The Inbox brings chat, text, email and phone into one place: a list of customers beside the conversation. Reply any time while AutoBook Agent stays on, set a customer to Approve first so you see AutoBook Agent's messages before they go, answer AutoBook Agent's questions, approve drafts, answer voice messages by text, and work the Sales and Service desks, on the web and in the app.
The Inbox holds every customer conversation in one place: website chat, text, email and phone. On the web it is Inbox in the left menu, with the list of customers on the left and the conversation beside it. In the AutoBook app it is the Inbox tab. The customer's record sits in the column on the far right of the web workspace; it follows you to other pages, and you can collapse it or drag its edge to resize it. On a narrow screen, tap the info icon in the conversation header to open it.
Every channel, one inbox
Every channel your store has turned on (chat, text, email and phone) shows up here. One row per customer, with all of their channels in one conversation, top to bottom.
The Inbox tabs: Yours, All, Unassigned and Service
| Tab | Shows |
|---|
Yours | Customers assigned to you. Work handed to you on someone else's customer (a visit, a question, a call) is on All and in your To do, not here. |
All | Every conversation you can see at your store, on every person's inbox. A rep sees their own customers, the unassigned ones and customers whose work was handed to them; managers and anyone who sees every customer see them all and can filter by rep. |
Unassigned | Customers nobody owns yet. |
Service | The Service desk's conversations, for people who work the Service desk. If you work both desks (or manage), the Sales | Service switch at the left of the tabs picks the desk; each desk shows its number of conversations that need you. It has its own Yours · Unassigned · All row, with its state chips (Needs action, In progress, All) under it. See below. |
Use the filter icon for channel (Web chat, Voice, SMS, Email), outcome (Sales, Booked, Lead, Service, Inquiry), junk, and the sort order (Newest, the order the list opens in, then Needs action first, Longest waiting and Oldest). To see only what needs you, use the Needs action switch. The search box looks through your whole conversation history (names, message text and phone numbers) once you type two or more characters.
Showing only Approve first or needs action
Beside the tabs are two one-click switches, each with a count: Approve first and Needs action.
- Approve first on Yours shows the customers you have on Approve first; on All and Unassigned it shows everyone's.
- Needs action shows only rows where a person is needed now. It works on Yours, All and Unassigned.
- Turn both on to see Approve first customers who also need action.
The switches are not shown while you are searching. The Service tab has its own Needs action chip. The app has the same switches under the tabs.
Working the Service tab: Yours, Unassigned and All
The Service tab works like the sales tabs. Where the sales tabs sit, it has a Yours · Unassigned · All row:
- Yours: service customers you are working: your open tickets or a service handoff named to you.
- Unassigned: service work nobody has taken yet.
- All: every Service conversation.
It opens on Yours when you have any, otherwise on All. The state chips (Needs action, In progress, All) sit under the row, and each chip's count matches the list it opens. The sort order (Newest, Needs action first, Longest waiting, Oldest) works here too. Managers can filter by person; on Service the filter lists the service advisors and reads All advisors. It works the same in the app.
Reading a row: bold name, the red or amber word, Approve first
- Bold name means the customer spoke last and nobody has opened the conversation since. It goes back to normal once someone opens it. There is no unread dot.
- One word says why a person is needed, if one is: red when someone is needed now (Question, Asked for a rep, Needs reply, Voice message, Document), other colours for things that can wait a little (Draft to approve, Ready buyer, Team handoff, Frustrated, a service request). An overdue row adds how late it is, for example · 2m over.
- Approve first means someone has this customer on Approve first: AutoBook Agent writes drafts and a person sends them. The name line says who.
The same words appear on To do.
Replying to a customer while AutoBook Agent stays on
You can write to a customer straight from the reply box under any conversation on your desk, whenever you are allowed to act on that customer (their rep, a manager, or anyone on the desk for a customer nobody owns). Replying never changes who owns the customer or what AutoBook Agent does: your message goes out and AutoBook Agent carries on. That holds even when another rep has the customer on Approve first; they see a line saying you replied. The box says what happens after you send:
- AutoBook Agent keeps replying after you send
- AutoBook Agent keeps drafting replies for approval after you send (on Approve first)
- AutoBook Agent is off on this channel, so only people reply here (the store's setting)
AutoBook Agent reads your message before it answers, so it never sends a second answer to something you already covered. Type your reply and press Send (Cmd/Ctrl+Enter also sends on the web). On email you can attach files with the paperclip.
