Glossary · 25 terms
Support & operations
Running customer support on WhatsApp: the shared team inbox, routing and assignment, service-level agreements, and the metrics — first response time, handle time, CSAT and NPS — that show how the team is doing.
Foundation· 10
Start here — the concepts everything else builds on.
- Canned ResponseA saved reply snippet an agent inserts with a shortcut, with variables for names or order details, to answer common questions fast.Read definition
- Chat TransferReassigning a live WhatsApp conversation to another agent or team with its full history and notes, so the customer never has to repeat themselves.Read definition
- Conversation TaggingLabelling WhatsApp conversations by topic, intent or outcome so teams can route them, report on them and spot trends.Read definition
- Customer Satisfaction ScoreCSATThe share of customers who rate one interaction positively, collected on WhatsApp with a one-tap survey right after the conversation ends.Read definition
- First Response TimeFRTThe time between a customer's first WhatsApp message and the first meaningful reply from the business, a key measure of support speed.Read definition
- Internal NotesPrivate comments agents add to a WhatsApp conversation for teammates, visible only inside the inbox and never sent to the customer.Read definition
- Net Promoter ScoreNPSA loyalty survey asking how likely customers are to recommend you on a 0–10 scale, scored as the percentage of promoters minus detractors.Read definition
- Omnichannel InboxOne agent workspace that merges WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, SMS and email conversations into a single queue and customer timeline.Read definition
- Shared Team InboxA single workspace where multiple agents handle WhatsApp conversations for one business number, with assignment, notes and full history.Read definition
- Ticket LifecycleThe statuses a support conversation moves through, from new and open to pending, resolved, closed or reopened, and the rules that move it.Read definition
Practitioner· 15
What you need once you are running it day to day.
- Agent ConcurrencyThe number of WhatsApp conversations one agent handles at the same time, capped by the team to balance speed against reply quality.Read definition
- Auto-AssignmentRules that route each incoming WhatsApp chat to one agent or team automatically, by rotation, workload, skill, language or keyword.Read definition
- Average Handle TimeAHTThe average agent time spent working each conversation, including replies and wrap-up, measured differently on asynchronous chat than on calls.Read definition
- Collision DetectionAn inbox safeguard that shows when another agent is viewing or typing in the same conversation, preventing duplicate or contradictory replies.Read definition
- CRM IntegrationCRMA link that syncs WhatsApp conversations, contacts and events with a CRM, so agents see customer context and sales activity is logged automatically.Read definition
- Customer Effort ScoreCESA survey metric asking customers how easy it was to get their issue resolved, a strong predictor of whether they stay or leave.Read definition
- Deflection RateThe share of support demand resolved by self-service, bots or help articles without reaching an agent, a wider measure than bot containment.Read definition
- EscalationMoving a conversation to a more senior tier, specialist team or manager when it goes beyond an agent's scope or risks breaching an SLA.Read definition
- First Contact ResolutionFCRThe share of customer issues solved in the first conversation, with no follow-up or reopening, measuring completeness rather than speed.Read definition
- Helpdesk IntegrationConnecting WhatsApp to a ticketing system so inbound messages become tickets and agent replies go back to the customer through the API.Read definition
- Proactive SupportContacting customers on WhatsApp before they ask, with delay alerts, outage notices or renewal reminders, to cut inbound support volume.Read definition
- QA ScorecardQAA rubric reviewers use to grade a sample of support conversations on accuracy, tone, compliance and process, giving the team's view of quality.Read definition
- Resolution TimeThe elapsed time from a support conversation opening to its resolution, best tracked as a median because reopened and stalled chats skew averages.Read definition
- SLA (Service Level Agreement)SLAA committed target for how fast support will first respond to and resolve customer conversations, tracked by timers that pause outside business hours.Read definition
- Support BacklogThe number and age of open conversations still waiting on the support team at a given moment, a measure of queue size rather than speed.Read definition
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