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The Unified Inbox brings every conversation your agency has into a single view — campaign replies, calls, post-call texts, and direct messages. Whether a contact replied to a campaign, called in, or received a direct message from your team, you see the full thread — no switching between tools, no missed replies.

What’s in the inbox

Every conversation in the inbox belongs to one contact, identified by their mobile number. When the same number appears across multiple interactions — a campaign reply, a call, a post-call text, a direct message — they all appear in the same thread, in the order they happened. If someone texts your workspace SMS number before they are linked to a contact or campaign, the message still appears as an unmatched-number conversation so your team can triage it.

Sending a new message

You can start a conversation with any contact at any time — you don’t need to wait for them to reach out first. Click the compose icon (pencil icon) at the top-right of the conversation list. The thread pane opens in compose mode with:
  • From — your workspace SMS number (read-only).
  • To — search your CRM by name or type a mobile number directly. Only valid Australian mobile numbers are accepted.
  • If the recipient already has message history, you’ll see their thread while you compose. If not, the timeline stays empty until you send.
  • The conversation only appears in your list after the first message is sent successfully.
You can also click Send message from any contact’s profile (General tab) — you’ll be taken to the inbox with that contact pre-filled in To.
If a contact has opted out, the send will be blocked and the composer will lock. Their opted-out status is always respected — you cannot override it.

Tabs — triage the way you work

The inbox has three tabs:
  • Important — everything that needs your attention. Inbound leads awaiting a reply and recent call activity live here. The badge on this tab shows the unread count at a glance.
  • Sent — conversations where your team sent the last message.
  • Other — opt-out conversations. When a contact replies STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE (or is unsubscribed by their provider), the conversation moves here. These are conversations you generally do not need to action.

Searching the inbox

Use the search box to find a contact by name or by any part of their mobile number. Search applies to whichever tab you have active.

Staying up to date

The inbox keeps itself current — new replies and updates appear automatically within seconds, without you reloading the page. An “Updated …” indicator at the top of the list shows how fresh the view is.

Important — keeping your queue honest

Important is your triage queue. A conversation appears here when it needs attention — for example, when a contact messaged last and you haven’t replied, or when someone called in recently. It leaves when:
  • You reply — sending any message from the inbox clears it automatically (for SMS threads).
  • You mark it done — if you’ve handled the conversation off-platform, click Dismiss in the thread header. The conversation leaves Important without requiring you to send a message.
If the same contact messages you again after you’ve marked a conversation done, it automatically reappears in Important.

Conversation rows

Each row in the list shows:
  • Contact name (or the raw phone number for unmatched contacts) with an unread dot to the left when there is a new message nobody has opened yet
  • Preview of the most recent message
  • Channel badge — a coloured pill showing what happened most recently:
    • SMS (violet) — the last activity was a text message
    • Inbound call (green) — someone called in; green signals this needs your attention
    • Outbound call (neutral) — your team made this call
  • Relative timestamp — when the last activity happened

Reading a conversation thread

Each conversation opens as a scrollable thread. Inbound messages appear on the left; outbound messages appear on the right. Timestamps show when each message was sent or received. The thread header shows the contact’s name, phone number, and consent status — a green Contactable badge or a red Opted out badge. Click View contact to open their full contact record. If the conversation needs a reply, the Dismiss button appears in the header for when you’ve handled it without replying. Call records appear inline in the thread as a compact call card, in order with the messages. The card shows the call direction, duration, and a summary of the conversation. Click View transcript to read the full transcript without leaving the inbox.

Sending a reply

To reply to a conversation:
  1. Open the contact’s thread in the inbox.
  2. Type your message in the reply field at the bottom of the thread.
  3. Press Send Message (or use ⌘↵).
Your message is sent immediately and appears in the thread as an outbound message. Sending a reply automatically clears the conversation from Important when applicable.
You can only send messages to contacts who have not opted out. If a contact has withdrawn their consent (by replying STOP), the reply field is locked and a notice appears explaining why. See Consent and Opt-outs for more.

AI-drafted replies

Click Draft with AI in the reply toolbar. Voqo generates a suggested response and places it in the reply field for you to review. Read it, edit it as needed, and press Send Message when you are happy with it. You can discard the draft and type your own message at any time. A draft is only ever created when you ask for it. Opening a conversation never pre-fills the reply field. Nothing is sent automatically — the draft sits there until you choose to send it.

Unread tracking

Conversations with a new inbound message nobody has opened are marked unread — an unread dot appears to the left of the contact name and the preview text is bold.
  • Unread is shared across your team. When anyone in your workspace opens a conversation, it clears as read for everyone.
  • The sidebar badge next to Inbox shows your workspace’s unread count.
  • Mark all read clears every unread conversation in one action.

Locked conversations (opted-out contacts)

If a contact has replied STOP, their thread is locked. You will see a notice at the bottom explaining that this contact has opted out. If the contact wants to re-subscribe, they can text START to your sending number. The thread unlocks automatically. See Consent and Opt-outs for more.

Troubleshooting

A conversation is in Important but I’ve already dealt with it If you handled it outside the platform (called them back, met them in person), click Dismiss in the thread header. The conversation leaves Important. If they message you again later, it will reappear automatically. I can’t see a reply I’m expecting Check the Sent tab, or search by the contact’s name or number. The inbox updates automatically, so you shouldn’t need to reload. Why did a STOP reply disappear from Important? Opt-outs now live in the Other tab. When a contact replies STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE (or is unsubscribed by their provider), the conversation moves to Other — these are the conversations you generally do not need to action, so they stay out of your Important queue. A reply arrived after the campaign finished — will I still see it? Yes. Replies and STOP messages are processed even after a campaign has completed. The reply field is greyed out and I can’t type The contact has opted out. They can re-subscribe by texting START to your sending number. The reply field is disabled and says I need an SMS number Your workspace does not have a Vonage SMS sender number set up yet. Open the Numbers page and request an SMS number. Once it is approved and active, return to the inbox — the reply field will unlock automatically. Why does the Inbox badge show a number? The badge shows your workspace’s count of unread conversations in Important. Open a conversation to clear it, or use Mark all read to clear them all. Where do the call cards in the thread come from? Call records are linked automatically when Voqo places or receives a call with the same mobile number. No manual linking is needed. The AI draft doesn’t look right Edit it before sending — it is a starting point, not a final message. You are always in control of what goes out. If you need help with the inbox, contact support.