New Message Indicators and Notification Features

Use Live Chat indicators and notification settings to identify unread conversations, track your active conversation, and control when agents receive audio alerts.

Unread message indicator

When a new message arrives, Live Chat displays an orange dot next to the conversation. The dot shows that the message is unread (not yet opened by an agent).

How the unread indicator works

• The orange dot appears when Live Chat receives an unread incoming message.
• Opening the conversation removes the orange dot and confirms that an agent has viewed the message.
• If an agent is already viewing the conversation when a new message arrives, the orange dot does not appear. Live Chat shows the indicator only for conversations that are not open or selected.

This behavior applies across supported channels, including SMS and WhatsApp. It also applies across inbox sections, including Your Inbox, Mentions, All, and Unassigned.

Active conversation highlight

When an agent selects a conversation, Live Chat highlights it in blue.

The blue highlight helps agents identify the conversation they are working in, especially when they switch between multiple conversations.

User icon colors identify the conversation channel:

• Green icon: WhatsApp conversations
• Blue icon: SMS conversations

The active conversation highlight applies across supported channels and inbox sections.

Optional: Incoming message sound notification

Live Chat provides an optional audio alert for newly received messages. The sound notification helps agents stay aware of active conversations and unassigned interactions.

Live Chat decides whether to play the sound notification based on three factors:

• The conversation assignment status
• The agent or team assigned to the conversation
• The agent availability status

Agents whose status is Away never receive sound notifications, regardless of how the conversation is assigned.

Notification rules by conversation assignment

1. Conversations assigned to a specific agent

   • If the conversation is assigned to a specific agent and that agent is Online, Live Chat plays the notification sound only for that agent.
   • If the assigned agent is Away, Live Chat does not play the notification sound for any agent.

2. Unassigned conversations

   • If the conversation is not assigned to any agent or team, Live Chat plays the notification sound for all agents who are Online.
   • Agents whose status is Away do not receive the notification.

3. Conversations assigned to a team without a specific agent

   • If the conversation is assigned to a team and no specific agent is assigned, Live Chat plays the notification sound for all Online agents who belong to that team.
   • Agents in the team whose status is Away do not receive the notification.

4. Conversations assigned to a team with a specific agent

   • If the conversation is assigned to a team and a specific agent, Live Chat plays the notification sound only for the assigned agent when that agent is Online.
   • If the assigned agent is Away, Live Chat does not play the notification sound for the assigned agent or any other team member.

The following table summarizes the notification rules by conversation assignment:

Behavior rules

1. Agent status

   • When the agent is Online, Live Chat plays an audio alert for each new incoming message in conversations assigned to that agent or to the agent's team.
   • Live Chat also plays the alert for new incoming messages in conversations that are not assigned to any agent or team. These conversations appear in the New conversation section.
   • When the agent is Away, Live Chat does not play audio notifications.

2. Sound preference control

   • Agents can enable or disable the notification sound from the top-right menu by switching the New message sound toggle.

     
     
     

   • By default, this setting is turned off. Each agent manages this preference individually.

Incoming messages

Agents can receive and manage WhatsApp messages in Live Chat in real time. Incoming messages appear directly in the Live Chat interface, where agents can review conversation context, respond to the user, and access shared media.

End users can send these message types to Live Chat:

• Text messages
• Images
• Videos
• Audio files
• Documents

Live Chat handles multimedia content as WhatsApp incoming attachments and links each attachment to the corresponding Live Chat conversation.

Incoming multimedia file retention

Live Chat stores incoming multimedia files temporarily.

All multimedia files received from end users through Live Chat are retained for 30 days. After 30 days, the files are automatically deleted and are no longer accessible from the platform.

This retention policy applies to multimedia files received from end users starting on February 6, 2026. It applies only to incoming media sent by end users.