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Hello @OneEagle,
Thank you for your detailed questions - I will go through each point and also offer an additional option using Spaces, which may fit your needs better.
1) Do I need to create separate organization profiles for each department?
Yes - with the current UNA Messenger logic, each organization profile functions as an independent "entity" for conversations. So if you want 5 departments (Billing, Accounts, Tech Support, etc.), this would mean 5 separate organization profiles.
2) Using Spaces to organize support (additional option)
There is another approach that may work well for you:
You can create a Space named, for example, Support, and add all your support agents as Space members (see my screenshorts).
Then:
- On the Space view page, you can place a Messenger block.
- You can restrict access to this page for specific membership levels (only those who should be able to contact support).
- On this same page, you can create multiple conversations, each with its own title such as:
- Billing
- Accounts
- Advertising
- Technical Support
Messenger (in the latest version) allows multiple conversations attached to the same page, but very few people use this feature, so it's not widely known.
These conversations will also appear on the main Messenger page under the corresponding Space "group."
Important note:
Conversations inside a Space are not direct, meaning all members who have access to the Space page will see them. All support agents will receive notifications for new messages as long as they are members of the Space.
3) Can Messenger show categories (e.g., Billing, Accounts, etc.) before starting the chat?
Not by default. Messenger does not have a built-in system of categories or routing. If you need a category selector, this would require custom development.
4) How do notifications work for Organization or Space conversations?
Reading messages as an Organization: When a user is logged in on behalf of the Organization profile, they act as a single unified identity. So if this user opens/reads a message the message is marked as read for the Organization. It means other Organization members will NOT see the unread notification, because from Messenger's point of view, the Organization has already read it (regardless of which specific member opened it).
Reading messages inside a Space: In Spaces, conversations are not handled under a single shared identity.
Each Space member acts as an individual participant. So If one agent reads the message inside a Space conversation, other agents will still see their own unread notifications until they open the message personally.
5) Can I restrict which membership levels can contact support?
You can use UNA permissions to make the support conversation(s) available only to specific membership levels and you can just close support page/group/spaces for some membership levels.
6) About a traditional "Live Support" module (departments, ticket IDs, queues, auto-assignment, etc.)
Such a module can be developed, ideally as an external module built on top of Messenger.
However, features like:
- Department routing
- Ticket IDs
- Queue management
- Auto-assignment of agents
- Structured workflows
require detailed planning and are significantly more complex than standard Messenger usage. If you need time estimates, we would need more details about your desired workflow and you can contact me directly via Messenger.
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Dear @Alexey
I will always be impressed by how detailed and professional you are. Thanks for your reply and the step-by-step explanations.
1. Got it.
2. The "Spaces" approach was almost perfect, until it came to the privacy part. Conversations are public in the Space, which is not appropriate for Support, where privacy should be taken seriously as sensitive information can be shared. Also Support operates on a one-to-one basis. So using Spaces is not a very good option.
By the way, I wasn't aware of the feature that allows multiple conversations to be attached to the same page. Great job!
3. Ok, I understand.
4. The single unified identity concept makes sense, but in this particular case, it won't help.
I think that reading messages as an Organization should work like a Group chat/conversation. Messages should remain unread to an organization member even if another member has already read them. Could you please consider it a feature request?
5. Thanks for the tip.
6. I will definitely contact you about that one at the appropriate time, as it has always been my long-time wish, and it will enhance Messenger for a professional support channel.
Thanks