending). "Not now" hides it. Nothing happens until someone presses a button; a new customer message can bring a new suggestion. Suggestions come from common phrases in English and Nigerian Pidgin ("yes send it", "abeg cancel", "where my order dey"), read inside Lazycom. A message that mixes two requests, or matches no phrase, shows nothing, unless Inbox settings → Assignment → "Suggest actions with AI" is on (off at first): then the business's AI reads only that message's text (no name, number or address), using a little of the plan's AI allowance or the business's own AI key. When the allowance is used up, or the AI is unsure, nothing is shown; it never spends wallet money.

Each chat in the list shows its deadline: "Confirm by 4:40 PM" when its pinned order is still New (the confirmation time set for orders), otherwise "Reply by …" while a customer waits for an answer (the first-reply time). Past it, the chip turns red: "Confirm late by 25 min". Press Filter over the list and pick "Late first" to put late chats on top, then those due soonest. A chat opened from an order goes to that order's closer when no one has it yet, unless Pipeline settings → "Who answers new WhatsApp chats" is set to "The rep with the least on".

WhatsApp allows a free-text reply only within 24 hours of the customer's last WhatsApp message. After that, or to write first, send a template Meta approved. In Inbox settings → WhatsApp templates, press "Add ready-made templates" (confirm an order, order on the way, we tried to reach you) or "New template", check the wording, then "Send to Meta". The status shows "Waiting for Meta", "Approved" or "Rejected" with Meta's reason; press "Check again" to update. If sending said "Meta has the template, but we couldn't save its status", wait a minute and press "Check again": Lazycom finds it at Meta by its name. It needs the WhatsApp Business Account ID on the WhatsApp card in Settings → Apps. In a chat past 24 hours, the reply box offers the approved templates, fills the blanks from the pinned order, and shows the message before "Send template". Meta bills your WhatsApp account; Lazycom doesn't charge.

They sit in the list like any other. A chat from a channel Lazycom doesn't have (Facebook, Telegram, Instagram...) shows that channel's name as its tag and has no reply box: it is history, and Lazycom can't reply there. Lines like "Conversation was resolved by Ada" and customer ratings appear between the messages. A message sent by a Chatwoot agent who hasn't joined Lazycom yet shows their name above it. You can still leave a private note on any of them.

Open their thread for prior messages; an empty inbox says "No open conversations" ("When customers email, SMS or message you on WhatsApp, it will show up here.").

On a WhatsApp chat the contact panel shows a yellow "Possible duplicate" note when the same number already has another open lead or an order from the last 7 days (the chat's own lead and the orders already listed in the panel do not count). You see details only for leads and orders you can open; for the rest it only says the number is already in the system. Email, SMS and website chats are not checked. Full rules are in the Leads article.

Pictures (a payment screenshot, a photo of a product), voice notes, audio, short videos and PDFs now arrive in the chat. A picture shows in the message, a voice note has a play button, and anything else is a link you open. A message with no words reads "[Photo]", "[Voice note]", "[Video]" or "[Document: name]". If the file could not be fetched from WhatsApp the line says "could not be downloaded; ask the customer to send it again", so ask for it again. Stickers arrive as pictures. Locations, contact cards and reactions are not shown. Files are kept privately and only people who may open that chat can see them.

Tap or click a picture in a chat and it opens in a viewer right there, fitted to the screen. Close it with the X, the Esc key, or by tapping outside the picture. When the chat has several pictures, use the arrow buttons, the left and right arrow keys, or swipe to move between them. Download saves the file to your device. Only people who may open that chat can see its pictures.

In a WhatsApp chat, press Pictures above the message box. Search your products, tap one, choose which of its pictures to send, check the caption (it starts as the product name and price, and you can change it), and press Send. To send your own picture, press Attach a picture instead. Pictures go as a normal JPEG, so a WebP or PNG is converted for you; a very large photo is made smaller. The same rules as a typed reply apply: you can only send in chats you are allowed to answer, and WhatsApp only lets you send pictures within 24 hours of the customer's last message (after that, send an approved template). Send a picture when the customer asks for it. Your plan must include WhatsApp.

