Introduction to the Inbox
Welcome to the uContact Inbox. This guide explains what it is, how it's organized, and the concepts you'll need to know to work with it.
What is the Inbox?
The Inbox is your workspace in uContact. From here you start, handle, and manage all customer interactions: phone calls, WhatsApp messages, emails, SMS, and more — all in one place.
When a customer contacts you, the interaction will appear in the Inbox and, depending on the campaign strategy, it will be assigned to you or you can take it yourself. You can also be the one to start the interaction, depending on the channel and the permissions you have assigned.
Core concepts
Before getting started, it's important that you understand three concepts you'll encounter constantly while using the Inbox.
What is a Campaign?
A campaign is the work group you belong to as a user. Your Administrator assigns you to one or more campaigns, and each one defines which channels you can use, what hours you receive interactions, what dispositions are available to you, etc. You can belong to multiple campaigns at once. For example, you can be part of the Support campaign and also Sales, and receive interactions from both at the same time.
Additionally, within each campaign the Administrator defines your permissions: whether you can receive inbound interactions, start outbound ones, manage outbound Hub interactions, or all of the above. If you have questions about which campaigns or permissions you have assigned, check with your Supervisor.
What is a Channel?
A channel is the medium through which communication with the customer takes place: a phone call, a WhatsApp message, an email, an SMS, etc. The channels available to you in the Inbox depend on the campaigns you belong to.
Some channels are bidirectional, meaning you can both receive and start interactions: Phone, WhatsApp, SMS, and Email. Others are inbound-only because the customer is the one who initiates the conversation from the web or a social network: WebChat, Instagram, and Messenger.
What is an Interaction?
An interaction is each conversation with a customer, from start to finish. From the moment a call or message arrives until you close it, that entire exchange is a single interaction. An interaction can also be transferred between users and campaigns. Each one goes through the following states:
| State | What does it mean? |
|---|---|
| Pending | The interaction arrived in the channel queue but no user has taken it yet. It's waiting to be handled. It will also be in this state when transferred to a campaign. |
| Active | A user took it or it was automatically assigned, and is currently handling it. |
| Finished | The conversation ended but hasn't been closed yet. The user can no longer talk to the customer. If dispositions have been created, the interaction cannot advance to the next state without first having a disposition added. |
| Closed | It was closed, with a disposition if applicable. It no longer appears in the Inbox. |
| Abandoned | The customer disconnected before any user took it or it was automatically assigned. Applies only to Phone and WebChat. |
When an interaction is finished, you can no longer talk to the customer, but it remains open in the system until you close it manually (and add a disposition if the campaign has dispositions configured).
If the campaign has dispositions configured, before closing an interaction you must add a disposition: choose a classification that describes the outcome of the conversation, for example "Issue resolved" or "Customer unavailable". The available options are defined by the Administrator in each campaign. If no dispositions are configured, you can close the interaction directly.
How is it organized?
The Inbox screen is divided into three main areas:
- Top navigation bar: quick access to your status, notifications, and configurable account options.
- Interaction panel: the main space from which you manage your campaign interactions: handle inbound ones, start outbound ones, and access the history — all organized in tabs.
- Interaction detail: the full view of the active conversation, with all available actions: transfers, contact information, forms, etc.
Tabs
The interaction panel organizes everything into five tabs:
| Tab | What is it for? |
|---|---|
| Active | Interactions currently assigned to you. |
| Pending | Interactions offered by the system that are waiting to be taken by an agent. Click on one to take it and it will move to Active. |
| History | Closed interactions from the last 30 days. You can search by number, email, or subject, and click on any one to see the full detail with messages, disposition, and transfers. |
| Teams | List of users and campaigns you can communicate with internally. Users are members of your same campaigns: clicking on one opens a private chat where you can send messages or call them directly. Campaigns are the work groups you belong to: opening them gives you access to a group chat where all members can write and communicate. |
| Contacts | Your personal contacts and the contacts from the campaigns you belong to. You can search by name, view a contact's details, and start an interaction directly from here. |
Search
There is a single search bar that filters the content of the active tab. What you can search for varies by tab:
- Active / Pending: phone number, email address, or campaign name.
- History: phone number, email address, or email subject.
- Teams: campaign name, username, or extension.
- Contacts: contact name, phone number, and email.
Forms
If the campaigns you belong to have forms assigned, you can access them automatically when starting or receiving an interaction, or manually from the left sidebar without needing an active interaction. For more details, see the Interaction Management guide.
What can you do from the Inbox?
The Inbox is not just for handling calls. From one place you can manage the entire cycle of a conversation with a customer, regardless of the channel:
- Handle inbound customer interactions.
- Start outbound interactions with customers.
- Transfer an interaction to another user, another campaign, or an external number (available only for Phone interactions).
- View the customer's previous interaction history.
- Chat internally with other users and campaigns.
- Add a disposition (if applicable) and close interactions once they're finished.
- Access campaign forms.
Where to go next?
Once you understand these concepts, you can go directly to the specific guides. We recommend following them in this order if it's your first time:
| Guide | What will you learn? |
|---|---|
| User menu and preferences | Your status, preferences, sounds, language, and account options. |
| Interaction management | How to take, start, send messages, transfer, and close interactions. |
| Contact information | How to view the customer's history while handling an interaction. |
| Internal chats | How to communicate with other users and campaigns from the Inbox. |