Inbox Sidebar Actions
Manage visitor interactions and conversation controls through the sidebar actions panel.
Available Actions
Ask for Rating
Request feedback from the visitor about their conversation experience.
How it works:
- Sends a rating request that appears to the visitor in the chat widget
- Can only be requested once per agent per chat within a 7-day period
- The request is recorded as a private event message in the chat
When to use:
- After resolving a visitor's issue
- When you want to track conversation quality
- To gather feedback for service improvement
The rating request is disabled if the agent has already asked for a rating in the past 7 days for this specific conversation.
Send Transcript
Email a complete transcript of the conversation to the visitor or another recipient.
How it works:
- Retrieves all public messages from the conversation
- Groups messages by date for better readability
- Sends a formatted email containing the full chat history
- Adds a public event message confirming the transcript was sent
Configuration options:
- To email: The recipient's email address (defaults to visitor's email)
- From email: Select from verified organization email addresses
- Sender name: The name that appears as the email sender
Use cases:
- Providing visitors with conversation records
- Sharing chat history with team members
- Archiving important conversations
Ban / Unban Visitor
Block a visitor from your team — at one of two levels — and manage that block right from the conversation.
Two block levels
When you ban a visitor you choose how far the block goes:
| Level | What the visitor can do | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Block from agents (1) | Keeps the AI assistant but can no longer reach a human. The AI won't connect them to an agent — and won't pretend it did. | Someone who shouldn't take up agent time but can still self-serve |
| Block completely (2) | Can't use the chat at all. | Spam, abuse, or anyone who shouldn't reach you at all |
How it works:
- Banning opens a short dialog where you pick the level, enter a reason (required), and choose a duration — from 1 hour up to 30 days, or Forever
- Timed bans lift on their own — when the duration ends, the block simply stops applying; nobody has to remember to unban
- The visitor is never told they're banned and never sees the duration — when a timed ban ends, chat just works again for them
- If the visitor was banned before, the dialog lists their previous bans — level, duration, reason, date, and whether each one was lifted or expired — so repeat offenders are obvious at a glance
- The ban is logged with the reason, who applied it, and when, plus a private event note (agents only, never the visitor)
- The change takes effect immediately across the visitor's active sessions
- You can also ban or unban a visitor from the Yaplet mobile app, with the same level and duration options
Managing an existing block:
While a visitor is blocked, the conversation shows a block card with the level, the expiry of a timed ban, and quick controls — escalate a Level 1 block to a full block, downgrade a full block to agents-only, or lift it entirely. Changing the level keeps the remaining time — escalating or downgrading never extends or shortens the clock. You can do the same per-row on the Banned visitors tab of the Visitors page.
A blocked chat locks agents out. While a visitor is blocked (either level) you can't send messages, assign the chat, or start a workflow on it — lift the block first. Applying a Level 1 block mid-conversation hands the chat to the AI: the agent is released and the assistant takes over with a short, context-aware message telling the visitor a human isn't available but it can still help. If the widget has no AI assistant, a Level 1 block applies as a full block instead — there's nothing for the visitor to fall back to.
Effects of a full block (Level 2):
- The visitor can't start or continue conversations — their chat input is simply disabled, with no mention of a ban or its duration
- Existing conversations stay readable for the visitor and accessible to your team
- Proactive Outreach chat messages are no longer sent to them (banners, surveys, and tours are unaffected)
- The visitor is listed on the Banned visitors tab of the Visitors page
- Inbound voice calls from any phone number on the visitor's record are rejected before pickup — no ring-through, no greeting, no per-minute billing
The visitor is never told they're banned — chat quietly appears unavailable instead. This is deliberate: announcing a ban invites retaliation and immediate evasion with a new browser session, while a quiet block defuses the situation. For heat-of-the-moment abuse, a timed ban is usually the better tool than a permanent one.
Voice calls. A fully blocked visitor calling one of your voice numbers is recognised by phone number and hung up before Telnyx connects audio. Timed bans apply here too — once the ban expires, the next call connects normally. The block is per organisation — a visitor blocked in your workspace can still reach other workspaces' numbers. First-time callers without a visitor record yet can't be pre-blocked; the block kicks in from their second interaction onward. A Level 1 block doesn't affect voice — voice has no live-agent handoff anyway, so the caller still reaches the AI.