When a message is sent in Helpdesky, the recipient does not receive an email immediately. Every email notification is held for 60 seconds before it is delivered. This short delay exists to reduce unnecessary emails during active, back and forth conversations. If the recipient reads the message in the dashboard, widget, or ticket center before the 60 seconds is up, the email is cancelled automatically.
This applies to both directions: visitor to operator and operator to visitor. The behavior is the same regardless of whether the message came through the widget, contact form, or ticket center. For an overview of all messaging channels, see the Messaging Channels Overview.
How the Delay Works
When someone sends a message, Helpdesky queues an email notification with a 60 second timer. During that window, two things can cancel the email before it goes out.
The recipient reads the conversation. If the operator opens the conversation in the dashboard, or the visitor views it in the widget or ticket center, Helpdesky detects this and skips the email entirely. There is no point sending a notification for a message that has already been seen.
Multiple messages arrive quickly. If the sender follows up with additional messages before the 60 seconds is up, Helpdesky combines them into a single email rather than sending one notification per message. This prevents the recipient from being flooded with emails during a rapid exchange.
Visitor to Operator Notifications
When a visitor sends a message through any channel, all operators with notification access receive an email within 60 seconds. If an operator has the Messages page open and sees the conversation before the timer expires, no email is sent to that operator.
Operators can keep the Messages page open during business hours to handle conversations in real time and avoid unnecessary email notifications altogether.
Operator to Visitor Notifications
When an operator replies to a conversation, the visitor receives an email notification at the address they provided. The same 60 second delay applies. If the visitor happens to be viewing the conversation in the widget or ticket center at that moment, the email is skipped.
Visitors only receive email notifications if they provided a valid email address when starting the conversation. Contact form and ticket center conversations always have an email. Widget conversations depend on whether the visitor entered one.
Send Instantly
Operators have a Send Instantly toggle in the reply area of the Messages inbox. When enabled, the reply email is delivered immediately with no delay. This is useful for time sensitive responses where you want the visitor to be notified right away.
When Send Instantly is off (the default), the standard 60 second delay and read detection logic apply as described above.
Why 60 Seconds?
The delay strikes a balance between speed and noise reduction. It is short enough that visitors and operators still receive timely notifications, but long enough to catch situations where the recipient is already reading the conversation or the sender is typing follow up messages. Without this buffer, both sides would receive unnecessary emails during every active conversation.