Receiving an email for every reply in a support chat

💻 Environment/Context

  • Intercom
  • Email notification
  • Support chat

 

❓ Issue/Question

  • Is it possible to not receive a mail for each chat message on here?
  • While a support conversation is open, the user receive an email notification for each chat message, which can add up to several emails during a single conversation. Is it possible to stop receiving one email per message?

 

👌 Resolution/Answer

  • How the notifications work:
    • When Support replies in the chat, a notification email is sent only if the user hasn't seen the reply in the Messenger after roughly 3 minutes.
    • Replies that arrive close together are grouped into a single email.
    • A long back-and-forth conversation can still produce several emails, because each unread stretch triggers its own notification.

 

🥚 Cause

  • This happens because Intercom sends email notifications for conversation replies when the customer hasn’t seen the message in the Messenger after about 3 minutes. That delay isn’t configurable. 

 

🔖 Notes 

  • To reduce the number of emails you receive:
    • Keep the Messenger open while the conversation is active, and read replies there. A reply you've already seen in the chat won't be emailed to you.
    • If you prefer to work by email, you can reply directly to the notification email — your answer goes back into the same conversation, and you don't need to return to the Messenger.