How to use the conversations inbox in Service Hub

The Conversations Inbox is the central place in HubSpot Service Hub where your support team can manage all incoming customer queries—whether they come from live chat, email, or connected channels like Facebook Messenger. It keeps everything tidy, transparent, and trackable so that no message slips through the cracks.

Why the conversations inbox matters

A single shared inbox means your team has complete visibility into every customer conversation. It helps reduce duplication, allows for smooth handovers between team members, and ensures faster response times. It’s also linked to your CRM—so your team has full context when replying.

Getting started

To begin, go to Conversations > Inbox. If you haven’t already connected your team email or chat widget, you’ll be prompted to do so. HubSpot allows you to connect:

A team email address (like support@yourcompany.com)
A live chat widget on your website
Facebook Messenger

Once connected, you can start receiving messages directly into HubSpot.

Step-by-Step Setup

Connect an Inbox

Go to Settings > Inbox > Inboxes. Click Create inbox and connect your team email (like support@ or info@). Follow the prompts to finish the connection.
Choose Inbox Type

Decide whether this inbox will be for customer support, sales, or something else. Give it a name that reflects its purpose.
Add Team Members

Select who should have access to the inbox. This ensures the right people see and respond to customer messages.
Customise Channels

You can add live chat, forms, or Facebook Messenger to your inbox as additional channels.

💡 Pro Tip: Use conversation routing rules to automatically assign incoming messages to the right team member based on availability, ticket status, or message type.

Key features

Here’s a breakdown of the most useful parts of the Conversations Inbox:

✅ Threaded Conversations

Each message is organised by thread, just like an email inbox, making it easy to see the full context of a conversation.

✅ CRM Integration

When a customer reaches out, their contact record is automatically pulled in—so you see their history, open tickets, and more at a glance.

✅ Assigning Conversations

You can assign incoming queries to the right team member based on availability, expertise, or workload—either manually or automatically using routing rules.

✅ Notes and Comments

Need input from a colleague? Leave internal notes on the conversation or @mention teammates to collaborate behind the scenes.

✅ Saved Replies and Snippets

Use pre-written replies for frequently asked questions to save time and ensure consistency.

✅ Tickets

Convert any conversation into a support ticket directly from the inbox. This is helpful for tracking issues that require follow-up or escalation.

Best practices

Set up routing rules to assign queries to the right team member automatically.
Use status filters to make sure no messages are missed or left unresolved.
Log calls and tasks from the inbox so everything related to that contact stays centralised

💡 Pro tip: Add your inbox to your dashboard widgets so your support team can see how many open conversations they have at any time—and prioritise accordingly.