Key Concepts
Here's how the main pieces of TrolleyChat fit together.
Inboxes
An inbox is your workspace for managing customer conversations. Think of it like a shared team mailbox.
Each inbox has its own:
- Channels — how customers reach you (live chat, SMS, email, etc.)
- Team members — who can view and respond to conversations
- AI settings — what the AI knows and how it responds
- Integrations — connected services like Shopify
You can create multiple inboxes for different brands, stores, or support teams.
Channels
A channel is a way customers can reach you:
| Channel | Description |
|---|---|
| Live Chat | Chat widget on your website |
| SMS | Text messaging |
| Email support | |
| WhatsApp messaging | |
| Instagram DMs | |
| Facebook Messenger | Facebook page messages |
All channels feed into the same inbox — no switching between apps.
Conversations
A conversation is a message thread with a customer. Each conversation shows:
- Status — open, pending, resolved, or closed
- Channel — where the message came from
- Assigned agent — who's handling it
- AI status — whether the AI is responding or a human has taken over
Customers
TrolleyChat keeps a customer profile for everyone who contacts you, including:
- Name and email (when provided)
- Conversation history
- Linked Shopify data (orders, purchases)
- Visit history on your site
How the AI Works
Your AI assistant can operate in different modes:
- AI Active — the AI responds to customers automatically
- AI Suggested — the AI drafts responses for your team to review before sending
- Agent Only — a human agent handles the conversation directly
The AI automatically hands off to a human when:
- It's not confident in its answer
- The customer asks to speak to a person
- The conversation requires human judgment
Agents
Agents are your team members. Each agent can:
- Access one or more inboxes
- Respond to customer conversations
- Take over from the AI at any time
- Monitor live visitors on your site