Watch a ….
How is a Ticket Created in the Support Inbox?
In your Support Inbox, a ticket represents a full conversation between your team and a customer. Every ticket acts as a container for the entire dialogue, actions taken, and ticket-specific metadata — ensuring structured, searchable, and reportable customer interactions.
Ticket Creation Can Happen in Two Ways:
Created By | Definition |
Customer | Ticket initiated via message from the on any connected channel. |
Agent | Ticket manually created from the dashboard. Often used for outbound communication or internal follow-up. |
Customer-Initiated Tickets (Automatic)
A new ticket is automatically created when a customer reaches out to your brand via any of the connected support channels:
Channel | Trigger Event |
WhatsApp | User sends a message to your connected WhatsApp Business Number |
Instagram | User sends a DM or leaves a comment that triggers a response flow |
Email | User sends an email to your configured support email address |
When this happens, the system detects the conversation and determines if a new ticket should be created, or if it should continue inside an existing open ticket with that customer.
📌 Important: If there’s an existing ticket for the same customer that is still open or unresolved, all replies (from both the customer and your agents) will be threaded into that same ticket.A new ticket is only created once the previous one is closed.
Agent-Initiated Tickets (Manual)
In addition to automatically created tickets (when a customer initiates a conversation), your agents and admins can also manually create tickets to reach out proactively. This is useful for follow-ups, outbound support, order confirmations, or even marketing-driven outreach. However, channel-specific rules apply when creating tickets manually — especially due to platform limitations like Meta’s policies on WhatsApp and Instagram.
Steps to Create a Ticket Manually
- Click on the “+ New ” button from the top-right or the main inbox.
- Select the desired channel: WhatsApp, Instagram, or Email.
- Search for the customer/contact you want to reach out to.
- Craft your initial message (text, attachment, or template).
- Click Send — and your ticket will be created and visible in the inbox.
📌 Agent-created tickets are always treated as Agent Tickets, and the agent becomes the first assignee by default.
Channel-Specific Rules When Creating Tickets
Due to Meta’s 24-hour policy, WhatsApp restricts when you can send freeform messages to a customer. This impacts how and when a ticket can be manually created.
- You can create a WhatsApp ticket if:
- The customer’s last message is within 24 hours ➝ you can send a freeform message to initiate the ticket.
- If the customer is outside the 24-hour window:
- You must use an approved WhatsApp template message to start the conversation.
- Once the customer replies, the 24-hour window resets, and you can send freeform messages again inside the same ticket.
Instagram enforces a 7-day reply window after the customer’s last message.
- You can create an Instagram ticket if:
- The customer has messaged you within the last 7 days ➝ you can send a direct reply and a ticket will be created.
- If the customer is outside the 7-day window:
- You cannot start a new conversation from your side.
- The customer must send a new message to re-open the window and allow ticket creation.
📌 Instagram doesn’t support template messages like WhatsApp. Conversations can only resume once the user re-engages.
Email gives you complete flexibility when it comes to outbound ticket creation.
- You can create an Email ticket anytime:
- There are no time-window restrictions.
- You can send freeform messages, attachments, and initiate a ticket with any contact as long as their email ID is known.
📌 This makes email the most flexible channel for initiating long-tail conversations or follow-ups.
Why This Matters
Understanding these channel-specific behaviors helps your agents:
- Avoid confusion when ticket creation fails
- Use the right method (e.g., template vs. freeform) to reach customers
- Stay compliant with platform rules (especially Meta’s policies)
- Maintain consistent communication across all customer touchpoints
Ticket Threading Behavior
- Once a ticket is created (regardless of who initiated it), all ongoing conversation with the same customer on the same channel will continue inside that ticket.
- If the customer sends another message while the ticket is still open, that message is appended to the existing thread.
- This keeps your inbox clean, contextual, and free of fragmentation.
A new ticket will only be created when:
- The previous ticket is manually marked as Closed
- OR if auto-close workflows are configured and the system closes the ticket after a certain condition (e.g., inactivity)
Why This Matters
- Prevents fragmented conversations by keeping all related discussions in one place
- Supports continuous context for the agent — they don’t have to guess what happened earlier
- Enables cleaner analytics and reporting, since each ticket maps to one continuous issue