Set up custom roles

Create a role

As an administrator, go to Settings → Custom Roles → Add custom role. Enter a recognizable name and description, select the required permissions, and click Submit. To change a role later, edit it and click Update.

The role's permissions determine access. A name such as Only Assigned or Masked Number is just a label.

Choose conversation access

• Manage all conversations allows work across conversations in the inboxes the person can access.
• Manage unassigned conversations and those assigned to them suits people who pick work from an unassigned queue.
• Manage participating conversations and those assigned to them suits people who should handle only their assigned or participating conversations.

For Only Assigned, select Manage participating conversations and those assigned to them and leave the other two conversation permissions off. Assign a test conversation to the agent before checking their view.

For full conversation coverage within permitted inboxes, select Manage all conversations. This does not add the agent to any inbox.

Choose contact visibility separately

• Show contact name permits a name without full contact details when the other contact permissions are off.
• View contacts and contact panel allows contact-detail access and also makes contact names visible.
• Manage contacts allows contact management and also makes contact details and names visible.

To hide stored phone numbers and email addresses, leave View contacts and contact panel and Manage contacts off. To hide the name too, also leave Show contact name off. Follow the complete contact-masking recipe.

Leave Manage reports and Manage knowledge base off unless the person needs those capabilities. If Custom Roles is unavailable, ask your account administrator or Bow Chat support to check availability for your account.

Apply the role and grant inbox access

1. Set the role when adding or editing the agent in Settings → Agents.
2. Add the agent as an inbox collaborator.
3. In that inbox's Collaborators, review Role in this inbox. Use account role inherits the role above; a selected inbox-specific role takes precedence for that inbox.
4. Save and test using the agent's login. Administrator access is broader, so your own administrator view cannot verify their restrictions.

Next: Test access.