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Phone Desk is a focused mode of the existing inbox. It hides the session list and optional views sidebar on the left while keeping the session timeline, notes, call history and right-hand details panel. Existing organizations keep their current inbox unless the mode is enabled.

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Enable Phone Desk mode

  1. Open Settings → Voice & Telephony. Enable telephony, then turn on Enable Phone Desk mode. You need permission to edit voice settings.
  2. In the inbox, select Phone Desk mode to hide the list. Users with a full-inbox role can select Show session list to return to the full inbox. Your selected session stays open.
  3. To make this the default for agents, open Settings → Roles and choose Phone Desk as the role’s Default workspace. The Telephony Agent preset provides a starting set of calling and session permissions; review these before assigning it.
Users whose roles default to Phone Desk have a simplified sidebar without the Companion, Apps and Settings section. My Profile remains accessible from the user menu. These agents do not see the Show session list switch. Other users keep the normal navigation. The mode changes presentation, not access permissions. If an agent has multiple roles, every role must select Phone Desk for it to become their default. A legacy role or a role set to Full inbox keeps the normal inbox as their default.

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Work in the familiar inbox

  • Middle: the existing session timeline, messages, call history, recordings and internal notes.
  • Right: the existing contact and session details, attributes and inbox widgets. Use the normal session-info button if the panel is collapsed.
  • Availability: open Availability beside the dialer to adjust your status, availability for calls and team availability. These are the same controls available from your user menu.
  • Calls: when no session is open, the dialer appears in the center of the workspace. With a session open, select New call beside the Phone Desk title to leave the current session view and return to the centered dialer. The incoming-call banner, active-call controls and wrap-up strip work as they do in the full inbox.
When you accept a customer call in Phone Desk mode, its session opens automatically. When wrap-up expires or you select I’m ready, Phone Desk clears the completed call from your view and returns to the dialer. Extending wrap-up keeps the session open longer. This does not close or delete the session itself, and it will not dismiss another session you opened or a new active call. Users with a full-inbox role can show the list to select another session. On mobile, session details continue to open in the existing details sheet. With a zero-second wrap-up, the completed call leaves the desk immediately. If you reload during wrap-up, the open session stays in place because the desk can no longer confirm which call the remaining wrap-up belongs to. Select New call to return to the dialer. Switching modes preserves the selected session and does not replace the calling connection. Availability, team membership, business hours, auto-answer and wrap-up settings keep their existing behavior. See Call answering and Human calling.

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Hybrid Inbox: calls and chats

Hybrid Inbox is off by default and is enabled separately from Phone Desk.
  1. Open Settings → Voice & Telephony and turn on Enable Hybrid Inbox mode. Changing this setting requires Voice & Telephony write access. Telephony must also be enabled for agents to use the workspace.
  2. In Settings → Roles, create a role using the Hybrid Agent preset, or grant an existing role Hybrid Inbox access and Inbox read access. The preset includes replying to sessions, starting sessions and editing the agent’s own profile. Calling keeps its existing prerequisites.
  3. Assign the role to the intended teammates, including when adding new people. Set the role’s Default workspace to Hybrid Inbox to open it automatically. Agents with mixed workspace defaults keep the full inbox as their default.
  4. Authorized agents can select Hybrid Inbox mode in the inbox toolbar. Users with a full-inbox role can return using Full inbox. The switch is hidden for agents whose roles default to Hybrid Inbox or Phone Desk.
Turning Hybrid Inbox off hides its entry point and prevents direct links from opening it, even for administrators. Existing role assignments are retained for later re-enablement; administrators can still see and revoke retained Hybrid Inbox grants in the role editor while the workspace is off. Removing a user’s Hybrid Inbox or Inbox access also removes access to the workspace. Unavailable links use the agent’s available default workspace: Phone Desk for Phone Desk agents, otherwise the regular inbox with its existing permissions and saved views. Administrators can use the mode when it is enabled; other agents need the explicit Hybrid Inbox permission. In user permission responses, this permission is named hybrid-inbox:read; it does not grant session access or additional API scopes by itself. Phone Desk settings, existing role defaults and the regular inbox stay unchanged.
  • Chats lists non-voice sessions, including chat, email and messaging.
  • Calls lists phone and web-call sessions. Select New call to open the dialer.
  • Open sessions are highlighted in orange in both lists. The selected session also has an outline.
  • Both tabs show only sessions Assigned to me. This does not edit your saved inbox views.
  • Each channel remembers its selected session while this workspace stays open. Reply text and internal-note drafts use the existing session draft storage.
  • An incoming call automatically opens its session in Calls when it rings, including before it is accepted or assigned. Accept and decline controls remain available. Select Chats to return to your saved chat selection and draft; the same call will not repeatedly switch you back.
  • When wrap-up expires or you select I’m ready, the completed call returns automatically to your last selected chat, or the chat list if none was selected. Extending wrap-up delays the return. A new call or another session you opened is not interrupted.
  • Availability uses the same status and call-availability controls as the regular inbox. Switching tabs does not change availability or assignment capacity.
  • Full inbox returns to the existing inbox with its saved views and filters. This switch is hidden for agents whose roles default to Hybrid Inbox or Phone Desk.
The call list is session history, not a live waiting-call queue. Existing auto-answer, wrap-up, routing, recording and call controls retain their current behavior.