What is the connected inbox?
The connected inbox is a shared communications hub linked to a specific inbox in Aloware.
It enables teams to manage all inbound and outbound communications (calls, texts, and voicemails) related to their assigned functions, such as Sales or Customer Support.
Steps to create a connected inbox for your team
Step 1: Create teams
Since connected inbox is about team collaboration, you have to start by defining your teams in Aloware.
Teams structure your communication and ensure that team-related tasks are grouped together. For more information on team creation, refer to the team setup guide.
Step 2: Set up inboxes
Inboxes determine how incoming communications (calls, messages) are routed to the correct group of users or teams.
This ensures the connected inbox receives the relevant communication for each team. For detailed instructions on setting up inboxes, refer to this guide on mapping inboxes.
Step 3: Assign user roles in the team inbox
User permissions for accessing and interacting with a connected inbox are tied to roles within the inbox. Connected users can only see and interact with the inboxes they belong to.
Navigate to the manage team inbox tab:
Connected users - these users are automatically populated from the inbox's agent list. They can actively manage and respond to communications.
Watching users - add members manually for monitoring purposes, such as supervisors or managers. They can view and receive notifications but cannot directly interact with communications.
Step 4: Set up report notifications
The report settings in Team Inbox allow selected users to receive analytics and activity summaries from Aloware. This includes insights from AloAi Voice Analytics and daily reports tied to specific lines, users, and teams.
To set up report notifications:
Enable the toggle for report notifications, which includes options for AloAi Voice Analytics and the daily activity report.
Select the user types who should receive these reports, including connected users, watching users, team supervisors, and team members.
In addition to report-based notifications, email notifications for Watching Users can also be enabled to keep them informed of inbox activity such as missed calls, voicemails, abandoned calls, and inbound messages. These email alerts are separate from analytics reports and provide real-time visibility into communication events.
These notifications help ensure that relevant team members receive both performance insights and operational updates needed to stay informed about ongoing activity.
Step 5: Inbox automations (Mark as read settings)
The Inbox Automations tab controls how unread messages behave in both Connected and Personal inboxes, including when messages are marked as read and how agent actions affect unread status.
By default, when an agent replies to a message, Aloware marks the conversation as read across the inbox.
In shared inboxes, this can clear unread status for the entire team, even for users who still need to follow up.
The inbox automations settings allow teams to change this behavior so unread status either stays visible until someone explicitly handles it or gets cleared automatically over time to prevent outdated unread counts.
This feature is available to admins managing Connected inboxes, as well as agents or admins managing Personal inboxes, and both inbox types use the same tab and behavior.
Auto-Mark as Read
When enabled, messages automatically move from unread to read after a configured period, such as 30 days.
This prevents unread messages from accumulating indefinitely and keeps inbox activity aligned with actual engagement. It also works as a cleanup mechanism so older unread messages do not remain in the system longer than necessary.
Any existing unread messages that already fall outside the configured timeframe are marked as read in a one-time cleanup.
Manual Mark as Read Only
When enabled, agent activity does not clear unread status. Replies and calls do not mark messages as read, so messages remain unread even after interaction. Only manual action or the Auto-Mark timer can change their status.
This keeps unread indicators tied to deliberate review instead of automatic updates from individual actions. In shared inbox workflows, it helps preserve visibility across teammates since one agent’s reply does not remove unread status for others who may still need to follow up.
Because of this behavior, teams often pair this setting with a longer Auto-Mark period to maintain visibility during active collaboration while still allowing older unread messages to be cleaned up over time.
Step 6: Managing communications within the connected inbox
Users can access, organize, and interact with communications efficiently within the Connected Inbox by leveraging its integrated features.
Accessing the connected inbox
Connected inboxes (along with personal and watching inboxes) can be accessed from the inbox panel in Aloware Talk. Click on the desired inbox to manage communications.
If a user belongs to multiple inboxes, they will see several inboxes (e.g., Sales Inbox, Support Inbox) and can switch between them as needed. For navigation details, refer to the How to set up and use Aloware Talk Inboxes.
Outbound communication rules
The connected users can initiate calls or send messages from the inbox. All outbound communications can use the inbox's assigned number, ensuring responses stay routed to the correct inbox.
For details on navigating the Inbox Panel and advanced conversation management, refer to the How to set up and use Aloware Talk Inboxes.
Understanding inbox information hierarchy
Inboxes are designed to organize communications for quick access. By default, conversations are displayed in threaded view, grouping messages by contact for easier context. Users can switch to an unthreaded view as needed.
Communications are automatically sorted by the most recent activity, ensuring calls, voicemails, and messages are always visible in chronological order.
Active calls are prominently displayed at the top of the inbox with a distinct icon and background. Once the call ends, it repositions according to its engagement time, providing a clear and organized layout of both ongoing and past interactions.
