Conversation resolution — Done to Archived
Conversation resolution is the mechanism that takes a Done conversation through to Archived. It’s the auto-cleanup that keeps the inbox tidy without prematurely closing the door on customers who might still need help.
The two-step “close”
Closing a conversation in Atender is two steps, not one:
- Mark Done — agent says “I’ve done my part”
- Archive — system locks the conversation after a waiting period
Most tools collapse these into a single Close action. Atender separates them deliberately, so customers have a window to reopen by replying.
What the resolution timer does
When you mark a conversation Done:
- The resolution timer starts
- Conversation stays in the Done tab
- Customer can reply at any point during the window — if they do, conversation reopens to Active
- When the timer expires, conversation auto-archives — locked, customer must start a new one to reach you
Default duration
Out of the box, the resolution timer is set to a sensible default (typically 1-3 days, depending on configuration). Admins can adjust this. See Configure the resolution timer.
Why this matters
The resolution window is one of the most important UX decisions in customer service tooling. Get it wrong and:
- Too short → customers reach out again with “I think you closed my ticket?” and have to start over with no context
- Too long → Done piles up, agents lose track of which Dones might re-emerge, your inbox feels heavy
Get it right and:
- Most customers who would reply do so within the window
- Genuine “we’re done here” conversations move on
- Your Active queue stays focused on what actually needs work
Engagement state and resolution
Resolution doesn’t care about engagement state. A Done + Engaged conversation (you replied last, customer didn’t write back) and a Done + Pending conversation (customer wrote, you marked Done without reply) both auto-archive on the same timer.
This is intentional. Resolution is about time elapsed, not who spoke last.
That said, Done + Pending is a usually a sign you should revisit before letting the timer run out — it suggests the customer wrote in after you marked Done, and the most recent message is theirs.
What happens at archive time
When the resolution timer expires:
- Conversation moves from Done → Archived
- Becomes locked — no one can reply, including the agent
- The conversation drops out of the Done tab and only appears in search / archived view
- If CSAT surveys are configured to fire at resolution, they’re sent now
- Reporting still includes it; the conversation is preserved indefinitely
What if the customer replies AFTER archive?
Their reply creates a brand-new conversation, linked to the original archived one for context (visible in the contact’s history). The new conversation:
- Starts as Active + Pending (fresh)
- Doesn’t inherit tags, assignment, or custom field values
- Goes through routing rules from scratch
This is the correct behavior — a customer reaching out three weeks after the issue closed is starting a new interaction, even if it’s about the same topic. The archived link gives the agent context.
Configuration knobs
The resolution timer is a tenant-wide setting:
- Days / Hours / Minutes — How long a Done conversation waits before auto-archiving. The three fields combine into a single duration.
The timer is business-hours aware — it consults your opening hours and any configured public holidays so a conversation marked Done late on a Friday isn’t archived over the weekend before anyone could see a customer reply.
There are no per-channel or per-tag overrides on the resolution timer itself today. If you need different windows for different cohorts (chat vs. email, VIP vs. standard), drive that distinction with SLA policies — SLA assignments are channel- and tag-aware — and let resolution stay one workspace-wide setting.
See Configure the resolution timer.
Resolution and CSAT
Resolution is typically when you ask the customer “how did we do?”. Two trigger points are available:
- At Done — fires immediately when the agent marks Done. Faster feedback, but can be premature if the customer then reopens.
- At Archive — fires after the resolution timer expires. Slower, but only goes out once the conversation is truly settled.
Most teams use Archive-time CSAT for that second reason — you don’t want to ask “how did we do” only to have the customer reply “actually it’s not fixed.”