Introduction
The automation trigger “New or reopened conversation” allows you to trigger automated actions when a new conversation is started and when a contact reopens a conversation that was previously marked as done.
Note: A conversation is created when a customer sends their first message. Conversations can be reopened automatically if the customer messages again, even if it was previously marked as done.
In this article, we’ll walk you through a practical use case for this trigger and provide inspiration on how to use it effectively in your automations. To explain:
New & reopened conversations → Triggers both when a new conversation starts as well as when a contact reopens a conversation that was previously marked as done.
Note: For this trigger, you can set parameters in the side menu to dictate when the automation should trigger.
Comparison to Existing Triggers
The benefits of this trigger become especially clear when compared to other standard triggers:
"New Incoming Message" → Responds to every new message, regardless of the conversation’s status. This trigger is widely used but can lead to repeated activations — even during ongoing or reopened conversations.
"New Incoming Conversation" → Only triggered when a contact messages for the very first time, starting a new conversation — ideal for onboarding or welcome automations.
A Typical Use Case
Human Handover Without Interruptions
A classic scenario is managing the handover from a chatbot to a human agent — without the chatbot interfering again:
Without: The "New Incoming Message" trigger would reactivate the chatbot every time a new message came in — even if a human agent had already taken over the conversation.
With: Thanks to this trigger, you can ensure that the chatbot won’t be triggered again while the conversation is still active. Automation will only activate if the conversation has been marked as resolved and is then reopened.
To ensure the trigger activates correctly, team members must mark a taken-over chat as "resolved" once the conversation has ended.
This allows you to provide your customers with a more consistent and reliable conversation experience — while also relieving your team effectively.
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