Notifications
Choose which conversation events reach you by browser notification or email, set up each browser, and troubleshoot notifications that don't arrive.
Notifications tell you when something needs you without keeping the Help Desk open in front of you. Each person chooses their own in Settings -> Personal -> Notifications. Nothing you change there affects your teammates.
Every notification is off until you turn it on. A new team member who hears nothing has usually not chosen any yet.
What you can be notified about
| Notification | When it fires | Browser | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer replies | A customer replies in a conversation assigned to you | Yes | Yes |
| Assigned to you | A teammate or an assignment rule assigns a conversation to you | Yes | Yes |
| Handoffs | The AI agent hands a conversation off to the team | Yes | |
| New conversations | A customer starts a new conversation | Yes |
Customer replies and Assigned to you are about your own conversations, so they cover every business you work in. You aren't notified about a conversation you assigned to yourself, or about one that is reassigned to the person who already has it.
Handoffs and New conversations are team queue notifications that everyone receives. If you work across several businesses, choose which ones they cover under Businesses.
Grouping
Several replies in the same conversation replace one browser notification rather than stacking up, and the newest message is shown. Emails are grouped too: everything from the same minute arrives as a single email, with a link to each conversation.
Clicking a browser notification opens the conversation in your existing Octocom tab, so a reply you were writing there isn't lost.
Setting up a browser
Browser notifications go to every browser where you've allowed them. Allow them once per browser and computer.
- Open Settings -> Personal -> Notifications in the browser you want to use.
- Turn on a browser notification. Your browser asks for permission; choose Allow.
- The This browser section confirms notifications are on. Use Send test notification to check.
Notifications arrive while the browser is running, even when Octocom isn't the active tab or no Octocom tab is open. The optional sound plays only while an Octocom tab is open.
Troubleshooting
The This browser section on the Notifications page says what's wrong and offers the fix:
| Status | What to do |
|---|---|
| Browser notifications are off | Turn on at least one browser notification. |
| Allow notifications in this browser | Select Allow notifications and accept the browser's prompt. |
| Notifications are blocked | Open the browser's site settings for Octocom (the icon left of the address), allow notifications, then reload. |
| This browser isn't registered yet | Select Register this browser. |
If the test notification is sent but nothing appears, check your operating system's notification settings and Focus or Do Not Disturb modes, which can hide browser notifications.
Checking and changing a teammate's setup with Copilot
Ask Copilot "Why isn't Marine getting notified about replies?" or "Turn on customer reply emails for Marine". Copilot uses two MCP tools:
get_user_notification_settingsshows what each person is notified about, whether a browser is connected, and common problems, such as browser notifications that are on with no browser connected.update_user_notification_settingschanges them, for yourself or any teammate.
Connecting a browser is the one step nobody can do for someone else, because the browser asks that person for permission. When browser notifications are on but no browser is connected, Copilot gives you a link to their Notifications page: they open it, allow notifications, and can send themselves a test.