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Email visitors who leave the chat

Send your replies to visitors by email when they leave the chat, choose the delay and sender name, and let them pick the conversation back up.

Channels & integrations 2 min read Updated
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Visitors don’t always wait for an answer. When someone leaves the chat before your reply arrives, Pengo emails them what they missed, with a link to pick the conversation back up. You don’t need to connect anything: it’s on by default.

#How it works

  1. You reply to a visitor in the inbox.
  2. Pengo checks whether the visitor is still there. They count as gone once they’ve closed the page, or the chat hasn’t been open in front of them for about 2 minutes.
  3. Pengo waits for the delay you set. If the visitor comes back in the meantime, nothing is sent.
  4. Otherwise Pengo sends one email with every reply they haven’t seen, plus the last thing they wrote for context.

The email has a Continue in chat link that opens your site with the conversation ready. Visitors can also reply straight from their inbox, and their answer lands in the same conversation. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link.

#Change the settings

  1. Go to Settings Integrations Email and choose your website.

  2. Under Emails to visitors, make sure Email visitors when they’ve left is on.

  3. Pick how long to Wait before emailing: 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or 1 hour. The default is 5 minutes. A longer wait gives visitors time to come back and batches several replies into one email.

  4. Optionally, enter a Sender name, up to 60 characters. It’s the From name visitors see. Leave it empty to use your website’s name.

Changes save on their own. The page header shows Saved when they’re stored.

Leave Reply-to domain (optional) empty to use Pengo’s own reply address.

#Make sure you have the visitor’s email

Pengo can only email visitors who gave you their address. The simplest way is the pre-chat form, which asks for an email before the chat starts and is on for new websites. You can also ask for one in the offline form. See Pre-chat, offline and rating forms.

If a visitor shares their email later in the conversation and has already missed some replies, Pengo sends those replies too.

#The other cards on this page

The same page also has an Inbound email webhook card and an Outbound SMTP (replies) card. They’re for bringing a whole support mailbox into Pengo, so emails sent to your support address become conversations. That setup isn’t self-serve yet. You don’t need either card for emails to visitors to work.

Common questions

Which visitors get these emails?

Visitors who gave you an email address, for example in the pre-chat or offline form, and who left before reading your reply. Visitors who unsubscribed from your emails don't get them.

Does a visitor get one email for every reply?

No. Pengo waits for the delay you choose, then sends every reply they haven't seen in one email. A conversation gets at most one of these emails every 10 minutes.

Can I stop these emails?

Yes. Turn off Email visitors when they've left in Settings › Integrations › Email. It's on by default for every website.

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Channels & integrationsChannels and integrations overviewCustomize the widgetPre-chat, offline and rating formsGetting startedYour first conversation