> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alcmeon.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Conversations inbox: read and reply to WhatsApp threads > Simio Conversations shows received, ongoing, and handled tabs, a live thread, contact info, the composer, the 24-hour reply window, and message statuses. Conversations is the live inbox where a company's team reads and replies to WhatsApp threads with contacts. This page explains how the inbox is organized (conversation list, thread, contact info), how to reply with the composer within the 24-hour reply window, what each message status means, and how contacts reached on several WhatsApp numbers are displayed. If your support team works in a helpdesk, you can also handle WhatsApp conversations from [Crisp](/simio/integrations/crisp), [Easiware](/simio/integrations/easiware), or [Gorgias](/simio/integrations/gorgias). The item is labeled **Conversations** in the left navigation. ## Layout The Conversations screen has three panels: * **Left**: the conversation list, with Received / Ongoing / Handled tabs. * **Center**: the selected thread, with a header (the contact's identifier), the date-separated message history, and the answer composer at the bottom. * **Right**: the contact information panel (Phone number, BSUID, Consent, Created at, Updated at, channel/opt-in pills, and Tags). The right panel can be collapsed with the toggle in its top-left corner. ## Conversation list and tabs Conversations are organized into three tabs, each with a count next to its name: | Tab | What it shows | | - | - | | Received (default) | All conversations you should handle. The count is the total number of conversations that are not being currently handled ("ongoing") by you or your colleagues, nor already handled. | | Ongoing | Conversations currently assigned to the agent viewing the inbox, and not yet marked as handled. | | Handled | Conversations that have been marked as archived/done. | Conversations are sorted with the most recently active one first (based on the timestamp of the latest message, inbound or outbound); conversations with no messages at all sort to the very end of the list. For each conversation in the list, the inbox shows: * A round avatar with a one-letter initial, colored per contact. * The contact's display name, using the best available identifier in this order of preference: their WhatsApp profile name, then first/last name on file, then their phone number, then their WhatsApp internal ID (BSUID), and finally just "Contact" if nothing else is available. * A preview of the latest message's text on the second line. If the latest message is media-only (an image, audio clip, or document with no accompanying text), the preview is simply blank; no synthetic placeholder like "Photo" is shown. * A relative timestamp on the right (`8h`, `10h`, `08/09/26`, `12/08/26`, ...). Conversation list updates arrive live: when a new message comes in or an existing message's delivery status changes, connected inbox views are notified in real time and refresh automatically, without needing a manual page reload. If nothing happens for about a minute, the inbox also does a background refresh automatically as a safety net. ## The thread The center panel shows the full conversation with the selected contact. * The **header** shows the contact's identifier (typically the phone number, e.g. `33695682805`). * **Date separators** (`9 septembre 2026`, `17 septembre 2026`, ...) group messages by calendar day. * **Inbound messages** from the contact appear as white bubbles on the left, with the time below. * **Outbound messages** sent from Simio appear as green bubbles on the right, with the time and a double-check delivery indicator. * **Failed outbound messages** appear as pink/red bubbles with a red error indicator next to the timestamp. The thread updates in real time as new messages arrive and as delivery statuses change. ## Contact information panel The right-hand panel summarizes what Simio knows about the contact. It has two sections: ### Information | Field | Description | | - | - | | Phone number | The contact's WhatsApp phone number. | | BSUID | WhatsApp's internal contact identifier (e.g. `FR.1880522579296962`). | | Consent | Channel and opt-in status per WhatsApp number the contact is reachable on (e.g. `whatsapp ยท Opt-in 33759623720 ยท Opt-in`). | | Created at | When Simio first saw this contact (e.g. `Jul 22, 26 ยท 4:55 PM`). | | Updated at | When the contact's record last changed. | Two status pills appear below: a **channel pill** (`whatsapp`) and an **opt-in pill** showing the WhatsApp business number the contact is opted in on (e.g. `33759623720`). ### Tags Tags applied to the contact appear here (e.g. `2026-08-04T08:00:28.751226Z`). Tags are a **contact-level** attribute in Simio; there is no separate conversation-level tagging today. See [Contacts and segments](/simio/platform/contacts/contacts-and-segments) for how contact tags are managed. ## The Answer composer The composer is at the bottom of the thread. It has: * An **Answer** tab label (the active reply mode). * A message field with the placeholder `Reply as private message...`. * A `0 / 4096` character counter on the right. * A **Send** button (disabled until the field has content). Below the text field, four action buttons open the outbound content pickers: | Button | What it does | | - | - | | ๐Ÿ“Ž Attachment | Attach an image, video, document, or voice/audio recording. | | GIF | Open the Giphy picker (search field + grid, "Powered by GIPHY"). GIFs are automatically converted to a standard video format before sending, since WhatsApp does not support raw GIF files. | | ๐Ÿ˜Š Emoji | Open the emoji picker (`All emojis` grid). | | ๐ŸŽค Microphone | Record a voice message. Voice recordings are sent as audio messages and cannot have an attached caption, since WhatsApp does not support captions on audio messages. | ### What can be sent An agent can send three kinds of outbound content: 1. **Free-form text**, a plain text reply (up to 4,096 characters). 2. **Media**, an image, video, document, voice/audio recording, or GIF. 3. **An approved WhatsApp template**, used specifically for reaching a contact outside the normal reply window (see below). ### The 24-hour reply window WhatsApp only allows a business to send free-form messages to a contact within 24 hours of that contact's last inbound message. Outside that window, only a pre-approved utility or marketing template can be sent (see [WhatsApp templates](/simio/platform/templates) for how templates work). The composer is expected to hide or disable the free-text/media input once that 24-hour window has closed for a given contact, and instead prompt the user to send an approved template. When picking a template to send from within the inbox, only templates that are Approved, categorized as Marketing, without quick-reply buttons, and not a Carousel are offered. Quick-reply and Carousel templates are excluded from this specific send path because they need a guided automated flow or are not supported by this sending mechanism. ## Message statuses Every message tracks a status reflecting where it is in the delivery lifecycle: | Status | Visual | Meaning | | - | - | - | | Sending | Green bubble, no check | Being sent, not yet confirmed. | | Sent | Green bubble, single check | Handed off successfully to the WhatsApp distribution platform. | | Delivered | Green bubble, double check | Confirmed delivered to the contact's device. | | Read | Green bubble, double check (colored) | Confirmed the contact has read it. | | Received | White bubble | An inbound message from the contact. | | Failed | Pink/red bubble, red error icon | Delivery failed. | Status updates (delivered / read / failed) arrive from WhatsApp asynchronously and update the message in place in real time. ## Known limitations * Read/unread state per conversation is tracked as a field but nothing currently updates it; there is no functioning "mark as read/unread" behavior yet. * There is no conversation-level tagging feature (tags in Simio today apply to contacts, not to conversations). * There is no function to assign a conversation with a contact to a user or to myself yet. 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