Starting a brand-new text or email to a customer works the same way. It works the same in the app.
The AutoBook Agent switch: On or Approve first
Every customer has one switch per desk, on the reply box's control row: AutoBook Agent: On | Approve first. The line beside it always says what AutoBook Agent will really do right now, including your store's own setting.
- On: AutoBook Agent replies and follows up. Anyone allowed to act on the customer can reply too, and nothing changes hands.
- Approve first: AutoBook Agent writes a draft for every message it would send (replies, follow-ups, courtesy texts, answers to questions it asked the team), and nothing it wrote goes out until a person presses Approve & send (change the words first and it becomes Edit & send) or Discard. Your name shows beside it: Approve first · <name>.
The customer is never left waiting: if nobody handles a draft in time, it sends by itself (after 2 business hours on text and email, on your store's hours, and after 2 minutes on website chat), and the customer stays on Approve first. Approve first goes back to On after 3 days with nothing from the person who set it; the morning email says so.
Who can flip it: the customer's assigned rep and managers, and anyone working that desk for a customer nobody owns. Everyone else sees the switch greyed out with the reason. Your store's own channel setting (On, Approve first or Off, set by managers) always wins; the line then ends with · store setting. On a store set to Approve first, drafts wait for a person and never send by themselves.
To make a customer yours, use Assign to me; the switch never assigns anyone. The record header shows the same state (Approve first · <name>), and its ⋯ menu has Approve AutoBook Agent’s messages first for each desk you can change. In the app the switch sits in the same place under the conversation, with the same words.
So far: what AutoBook Agent already set up
When you set Approve first or start to reply, a small So far card opens above the reply box with up to four lines: what's Booked, what was Quoted, what was Promised, and the Open question. Read it before you write, so you never contradict a time or a price AutoBook Agent already gave. Close it with the X; it stays closed for that customer.
Answering a question from AutoBook Agent
When AutoBook Agent needs a person's answer, the row reads Question in red, a card lands on To do, and a Question card opens in the conversation under AutoBook Agent needs you to. Its top row can show Urgent, Backup (it reached you as the backup) and the topic (for example Pricing or Trade-in), with a countdown to when AutoBook Agent answers on its own.
1
Type your answer
Answer AutoBook Agent in your own words: facts, not a finished reply. What you type goes to AutoBook Agent, never straight to the customer. On a pricing question, an Approve at $ box lets you give the exact figure AutoBook Agent may quote.
2
Send or Preview
Send gives your answer to AutoBook Agent, which writes the customer's reply and keeps going. On text and email, Preview has AutoBook Agent write the reply and hold it as a draft for you to approve first.
3
Or reply yourself
To answer the customer yourself, write in the reply box below the card. AutoBook Agent stays on.
If the time runs out first, AutoBook Agent sends the customer its own best answer and the card reads AutoBook Agent answered. You can still send your answer and it reaches the customer as a follow-up, or clear the card with Dismiss in the ⋯ menu. In the app the same card sits at the bottom of the conversation, with Send and Preview.
Picking up a ready buyer or a customer who asked for a rep
When AutoBook Agent spots a ready buyer or the customer asks for a person, the row shows Ready buyer or Asked for a rep and a card lands on To do. In the conversation, a band above the reply box says what AutoBook Agent wants, quotes its reason and says who owns the customer.
- Reply on the band is the main move: it puts your cursor in the reply box below. AutoBook Agent stays on; set the customer to Approve first if you want to see its messages before they go.
- Assign to me on the band makes a customer nobody owns yours.
- Assign… (managers) gives the customer to another rep.
- Dismiss clears the flag and lets AutoBook Agent keep going.
Assign to me and Dismiss wait about five seconds with Undo on the message before they take effect.
Approving a draft (Approve first)
When a customer is on Approve first (or your store sets text or email to Approve first), AutoBook Agent writes each message and holds it for a person. The row reads Draft to approve and the draft appears above the reply box in an editable card. On website chat the card says customer is on the chat now while they are there; the customer sees a short holding line until you send:
1
Approve & send
Sends AutoBook Agent's draft to the customer exactly as written.
