Side Conversations let you email a third party, such as a vendor, carrier or repair shop, about a Customer without leaving Gladly. The email thread lives inside a Task on the Customer's Conversation Timeline, not in the Customer's conversation, so the Customer never sees it. Replies come back to the same Task automatically, and the Task returns to your Inbox when it's time to follow up.
How Side Conversations work
A Side Conversation is a regular Task with an email thread attached. Everything you can already do with a Task still applies: it has an assignee (an Agent or an Inbox), a due date, Comments and followers.
Sending the first email creates the Task – The email's subject becomes the Task's title, and the Task appears on the Customer's Conversation Timeline.
The thread stays inside the Task – Emails and internal Comments appear together in the Task Panel, in order. The Task card on the Conversation Timeline shows the most recent emails.
Replies come back to the Task – When the third party answers, their email is added to the same Task, the Task comes due, and the assignee and followers are notified.
The due date is your follow-up date – Follow up by sets the Task's due date, so the Task comes back to the assignee's Inbox when it's time to chase a reply.
Before you start
You need permission to send outbound messages. If you don't see ‘Start side conversation’, check with your Gladly team.
Side Conversations must be turned on for your organization. Contact Gladly Support to turn it on.
Start a Side Conversation
In the Conversation Timeline, open the compose (+) menu where you start a new Email or Note, and click Start side conversation.
Click To and enter the third party's email address. Add Cc or Bcc recipients if needed.
Check the From address. It defaults to the email address of the associated Conversation's Inbox. Pick another address from the dropdown if needed.
Enter a subject and write your email. Formatting, Answers, links, emoji, attachments and inline images all work the same way as in the Email composer.
Use a clear subject, such as "Replacement part for order 10482."
It becomes the Task's title, which makes the Task easy to find later.
Under Assign to, choose who owns the follow-up. It defaults to you, in the Conversation's Inbox.
Set Follow up by. It defaults to tomorrow and becomes the Task's due date.
Click Send.
The email goes out, and a new Task holding it appears on the Customer's Conversation Timeline. You automatically become a follower of the Task.
Reply and comment from the Task
To open a Side Conversation, click Reply to this thread on its Task card in the Conversation Timeline. The Task panel shows the emails and Comments together, oldest first. The composer at the bottom has two tabs:
Comment – An internal note for other team members, just like on any Task. The third party never sees it.
Send response – An email reply to the third party.
Reply by email
Click Send response.
Check the pre-filled fields. To is the third party, Cc is everyone else on the latest email, and the subject starts with "Re:". Click To to change recipients.
Write your reply. Formatting, attachments and inline images work the same way as in the Email composer.
Set Follow up by. It defaults to tomorrow and updates the Task's due date when you send.
Click Send. Your reply appears in the thread, and the composer clears for the next one.
Your reply is saved as you type
Replies are saved as drafts automatically, so a draft is still there if you reload the page. A Task with a saved draft opens on the Send response tab. Clicking Cancel deletes the draft, and Gladly asks you to confirm first if you've typed or attached anything.
See the original email
To see an email exactly as it was sent or received, including its attachments, click View original email under it in the Task panel.
When the third party replies
The third party replies to your email as they normally would. Gladly adds their reply, with any attachments, to the same Task's thread automatically.
The Task becomes due – If the Task's due date is still in the future, Gladly moves it to now, so the Task comes back to the assignee's Inbox like any due Task. If the due date has already passed, it stays as it is, since the Task is already due.
People are notified – The Task's assignee and followers get a notification for each new email in the thread. You aren't notified about emails you send yourself.
Agents who reply become followers – Anyone who sends a reply on the thread automatically follows the Task, so they hear about the next answer too.
Considerations
Customers do not see Side Conversation content or activities – Side Conversation emails and Comments stay in the Task. They never appear in the Customer's Conversation.
Replies are matched by the email they answer – A reply is added to the Task when it answers an email from the thread, no matter who sends it.
For example, if a vendor replies from a different address than the one you wrote to, the reply still arrives, and the sender is shown as external. A brand-new email that doesn't answer one from the thread isn't added to the Task.
Closed Tasks aren't reopened – If the third party replies after the Task is closed, the reply is still added to the thread, but the Task stays closed and doesn't come back to the Inbox. Keep the Task open until you're sure the conversation with the third party is finished.
Up to 25 recipients per email – This limit covers To, Cc and Bcc combined.
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on the top-left corner, then click Contact Gladly Support. Gladly Support's primary operating hours are Monday through Friday, 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific Time, but you can submit a request anytime.