One counter: your conversations inbox

Result

You answer email and a second channel from one inbox, and every message stays attached to the client's record.

Estimated time

50 minutes

Cost

US$ 0 to set up. Each email costs less than a cent: US$ 0.675 per 1,000. Official WhatsApp is billed separately and comes in module I.5.

Analogy

Step-by-step guide

Menu paths are shown as they appear in the English interface, with the Spanish name in parentheses for teams that work in Spanish. Everything happens inside your sub-account.

1. 01

   Get to know the counter

   ConversationsCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Conversaciones

   Open Conversations. On the left there's a rail of icons: hover over them and they read My inbox, Team inbox, Internal chat and Views.

   The inbox opens on Team inbox, with everything in the account. My inbox shows only yours.

   In the list, tabs separate what's unread (Unread), everything (All), what's recent (Recent) and what you starred (Starred).

   When you open a conversation, you see its full history and, on the right, the person's record.

   At the bottom is the message box. Its selector picks the channel your reply goes out on.

   Opening a conversation doesn't mark it as read. Replying does, and so does the Mark as Read icon.

   Key points

   • This is HighLevel's new inbox: you don't need to turn anything on in Labs.
   • If your team uses the Spanish interface, the team inbox reads «Bandeja de entrada del equipo» and the tabs read «No leído», «Todo», «Reciente» and «Destacados».

   Source: F1, F2, F3

2. 02

   Make replies come back to the counter

   Settings → Email Services → Reply & Forward SettingsCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Configuración → Email Services → Configuración de respuesta y reenviar

   Open Settings → Email Services and go to the Reply & Forward Settings tab.

   In the Reply Address block, leave the reply address empty.

   If you want a copy in your personal email, use the Forwarding Address block: the reply still lands in the inbox.

   Key points

   • With a reply address, your clients' replies go to that email instead of your inbox. The block itself warns you: "Reply conversations cannot be tracked and will not come to conversation thread."
   • The forwarding address can't be on the same domain as your sending domain.
   • Anything you answer from your personal email, outside HighLevel, doesn't come back either. Always answer from the inbox.
   • In the Spanish interface, Email Services stays in English and the tab reads «Configuración de respuesta y reenviar».

   Source: F4

3. 03

   First window · The email round trip

   Contacts → Add Contact → (their conversation) → EmailCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Contactos → Agregar contacto → (su conversación) → Correo

   In Contacts, click the button with the person-and-plus icon (hovering shows Add Contact). Add a contact named Gabby Test AX-7K2Q with a second email of yours: one you can open, that isn't your HighLevel login and that you haven't used in earlier missions.

   If you don't have one, make a free one. Gmail's + trick works for receiving, but Gmail replies from your main address, and HighLevel may not match it to Gabby.

   When you save, HighLevel takes you to their conversation. Pick the email channel and use your code in the subject: Test AX-7K2Q.

   If their conversation doesn't open, or you'd rather start from Conversations, use the blue button at the top of the rail. It opens Start a new conversation: choose Message Contacts → Single Contact Conversation and find Gabby under Select Contact.

   Under Chat Type, for a contact with only an email, SMS is grayed out and Email and Internal Comment remain. Choose Email and click Create Conversation.

   Check the sender. If you took path 1 in mission 5, pick the address on your sending domain.

   Send. In your email, open the message and reply "Got it," as if you were the client.

   Go back to the inbox: the reply shows up in the same conversation.

   Key points

   • You now have one message sent and one received in the same thread.
   • If the email goes out from your user address instead of your domain, Gmail may show "via" or a msgsndr.com address. On path 2 of mission 5 that's normal: your own domain fixes it (module I.3).

   Source: F5, F6, F7, F17

   1HighLevel inboxConversations · you send “Test AX-7K2Q”

   2The client’s emailGabby Test AX-7K2Q opens it

   3Reply“Got it,” from her email

   4The same conversationSent and received in the same thread

   The two paths that don’t come back

   Answering from your personal emailOutside HighLevel, it never reaches the inbox

   A filled-in reply addressReply Address: replies go to that email instead

   Settings → Email Services → Reply & Forward Settings

4. 04

   Second window · Pick your path

   Path A · You have a real business with a Facebook Page or a professional Instagram account: you connect those messages.

