Conversation Assignment, Delegation & Coverage

Use this guide to understand who owns a conversation, how delegation and out-of-office coverage affect routing, and what to check when messages reach the wrong person.

Overview

Conversation visibility and routing can depend on the thread owner, followers or subscribers, delegation, Business Development Center (BDC) or shared-inbox rules, user permissions, and dealership configuration.

Term	Meaning
Thread owner	The user or team responsible for the conversation.
Follower or subscriber	A user who can receive updates without becoming the owner.
Delegated conversation	A conversation assigned to another user for coverage.
Shared inbox or BDC	A team-based communication queue that may receive conversations based on dealership rules.
Out-of-office coverage	A temporary routing arrangement used while a user is unavailable.

Before you start

Identify the affected conversation and current owner.
Confirm whether the user is active, licensed, and allowed to own conversations.
Confirm whether the dealership uses a BDC or shared inbox.
Identify whether the issue affects one conversation, older conversations, or all new conversations.

Steps:

Review ownership

Open the affected conversation.
Identify the current owner and any followers or subscribers.
Confirm whether the conversation is associated with an open or closed repair order.
Confirm whether the customer previously communicated with another user or team.
Ask an authorized manager to review the dealership's routing and ownership rules when the result is unexpected.

Prepare out-of-office coverage

Choose an eligible active user for coverage.
Confirm that the covering user has the required department access and can own conversations.
Delegate current work before the absence begins.
Test with an approved conversation to confirm that the covering user can see and respond.
Review ownership again when the absent user returns.

Handling a user deactivation

Reassign open conversations before deactivating the user.
Review subscriptions or followers that still reference the user.
Remove or reassign any direct-dial phone number associated with the user.
Confirm BDC or shared-inbox coverage for new replies.
Test with a recent conversation after the change.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
Replies go to the wrong user	Check current ownership, prior ownership, delegation, shared-inbox rules, and whether the conversation is tied to an older or closed repair order.
A user is missing from the delegate list	Confirm the user is active, in the correct department, licensed, and allowed to own conversations.
Delegation fails	Confirm both users have the required permissions and that the selected user is eligible for the dealership's routing configuration.
Replies still go to a deactivated user	Review open-conversation reassignment, followers, direct-dial cleanup, and any routing rule that still references the user.
A conversation disappears	Check ownership, delegation, filters, shared-inbox views, and permissions before assuming the conversation was deleted.
A user cannot see delegated work	Confirm the user is viewing the correct inbox or filter and has access to the relevant department or conversation type.

When Contacting Support

Include the affected users' roles, whether each user is active, the current owner, expected owner, repair-order state, BDC or shared-inbox setup, timestamp, and a non-sensitive conversation identifier.

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