# Inbox > Find, filter and reply to customer conversations from every connected channel, and decide when the AI or your team handles them. Source: https://docs.message24.net/owners/daily/inbox/ The Inbox is where every conversation from every connected channel arrives: Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok and your website chat. Open it from **Inbox** in the top navigation. ## The conversation list Each row shows the customer's name, a preview of the last message, how long ago it arrived and an unread count. Depending on the conversation you may also see: - The customer's phone number, when Message24 knows it. - The channel name and icon, when you are viewing all channels at once. - A small badge on the avatar showing who is handling it: **Auto**, **AI** or **Human** (see [Who replies](#who-replies-auto-ai-and-human)). - An order number and stage, when the conversation has an order. - A lead or support icon, when Message24 has classified the conversation that way. - A green check, when the conversation's session has been closed. New conversations load as you scroll. To mark a conversation as unread again, hover over it and select the envelope icon (**Mark as unread**). ## Find a conversation - **Channel**: use the channel dropdown above the list to show one channel, or **All Channels**. - **Search**: type in **Search contacts...** to match a customer's name, phone number or an order number. - **Open / Closed / All**: the Inbox shows open conversations by default. A conversation is open until its session is closed (see [Close a conversation](#close-a-conversation)). Quick filters narrow the list further. Select one to turn it on, select it again to turn it off: | Filter | Shows | | --- | --- | | **Unread** | Conversations with unread messages | | **Leads** | Conversations classified as sales leads | | **Support** | Conversations classified as support requests | | **Orders** | Conversations classified as orders | | **Human** | Conversations assigned to your team rather than the AI | | **Awaiting Reply** | Conversations where the last message came from the customer | | **Escalated** | Conversations the AI handed to your team | Sort the list with **Newest** (most recent activity first) or **Longest waiting**, which puts customers who are still waiting for a reply at the top, oldest first. Only customers who wrote within the last 3 days are ranked this way; everything else follows in newest order. ## Reply to a customer Select a conversation to open it. Type in the message box and press **Enter** to send. Press **Shift+Enter** for a new line. - **Reply to a specific message**: hover over a message and select the reply icon. A **Replying to** banner appears above the message box; select the **X** to cancel. - **Attach files**: select the paperclip. You can attach images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP), MP4 or MOV video, and on channels that support it, audio. Each file can be up to 25 MB. - **Send a product**: select the package icon to open **Product Draft**. Pick a product, choose the message language if the product has more than one, pick which product photos to include, then select **Insert Into Composer** to edit it first or **Send Now**. - **Use a saved reply**: type `/` at the start of the message to open your shortcuts. See [Shortcuts](/owners/daily/shortcuts/). Messages longer than 1,000 characters show **Will split into N messages** under the box, and are sent as several messages. AI-written messages carry an AI marker, and messages sent from outside Message24 (for example from the WhatsApp Business app or Meta Business Suite on the same account) are marked as sent from another app. :::note If the platform no longer allows you to message this customer, sending fails and Message24 shows **7-Day Messaging Window Closed**. The customer needs to message you again before you can reply from Message24. ::: ## Voice messages On Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and website chat you can record a voice message directly in the Inbox: 1. Select the microphone next to the message box. Your browser asks for microphone access the first time. 2. Speak. A timer shows the recording length; recordings stop automatically at 2 minutes. 3. Select the stop button, then send. Voice messages from customers play inline. Message24 transcribes incoming audio automatically so the AI can read it, and you can select **Transcribe Audio** (or **Re-transcribe Audio**) under any audio message to show the text. ## Who replies: Auto, AI and Human The header of an open conversation has three buttons that decide who answers the next customer message. | Setting | What happens | | --- | --- | | **Auto** | The system decides, based on the channel's schedule. When a customer writes, Message24 waits for the handoff time set on that schedule. If nobody from your team replies in that time, the AI takes over and the conversation switches to **AI**. If the channel has no schedule, or the schedule doesn't allow the AI at that time, the AI stays quiet. | | **AI** | The AI replies right away to every new customer message. | | **Human** | The AI never replies. Only your team answers. | Switching happens automatically in two cases: - When someone on your team replies to a conversation that is on **AI**, whether from the Inbox or from the platform's own app, it goes back to **Auto**. - When the AI escalates, the conversation switches to **Human** and is marked as escalated. Schedules and handoff times are set up in AI Settings. See [AI settings](/owners/ai/ai-settings/). :::tip Use **Human** for a conversation you want to handle yourself from start to finish, such as a complaint or a large custom order. Switch it back to **Auto** when you are done. ::: ## Escalations The AI escalates when it decides a person needs to take over. When that happens: - The conversation switches to **Human**, so the AI stops replying. - It appears under the **Escalated** filter. - Team members with access to the channel get an **Escalations** notification, if they have that notification turned on. See [Notifications](/owners/daily/notifications/). A conversation stops counting as escalated when someone on your team closes it. Read more in [Handoff and escalation](/owners/ai/handoff-and-escalation/). ## Conversation language The language dropdown in the conversation header (**English**, **Arabic** or **Kurdish**) records which language the customer writes in. The AI usually sets it on its own. Changing it decides which language version of a shortcut is inserted when you type `/`. ## Close a conversation Select **Close** in the conversation header when the customer's request is done. Closing a conversation: - Ends its current session and moves it from **Open** to **Closed**. - Clears its unread count and its escalated mark. If the customer writes again, a new session opens and the conversation is back under **Open**. You can also have Message24 close quiet conversations for you with auto-close, in [Business settings](/owners/account/business-settings/#auto-close). ## Edit a contact Select the pencil next to the customer's name to change the name or phone number shown for this contact. ## Orders from a conversation Select **+ Order** in the header to create an order for this customer. When the conversation already has an order, its number and stage appear in the header; select it to open the order. See [Orders](/owners/catalog/orders/).