> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.msgcompanion.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Assigning and organising

> Assign chats, pick up and release them, archive or delete, and use tags, notes and follow-ups.

Every conversation is either assigned to one person or unassigned. The name of whoever has it shows under the customer's name at the top of the chat.

<Note>
  Assigning a chat to somebody else and deleting a chat are for managers, admins and owners. Reps can pick up, release and archive.
</Note>

## What each role can do

| | Rep | Manager, admin, owner |
| - | - | - |
| See | Their own chats and unassigned ones | Every chat |
| Pick up an unassigned chat | Yes | Yes |
| Release their own chat | Yes | Yes |
| Assign a chat to somebody else | No | Yes |
| Archive and restore | Yes | Yes |
| Delete a chat | No | Yes |
| Tags, notes and follow-ups | Yes | Yes |

## Assign a chat

Managers, admins and owners see who has the chat as a button at the top of the conversation.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the list of people">
    Choose the button. It reads **Unassigned** when nobody has the chat.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose somebody">
    Choose **Assign yourself**, or a name under **Assign to others**. Choose **Unassign** to put the chat back for anyone to take.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The change is saved straight away. The person you assign it to gets a notification under the bell and on their phone, and is told whenever that customer writes.

To assign several chats at once, see [The Conversations screen](/conversations/inbox).

## Pick up and release

Reps see one button in place of the list of people.

* **Pick up** shows on a chat nobody has. It makes the chat yours.
* **Release** shows on your own chat. It puts the chat back for somebody else to take.

## Replying makes it yours

When you send anything into an unassigned chat, it becomes yours: a typed reply, a template, a photo, a product or a payment link. This only happens once the message has been accepted, so a message that fails does not take the chat.

Replying in a chat that already belongs to somebody else does not take it from them. Messages sent by a workflow or a broadcast do not assign a chat to anybody.

## Archive or delete

Both are in the three-dot menu at the top of the conversation.

| | **Archive chat** | **Delete chat** |
| - | - | - |
| Who | Anyone who can see the chat | Managers, admins and owners |
| What happens | The chat moves to the **Archived** view. | The chat leaves the inbox for everyone in the workspace. |
| Getting it back | Open **Archived**, open the chat, and choose **Restore chat** from the same menu. | It cannot be restored from the app. |
| If the customer writes again | The chat comes back to the inbox. | The chat comes back to the inbox. |

Neither removes anything from WhatsApp.

<Warning>
  **Erase customer**, in the same menu for owners and admins, is different. It permanently removes every message, note, booking and payment link your workspace holds about that customer, and cannot be undone. Use it only when a customer asks to be erased. See [Your data](/settings/your-data).
</Warning>

## The customer file

Choose the customer's name at the top of the chat to open the **Customer file** beside it.

It shows their phone number and, when your connected shop has a customer with the same number, their email, number of orders, lifetime value and the date of their last order. It also says where the details came from. For a website chat it also shows the visitor's answers to your pre-chat form and the page they were on.

Tags, the follow-up and notes are below.

## Tags

In the customer file, type in the **Tags** field and press Enter. Tags your workspace already uses are suggested as you type. A conversation can carry up to 20 tags, each up to 32 characters.

Tags that come from the customer's record in your shop are shown too, and cannot be removed here.

You can filter the conversation list by tag, and a workflow can check whether a chat has a tag.

## Internal notes

In the customer file, type under **Notes** and choose **Add note**. Notes are for your team only. The customer never sees them. Each note shows who wrote it and when.

## Follow-ups

A follow-up is a reminder on one chat.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the follow-up dialog">
    Open the three-dot menu and choose **Follow up later**, or use the button of the same name in the customer file.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Say when">
    Set a number of minutes, hours or days from now, or choose **Or pick a day and time**. A follow-up can be up to 90 days ahead. You can add a reason.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide what happens if they reply first">
    **Cancel if they reply first** is on to begin with. Leave it on and the reminder is dropped if the customer writes before it is due.
  </Step>
</Steps>

When the time comes, whoever has the conversation gets a reminder on their phone and under the bell. If nobody has it, the reminder goes to the person who set it.

A chat with a follow-up shows it at the top of the conversation. Choose it to change the time, or to remove it with **Clear follow-up**.

Follow-ups whose time has come are listed on [Home](/analytics/home) and in the **Overdue** view.

## Related

* [The Conversations screen](/conversations/inbox)
* [Notifications](/conversations/notifications)
* [Roles](/team/roles)
* [Teams](/team/teams)
* [Your data](/settings/your-data)


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