   Path B · You're practicing with Alba Studio, or your business doesn't use Meta: you set up your website chat.

   If you already have official WhatsApp connected to HighLevel, that counts as path A too. Connecting it from scratch comes in lesson I.5.3.

   Key points

   • If you practice with Alba Studio, you don't connect it to Meta: in your account it's a sample business.
   • Texting doesn't count for this mission. It needs a number and, in the U.S., A2P registration; it comes in module I.4.
   • Official WhatsApp costs US$ 10 a month per sub-account (price as of Sep 22, 2026, HighLevel's WhatsApp guide), plus its messages.

   Source: F14, F16

5. 05

   Path A · Connect Facebook and Instagram

   Settings → Integrations → Facebook → ConnectCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Configuración → Integraciones → Facebook → Conectar

   Open Settings → Integrations, on the All integrations tab. Facebook and Instagram are two separate cards, each with its own Connect button.

   Click Connect on the Facebook card. Log in with your Facebook, pick your business Page (the one linked to your Instagram) and connect.

   If you'll also answer Instagram messages, click Connect on its card.

   From another personal account, not the business one, message your Page: "Hi, how much are lashes? AX-7K2Q."

   In your inbox, open that message and reply from there.

   If your second window is official WhatsApp, message the business number from your personal WhatsApp, with your code, and reply from the inbox.

   Key points

   • The test has to come from another account. A message from the business account itself doesn't count.
   • Meta generally gives you 24 hours from the person's last message to reply. Reply soon.

   Source: F8, F9, F19

6. 06

   Path B · Set up your website chat

   Sites → Chat Widget → + New → Live chatCopy path

   In a Spanish-language account: Sitios → Widget de chat → + Nuevo → Chat en directo

   Open Sites → Chat Widget and click + New. Select the type of chat lists All-in-one chat, SMS / Email chat, Live chat, Facebook chat, Instagram chat, WhatsApp chat and Voice AI. Pick Live chat: it chats in real time and lands in your inbox.

   HighLevel creates "Chat widget 1" and opens the builder, with the Style, Chat window and Messaging tabs. It saves on its own. Rename it at the top, where it says "Chat widget 1": Chat AX-7K2Q.

   Under Chat window → Title & intro, change the Intro message to a short greeting, like "Hi, I'm Alba. How can I help?" If you like, change the Chat window title too.

   In the same place, Contact form options comes with Name and Phone, both required. Add Email, mark it required and remove Phone, so people leave their name and email.

   Open Chat window → Live chat assigned. Enable contact form comes off: turn it on. The welcome message is there too (Show live chat welcome message), and it comes on.

   Connect it to your mission 8 funnel: open Sites → Funnels → (your funnel), go to its Settings tab, pick your chat in the Chat Widget menu and save.

   Open the page preview in a private window and type in the chat as Gabby Test AX-7K2Q, with Gabby's same email. Reply from your inbox.

   Key points

   • Live chat is created without asking for a phone number or A2P registration. Don't pick SMS / Email chat: replying by text needs a number and A2P registration.
   • The chat footer reads "Powered by" followed by your agency's name, and every visitor sees it. AXIS hasn't confirmed yet how to change or remove that line.
   • If the preview won't let you type, your chat is still ready. It starts working when you publish the page (lesson I.3.3).
   • If you already have your own website, paste the code from Get code there (or use Get it for WordPress) and test from your site.
   • In the Spanish interface: «Sitios → Widget de chat», type «Chat en directo», and tabs «Estilo», «Ventana de chat» and «Mensajería». The switch is under «Chat en directo asignado» → «Habilite el formulario de contacto».

   Source: F10, F11, F12, F13, F15

7. 07

   What you don't do yet

   Don't split conversations among people or set up assignment rules. That comes in lesson II.2.1.

   Don't connect WhatsApp by QR code: it puts your number at risk. The official one comes in module I.5.

   Don't install the mobile app today unless you need it. You'll see it in lesson II.2.3.

   Key points

   • Two well-staffed windows beat six open ones with nobody behind them.

   Source: F1

Interactive

Does it reach your counter?

This interactive is used inside your AXIS account.

If it breaks

The mistakes that repeat most, and the way out.