2
Edit & send
Change the words in the box; the button becomes Edit & send. Press it to send your version.
3
Discard
Throws the draft away. You are asked Discard this draft? with Cancel or Discard; nothing is sent.
A draft for a customer on Approve first sends by itself at its deadline if nobody handles it (2 business hours on text and email, 2 minutes on website chat). A draft under the store's Approve first setting waits for a person. The app shows the same draft card with the same buttons.
Answering a voice message by text
A voice message shows as a row that reads Voice message (and a card on To do). In the conversation it is the caller's message, captioned Voice message · asked for <what they wanted>. Reply by text in the conversation, or call them back, and the voice message clears. If you already handled it another way, press Done on its To do card. If there is no number on file, the reply box says so.
The Sales and Service desks: which desk a conversation is on
A store's sales and service numbers are two equal desks, and each desk has its own conversation with the customer. A Sales | Service switch at the start of the reply box's control row moves between them. A conversation's desk is decided, never assumed to be Sales:
- Texts and calls: the number decides. The service number is Service, the main number is Sales.
- Website chat and a new email: they start with no desk and are decided at the customer's first real topic. A greeting, a thank-you or a question for no department (such as your hours) is not a topic. Until then the conversation is listed on both desks.
- A booking: the visit's type decides.
- A text or email you start: the desk you start it from.
Once decided, a conversation never moves desks. If the customer raises the other desk's topic, AutoBook Agent handles it in place and the other desk opens its own conversation from its own number. Both threads get a line (Handed to Service or Handed to Sales on one, From the Sales conversation or From the Service conversation on the other), and AutoBook Agent tells the customer once which number will follow up.
The other desk's conversations: view only
A conversation is listed on its own desk. It shows on the other desk only when it carries that desk's work too (for example a Sales conversation where the customer also asked about service). There it opens view-only, with an eye icon, no unread count, and the line View only: this is the Service desk's conversation. (or Sales) in place of the reply box. Your desk can still act on its own part: the reply box there starts your desk's own text from your desk's number, and the other desk's conversation is left with its desk. People who work both desks, and managers who see every customer, can act on both.
Live chat, ended chat and finished calls
While a customer has the website chat open, reply from the box and your reply appears in their chat window within seconds. Once they close the tab the chat ends: choose Continue in SMS or Continue in Email to keep going on a channel that delivers. In the app, a message says the chat has ended and to continue on SMS or email. A finished phone call has no live line, so you can only read it.
Stopping AutoBook Agent everywhere (emergency stop)
To stop AutoBook Agent replying on every channel at once, a manager presses Pause AutoBook Agent at the bottom of Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy. It pauses the dealership you are in; your other dealerships keep running. Resume AutoBook Agent turns it back on.
Where did Take over and Give back go?
They are replaced by the AutoBook Agent: On | Approve first switch. Reply any time and AutoBook Agent stays on; set Approve first when you want to see AutoBook Agent's messages before they go. To make a customer yours, use Assign to me.
What if I set Approve first and then forget about it?
A draft nobody handles sends by itself at its deadline (2 business hours on text and email, 2 minutes on chat), so the customer is never stranded. After 3 days with nothing from you, the customer goes back to On and the morning email tells you.
A conversation has no red word but I think it should. Where is it?
A row shows a word only when a person is needed (a question, a waiting customer, a voice message, a held draft, a handoff). Turn on Needs action beside the tabs to see only those, and check To do, which lists the same work. Use Search to jump to a specific person.
I sent a reply but it says delivery failed. What happened?
Your message was saved to the conversation, but the text or email could not be delivered, often because the customer opted out of that channel or the number or address is wrong. Try another channel or fix the contact details. If it keeps failing, contact support@auto-book.ca or 647-786-0989.
Can I reply to someone on web chat?
Yes, while they still have the chat open: reply from the box (AutoBook Agent stays on) and your reply is delivered live. Once they close the tab, use Continue in SMS or Continue in Email.
Can I reply when another rep has the customer on Approve first?
Yes, if you are allowed to act on the customer. Your reply goes out, the switch and the owner stay as they were, any pending draft is replaced, and that rep sees a line saying you replied.