About locked conversations

While you work on a conversation, a lock prevents other agents from replying to it, ensuring that the contact has a consistent support experience. Locking is automatic and temporary, and it is not the same as conversation assignment.

Here’s how conversation locking works in Inbox:

• A conversation becomes locked when an agent selects it in the queue or has it auto-assigned to them.
• Conversations are only locked in the New or Pending queues.
• Only one conversation can be locked to an agent at a time.
• When a conversation is locked to an agent, the Reply box is not available for other agents.
• To perform any action on a locked conversation, another agent must “take” it.
• If an agent takes a conversation, it becomes locked to the agent who took it and no longer locked to the previous agent.
  
  

A conversation is unlocked when any of the following occurs:

• An agent clicks away from a conversation to a different conversation.
• Another agent takes the conversation.
• The conversation changes state.