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Messaging providers usually keep one chat open for the same person or group indefinitely. Without a separate boundary, an agent can treat requests from different days as one conversation, carry old context into unrelated work, and combine those requests in reports. Conversation sessions give each chat a practical lifespan. When VIVI identifies a new conversation, the agent starts with fresh session context while the earlier conversation remains available in history and reporting.

Cleaner agent context

Unrelated requests do not accumulate forever in the context used for the next response.

More meaningful reports

Conversation counts, duration, message averages, satisfaction, and resolution describe separate customer sessions instead of one lifetime chat.

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Where sessions apply

Conversation sessions are always active for these channel contexts: Team channel reply threads do not use these settings. Each root post already provides a visible conversation boundary in a Team channel.
In a Teams group chat, all participants share the same session. After a session changes, recent group messages can still provide immediate chat context when the agent is mentioned.

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Default timing

Every eligible channel uses the following defaults unless you select custom timing:

Review after 30 minutes

After at least 30 minutes of inactivity, VIVI can start a new session when the previous request was complete and the returning message is an independent request.

Always start fresh after 24 hours

After at least 24 hours of inactivity, the next inbound message always starts a new session.
The 30-minute value is a review threshold, not an automatic timeout. VIVI uses the relationship between the previous conversation and the returning message to avoid splitting a clarification, expected answer, or delayed “thank you” into a false second conversation.

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How VIVI chooses a session

The message remains in the current session. This grace period keeps quick follow-ups together, even when the previous answer appeared complete.
If VIVI cannot confidently determine that a message is a new request, it preserves the current session. This favors continuity over removing context too early.

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Examples

The examples below use the default 30-minute review threshold and 24-hour fresh-session threshold.
  1. Customer: “Can I return an item after 30 days?”
  2. Agent: “Yes. You can return it within 60 days with proof of purchase.”
  3. More than 30 minutes, but less than 24 hours, pass.
  4. Customer: “Thanks, that is all.”
  5. Agent: “You’re welcome.”
The thank-you is a closing acknowledgment, so all five messages remain in one session.
  1. Customer: “What are your support hours?”
  2. Agent: “Support is available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM.”
  3. More than 30 minutes, but less than 24 hours, pass.
  4. Customer: “What is 2 + 2?”
The new question is independent from the completed support-hours request. VIVI starts a new session before the agent answers it.
  1. Customer: “I need help changing my delivery address.”
  2. Agent: “I can help. What is your order number?”
  3. More than 30 minutes, but less than 24 hours, pass.
  4. Customer: “The order number is 12345.”
The agent was waiting for the order number, so the answer remains in the same session.
  1. Customer: “What is your return policy?”
  2. Agent: “Items can be returned within 60 days with proof of purchase.”
  3. Less than 30 minutes pass.
  4. Customer: “What if I lost the receipt?”
Messages below the review threshold remain together, so the agent can use the return-policy context naturally.
  1. Customer: “Where can I download my invoices?”
  2. Agent: “Open Billing, then select Invoices and Download.”
  3. At least 24 hours pass.
  4. Customer: “Can you help me reset my password?”
VIVI starts a new session before the agent responds, regardless of the previous completion state.

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Configure session timing

You can keep the default timing or configure a policy for an individual channel.
1

Open the channel

In your workspace, go to Agents → Channels and select a WhatsApp, SMS, or MS Teams & Copilot channel.
2

Open Conversation sessions

Expand the Conversation sessions section on the channel details page.
3

Choose the timing mode

Select Use default timing to review after 30 minutes and always start fresh after 24 hours.Select Use custom timing to configure channel-specific thresholds and optional completion guidance.
4

Configure custom values

  • Review after inactivity: The minimum inactive time before VIVI can separate a completed request from an independent returning request. Minimum: 1 minute.
  • Always start fresh after: The inactive time that always creates a new session. It must be greater than the review threshold and cannot exceed 10,080 minutes (7 days).
  • Completion guidance: Optional business-specific guidance, up to 4,000 characters, that helps VIVI recognize whether work is still open.
5

Save the channel

Select Save or Save changes, depending on the channel page. The new policy applies to future activity on that channel.
Use default timing does not disable conversation sessions. Sessions are always active on eligible channels; this choice resets the channel to the default 30-minute and 24-hour values.

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Write useful completion guidance

Completion guidance describes business conditions that VIVI cannot infer from general conversation rules. Write it as plain operational guidance. You do not need to mention models, classifiers, threads, or “standard completion rules.” Good examples include:
  • “A booking is complete only after the customer receives a confirmation number.”
  • “A delivery-address change remains open while the agent is waiting for the order number or the new address.”
  • “A support request remains open until a promised human handoff is confirmed.”
  • “If a payment or booking tool fails, keep the request open until it succeeds or the customer decides not to continue.”
Completion guidance controls conversation boundaries. It does not replace the agent prompt or instruct the agent how to answer customers.

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Start fresh manually

In a WhatsApp or Teams personal chat, send:
VIVI immediately starts a fresh session for the next request. The prior messages are preserved for history and reporting, but the agent no longer uses them as session context. The command is not available in SMS, Teams group chats, or Team channels.

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Outbound messages and WhatsApp follow-ups

An outbound or proactive message uses the active session. If the chat has already reached the upper inactivity threshold, VIVI starts a fresh session before it stores the outbound context. The customer’s reply then continues from the same session as the message they received. For WhatsApp campaigns, VIVI preserves enough context for the agent to understand the first delayed reply, even if the upper threshold starts a fresh session before that reply arrives. A WhatsApp follow-up belongs to the session that scheduled it. If that session changes before the follow-up is sent, VIVI cancels the old reminder so a check-in from a previous conversation does not appear in a new one.

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Reporting behavior

Each rotated session is treated as a separate conversation in reports and summaries. As a result:
  • Conversation counts reflect customer sessions instead of lifetime provider chats.
  • Duration and messages-per-conversation describe the individual session.
  • Satisfaction, resolution, containment, and topic analysis apply to the relevant session.
  • Earlier sessions remain available through their existing conversation history.
After this feature is enabled, conversation-level metrics may differ from older periods because one long-lived provider chat can now produce multiple meaningful sessions.

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Frequently asked questions

The review threshold does not force a reset. VIVI keeps the session when work is incomplete or when the returning message continues, clarifies, corrects, reopens, or closes the prior request.
A completed answer alone does not reveal what the customer will say next. For example, “Thanks” and an unrelated new request can both arrive after a completed answer and the same pause. VIVI uses both signals to avoid creating a separate conversation for a closing acknowledgment.
Most messages do not need an additional boundary check. VIVI performs one before the agent runs only when a completed conversation returns between the two thresholds. Messages below the review threshold, open conversations, manual resets, and messages at or above the upper threshold do not need that check.
No. Eligible messaging channels always use conversation sessions. You can choose the default timing or configure channel-specific timing and completion guidance.

MS Teams & Copilot

Personal and group chat behavior, installation, and proactive messaging.

SMS Channel

SMS setup, consent, compliance, and messaging behavior.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp setup, messaging, and campaigns.