What are conversation tags and owners?

In one sentence

A tag is a short label you put on a conversation to say what it is about, such as "order", "lead" or "follow up", and an owner is the one person on your team who is responsible for that conversation. Together they let anyone see at a glance which chats need attention and who should give it.

In more detail

Think of a busy kitchen with order tickets on a rail. Each ticket says what the dish is and which chef has it. Nobody cooks the same dish twice, and nothing is forgotten at the end of the rail. Tags are what the ticket says; the owner is the chef whose name is on it.

Tags describe the conversation. They are short and you choose them. A florist might use "order", "wedding" and "complaint". An estate agent might use "viewing", "offer" and "landlord". A conversation can have more than one tag, and tags can change as the conversation moves on.

An owner is a person, not a label. Giving a conversation an owner says "this one is Sam's". It does not stop others reading it, but it makes clear who should answer, chase and close it. When owners are clear, customers do not get two different answers from two different people, and nobody assumes someone else has replied.

Tags and owners only describe. Adding a tag or setting an owner sends nothing to the customer. That makes them safe to use freely, and safe to let an AI agent apply for you.

The value shows up when you look across many chats. "Show me every conversation tagged order that has not been answered" or "What is Sam handling today?" become quick questions with clear answers. The example below shows a morning in a small florist. Names and details are examples.

An example

Choosing your tags

The best tag lists are short. If you have thirty tags, nobody uses them consistently. Start with five or six that match the work you actually do.

Write your list down and share it with your team and your AI agent, so everyone uses the same words. "follow up" and "follow-up" and "chase" are three tags that mean one thing, which defeats the point.

How a small team uses owners

1. Decide who owns what by default. For example, weddings go to Mia, deliveries to Sam, complaints to the owner.
2. Give each new conversation an owner as soon as it needs a person. Simple questions the AI agent can answer may not need one at all.
3. When an owner is away, move their open conversations to someone else rather than leaving them waiting.
4. At the end of the day, ask for each person's open conversations and check nothing is stuck.
5. Close the loop. When a conversation is done, remove tags like "follow up" so the list of open work stays honest.

Sample notes for your AI agent

An AI agent is good at keeping tags and owners tidy, because it reads every message anyway. Here is an example of what to tell it. Names and details are examples.

Tag every conversation with one or more of: order, delivery, wedding,
complaint, question, follow up. Use only these tags.

Set the owner:
- wedding: Mia
- delivery: Sam
- complaint: the owner, and hand the chat to a person
Do not set an owner for simple questions you have answered.

Every day at 17:00, send me a list of conversations tagged follow up or
complaint that have not had a reply today, grouped by owner.

An end-of-day check with your agent

Because conversations run through your AI agent, checking open work is a short chat rather than a trip through several apps. Here is what that can look like. Names and details are examples.

A check like this takes two minutes and means nothing waits overnight just because someone assumed it was in hand.

Tags, owners and hand-over: how they fit together

It helps to keep these separate in your head. Setting an owner does not by itself stop the agent from replying. If you want a person to take over completely, hand the conversation over as well.

Common mistakes

• Too many tags. Keep the list short enough to remember.
• Tags that mean the same thing. Agree one word for each idea.
• No owner on conversations that need a person, so everyone assumes someone else has it.
• Owners who are on holiday. Move their open conversations before they go.
• Expecting an owner to stop the AI agent. Use hand-over when a person must take over.
• Never removing tags. Old "follow up" tags hide the conversations that genuinely need chasing.

Why it matters for your business

• Nobody on your team answers the same customer twice, or assumes someone else has.
• You can see at a glance which conversations are orders, leads or complaints.
• Follow-ups stop slipping through the cracks.
• Your AI agent can do the sorting for you, because tags and owners send nothing to customers.
• A short end-of-day list of open work, by person, keeps everyone honest.

How Spaces handles it

In Spaces, every conversation on your connected WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Messenger and X accounts can have tags and an owner. Your AI agent can tag a conversation, such as lead, order or follow up, and give it to someone on your team. Neither sends anything to the customer.

There is no separate inbox page to manage. Conversations run through your AI agent, so you ask it what you want to see: unread or unanswered chats, starred or archived ones, message requests, chats handed to a person, or every chat with a certain tag or owner. Routines can also tag a chat automatically, for example when a message contains a keyword.

Tags and owners work alongside hand-over. When a person needs to take over completely, hand the conversation over, and the agent, scheduled messages and routines stay out of it until it is handed back. A webhook can tell your team chat each time a conversation is handed over or handed back.

In short

Tags say what a conversation is about. Owners say who is looking after it. A short tag list and clear owners turn a pile of chats into a list of work everyone understands.

Let your AI agent apply them as it reads, check an end-of-day list by owner, and use hand-over when a person needs to take over fully.

Does adding a tag send anything to the customer?

No. Tags and owners are for you and your team. The customer never sees them and nothing is sent.

How many tags should I use?

Five or six to start is plenty. Add more only when you find yourself wanting to group conversations in a way the current list cannot.

Can one conversation have several tags?

Yes. A conversation might be both an order and a complaint. It should usually have only one owner, so it is clear who is responsible.

Does setting an owner stop the AI agent from replying?

Not by itself. If you want the agent to stay out completely, hand the conversation to a person as well.

Can my AI agent tag conversations for me?

Yes, and it is one of the easiest jobs to give it. Give it your tag list and rules for owners in its notes, and check its choices for the first week.

How do I see all the conversations a person owns?

In Spaces, ask your AI agent to list conversations by owner. You can also filter by tag, unread, unanswered or handed over.

Do tags work across WhatsApp, Instagram and the other channels?

In Spaces, chat conversations on every connected chat channel can be tagged and given an owner, so you can use one tag list across them.

Can a routine add tags automatically?

Yes. A Spaces routine can tag a chat when something happens, such as a message containing a keyword, without any AI involved.