Configure the Leave and Pause options for email tasks

When an agent sends an email and expects a customer to reply, they can click Leave to keep the conversation open while the agent moves on to other work. The conversation remains open until the customer replies, up to 90 days.

When an agent leaves, admins can choose how a task is rerouted. By default, when the customer replies, a new task is created and routed to an agent. The task is not automatically routed to the same agent. The agent who opens the new task can see all previous messages in the conversation history as well as the new message.

Alternatively, admins can select custom routing to route a message. You can set up routing logic through a Studio flow or create a custom automation to send the message to Flex.

When an agent receives an email task that they can't handle right now, but want to remain in their queue, they can select Task > Pause to put the task on hold. The task remains assigned to the agent in a paused state, and their capacity is released. This state is helpful when an agent needs to do some research or gather more information before responding.

When the agent is ready to resume work on the task, they can go to the task, scroll to the bottom, and click Resume.

To ensure that paused tasks are not ignored, a time limit of 14 days automatically applies to paused tasks. Tasks are then rerouted to the queue and reassigned to the next available agent. You can shorten the time limit in Console if you want tasks to return to the queue sooner.

In Flex UI, agents can see a status for each paused task that shows when it will be reassigned if they don't resume work before then. The pause status highlights the 24-hour mark and 1-hour mark before the time limit is reached.

Note In Flex UI versions before Flex UI 2.11.0, agents won't see the status of when their paused tasks will be reassigned. To enable agents to see this information, upgrade to Flex UI 2.11.x.

If you want to enable the Leave and Pause options, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Flex - General settings in the Console.
2. Under Conversation tasks workflows, in the Select Workflows section, select Leave, Pause, or both.
   1. Under Leave, choose whether you want to create a new task or use custom routing.
   2. Under Pause, set the time limit for paused tasks.
3. Click Save.

• When you change the time limit, the change only applies to newly paused tasks. Existing paused tasks keep the time limit that was in place when they were paused.
• If you don't see the Leave and Pause options described in this page, contact our support team for assistance.