This article describes the recommended workflow to manage support tickets in Commslayer.
When we designed the app, we built this workflow as a common denominator: it is a good compromise between the different needs and requests we received from merchants. You can adapt it slightly to your processes, but we suggest starting from this approach.
1. Set Up Your Inbox Tab
Before you start replying, make sure your workspace is focused on what matters most.
- Filter by Status: “Open”
Go to your ticket list.
Set the Status filter to Open.
This view shows all conversations that still require an action from your team.
- Sort by “Last activity”
The most common and useful sorting option is Last activity, which considers the most recent interaction (customer or agent) on a ticket.
Click Sort at the top of the list and choose Last activity.
Decide your preferred order:
Oldest first: ideal if you want to ensure that nothing has been waiting too long.
Newest first: ideal for teams that need to react quickly to the latest activity.
You can switch between these two depending on your priorities (SLA, workload, escalation rules, etc.).
You can also sort by Last message, Created at, Priority or Pending response. To work tickets in the order customers first wrote in, pick Created at with Oldest first. To answer whoever has waited longest for a reply, pick Pending response with Oldest first.
Sorting the conversation list →
2. Start from Your Own Tickets: “Mine” Tab
To ensure pending replies are handled first, start from the tickets that are already assigned to you.
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Open the Mine Tab.
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Keep the Status filter on Open.
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Work through all the tickets that are in your Inbox and assigned to you.
This ensures:
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You clear all pending replies.
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Customers who are already in conversation with you receive continuity in the interaction.
Note: When you send a reply, Commslayer assigns that conversation to you, also when it was assigned to a colleague. That is why “Mine” is your primary working queue. The assign control next to Send shows who the conversation goes to, and you can change or clear it before you send. Private notes don't assign. This behaviour is on by default and can be switched off in Settings → Account settings under Auto-assign tickets when replying.
3. Pick Up New Work: “Unassigned” Tab
Once you clear your personal inbox (all open tickets in Mine view):
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Switch to the Unassigned tab.
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Keep the Status filter on Open.
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Work through the New tickets:
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Pick a ticket.
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Reply to the customer.
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The ticket is assigned to you after your reply, unless Auto-assign tickets when replying is switched off for your account.
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This approach balances:
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Taking care of ongoing conversations first.
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Then, picking up new work from the shared pool.
4. What Should I Do After I Reply to the Customer?
After you send a reply, you have two main options, depending on whether the issue is solved or not.
4.1 If your reply fully resolves the issue
If you are confident the conversation is complete and no further action is needed:
Click the Resolve button, or press E. To send your reply and resolve in one step, open the menu next to Send and choose Send, resolve (Cmd + Shift + Enter on Mac, Ctrl + Shift + Enter on Windows).
Use this when:
You have provided the final answer or fix.
There is no reason to keep the ticket open or waiting.
4.2 If you are waiting for the customer’s answer
If your reply moves the ball back to the customer’s side, but the ticket is not resolved yet:
Set the ticket to Pending: click the arrow next to the Resolve button, choose Set pending, then When customer replies. You can also press H to open the same options.
Pending means you are waiting for the customer. If you need the ticket back at a set time instead, pick In 1 hour, In 24 hours, Tomorrow, Next week, Next month or Custom from the same menu.
What happens then:
The ticket is not in your active “Open” list anymore, so it does not clutter your queue.
As soon as the customer replies, the conversation will automatically reappear in your Inbox as an Open ticket, ready for further action.
5. How to Review Pending or Resolved Tickets
If you have any doubt about a conversation you just set to Pending or resolved, or you want to double-check its status:
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Change the Status filter:
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From Open to Pending to see all conversations you are waiting on.
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From Open to Resolved to see all completed conversations.
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If you want to limit the view to your own tickets, stay in the Mine tab.
This way you can:
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Audit your recently resolved tickets.
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Quickly re-open a conversation if needed.
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Track what you are currently waiting for from customers.
6. How to Read the Conversation List
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Small blue dot on the avatar, bold name, subject and time: the conversation is unread. Read conversations show their preview text in grey.
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Blue highlighted row: the conversation you have open.
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Up and down arrows at the top of an open conversation: open the previous or next conversation in the list without going back to the list. The Up and Down keys do the same.
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Reply arrow in front of the preview text: the last message in the conversation came from your side. That can be a teammate's reply, a private note, the AI agent or an automated message. No arrow means the last message came from the customer.
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A second name after the customer's name: the agent the conversation is assigned to.
The arrow does not decide which list a ticket is in. A ticket you have answered stays in Open until you resolve it or set it to Pending.
Read and unread is shared by the whole team. When one teammate opens a conversation, it shows as read for everyone. To flag it again, right-click the conversation and choose Mark as unread. That sets it back to unread for everyone.
This workflow keeps your queue clean, ensures customers in ongoing conversations are prioritized, and provides a simple way to manage pending responses without losing track of anything.