In a WhatsApp chat, choose more than one picture (in the file chooser, or pick several products one after another), up to 10. They wait in a row above the message box and each has a small x to take it out. Press Send and each goes as its own WhatsApp message, in the order shown (WhatsApp has no album). The words you typed are the caption of the first picture; a product's later pictures carry that product's name and price. If one does not go, the ones already sent are not sent again, the rest stay in the row, and you press Send to try them again. In an email only one picture goes in the body.

In a WhatsApp chat, press the paperclip and choose Attach a document (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or a text file) or Attach a video (MP4 or 3GP). It waits in a small card above the message box with its name and size; the words you type go with it as its caption. Press Send and a bar shows the upload, then it goes to the customer. Files up to 16 MB work. A video that is not an MP4 is refused with a plain message: share it from your phone's gallery as an MP4. Like a picture, a file can only be sent within 24 hours of the customer's last message (after that, send an approved template), and not with a picture in the same reply. In the chat a PDF or file shows with its name and a link, and a video plays in place.

The same Pictures button shows above the message box in a website-chat conversation and in an email conversation. On a website chat you can pick a product picture or press Attach a picture, and the visitor sees it in the chat. In an email only a product picture can go (there is no Attach button): it is shown under your message, with the caption as the message text. Text messages (SMS) cannot carry pictures, so the box says so; send the picture on WhatsApp or email instead. Pictures that were uploaded elsewhere (not in your Media library) cannot go in an email or a website chat.

In a conversation, press Create order (below the conversation's tools; shown to people who may take orders, not in copied "imported" conversations). It opens with the customer's name and phone filled in from the contact. Add the products and quantities (prices come from your products; stock is held for the order), choose the country, region and area the order is going to, and the delivery charge shows from your own delivery setup. If your shop charges delivery by flat rate for that country, choose the Delivery rate from the list. You can never type a price, a discount or a delivery charge here. Choose Pay on delivery or Bank transfer, add a note if you like, and press Create order. The order is created as New, linked to the chat (it shows pinned above the messages when the chat has no other order pinned) and credited to you; the chat's rep gets the credit only when that person is a WhatsApp rep or a website closer. Then you are asked Mark this order as confirmed?: Yes moves it to Customer confirmed exactly as the Orders page does (it needs the permission to confirm orders); No leaves it New. The customer gets the same order message a funnel order sends, and the panel tells you plainly whether it went (by email, or by WhatsApp or text message when you switched those on) or that no order message could be sent (for example, they have no email address, or their address bounced or was blocked before, and WhatsApp order messages are off); then tell them about the order in the chat. Pressing Create order twice, or two people creating one at the same moment, makes one order ("This order was already created"). If an order was made from this chat in the last 10 minutes you are told so, with its number, and can still choose Create another order anyway. A customer you blocked cannot pay on delivery (choose bank transfer); the same rule applies on the Orders page. If your shop's delivery fee is set in another currency than the products, the order is refused until you fix it in Delivery options.

Point at a message in the chat and press Reply under it (on a phone it is always shown; on a computer it appears when you point at the message). A small "Replying to ..." line appears above the message box with the words of that message; press the cross to drop it. Type your answer and send: on WhatsApp your customer's phone shows your message with the quoted one above it, exactly like a reply on WhatsApp. In the chat the quote sits at the top of the bubble, and pressing it jumps to the original. When a customer answers one of your messages that way, their message shows the quote too. A private note cannot be quoted, and a quote never leaves a message of another chat.

WhatsApp does not let a business take back a message, so nobody can remove it from your customer's phone. What you can do is Hide it from your Inbox: press Hide under your own message and confirm. The dialog says "This stays on your customer's phone." Nothing is deleted: the chat shows "Message hidden by (name)" in its place, and only a manager still reads the words. Anyone can hide a message they sent themselves (a reply or a private note); a manager (Inbox: all conversations) can hide any message, including the customer's. If you sent something wrong, also send a short correction, for example "Sorry, please ignore my last message."