Why this setting exists
By default, every reply from the same customer on the same channel appends to the existing Intercom conversation. That is useful while the conversation is live, but it can lead to very long threads where a customer’s new, unrelated question sits under a resolved issue from weeks ago.
The Open New Conversation After Inactivity setting lets Octopods decide, based on a time buffer, when enough silence has passed that the next reply should start a fresh conversation instead.
How it works
When the setting is turned on:
Your team closes an Intercom conversation as usual.
After the configured buffer period passes with no new activity on that channel, the thread is considered dormant.
The next inbound message from the customer on that channel opens a new Intercom conversation, attributed to the same contact, with that message as the first reply.
The old, closed conversation is left in place in your Intercom history.
If the customer replies before the buffer elapses, the reply appends to the existing closed conversation as normal and Intercom reopens it.
Warning: The setting description explicitly cautions: “Do NOT close conversations mid-send.” If a conversation is closed while your team is still composing a reply through Octopods, in-flight messages may land on a new thread once the buffer elapses.
Turning the setting on
Sign in to Octopods as an admin.
Go to Settings.
Find the Open New Conversation After Inactivity toggle.
Select Yes.
A Buffer Time dropdown appears. Pick the inactivity period that should trigger a new conversation.
Save your changes.
Available buffer times
The Buffer Time dropdown exposes these preset values:
1 hour (default)
2 hours
4 hours
8 hours
12 hours
1 day
2 days
3 days
1 week
2 weeks
The dropdown presets range from 1 hour to 2 weeks. Pick the value that best matches how long your team considers a conversation “the same topic” once it goes quiet.
Picking a buffer length
Short buffers (1–4 hours) keep threads tightly scoped. Any reply that comes in after a quiet evening starts fresh in the morning. Useful for high-volume support inboxes that value short conversation lifetimes.
Medium buffers (1–3 days) treat a conversation as the same topic for the rest of the working week. A good default for teams that handle follow-up questions close to the original ticket.
Longer buffers (1–2 weeks) keep threads together for slow-paced accounts — for example, customers you only hear from occasionally, where you would rather see the full history in one place.
What happens to the old conversation
The previously-closed conversation stays in your Intercom history and is still searchable by contact. It is not deleted, moved, or modified — Octopods simply stops appending to it once the buffer expires. Your team can still reopen the old thread in Intercom if they need to refer back to it.
What’s next