A customer sends a message and waits. If your team doesn’t notice for hours, that silence communicates something — and it’s not good. Heedback’s notification system ensures incoming messages reach your team through multiple channels: browser push notifications for real-time alerts, email digests for periodic summaries, and an unread badge so nothing slips through the cracks. Here’s how to configure each one.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

A Heedback account with at least one team member added
A modern browser that supports Web Push notifications (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari 16+)
Email addresses configured for each team member who should receive digests

Step 1: Enable Browser Push Notifications

Push notifications are the fastest way to know when a customer needs help. They work even when the Heedback dashboard isn’t open — a notification pops up on your desktop the moment a message arrives.

To enable them:

Open the Heedback dashboard in your browser.
Click your profile icon in the bottom-left corner, then go to Notification Preferences.
Toggle Browser Push Notifications to on.
Your browser will ask for permission to show notifications. Click Allow.

That’s it. From now on, you’ll receive a push notification whenever an end-user sends a new message in a conversation. Clicking the notification takes you directly to that conversation.

Important: Each team member enables push notifications individually on each device they use. If you work from both a laptop and a desktop, enable it on both. Notifications are tied to the browser and device, not just the account.

Step 2: Understand the Email Digest

Not everyone wants real-time pings, and some team members check email more reliably than browser notifications. Heedback sends an email digest every 10 minutes that summarizes new activity.

The digest works differently depending on who receives it:

For admins and agents: The digest includes new messages from end-users in open conversations. It groups messages by conversation and includes a direct link to each one.
For end-users: When your team replies to a conversation, the end-user receives a digest with new messages from your agents. This brings users back to the portal or widget to continue the conversation.

The digest only sends when there’s something new. If no new messages have arrived since the last digest, no email is sent. Heedback tracks a per-user watermark (last_digest_sent_at) to ensure nothing is sent twice and nothing is missed.

Step 3: Configure Notification Preferences

Each team member can fine-tune what they’re notified about. Under Notification Preferences, the available options include:

Push notifications: Toggle on or off. When on, all new end-user messages trigger a browser push.
Email digest: Toggle on or off per team member. Some team members prefer push only; others rely on the periodic email summary.
Quiet hours: If your team spans time zones, individual members can set quiet hours during which push notifications are suppressed. Email digests continue as usual.

These preferences are per-user — each team member controls their own notification experience. Organization admins can see who has notifications enabled but can’t override individual preferences.

Step 4: Use the Unread Badge

Even with push and email, the simplest signal is often the most effective. Heedback displays an unread badge in two places:

Sidebar: The inbox icon in the dashboard sidebar shows a red badge with the count of open conversations containing unread messages.
Browser tab: The document title updates to show the unread count — for example, (3) Heedback. This is visible even when the tab is in the background.

The unread count updates in real time via server-sent events (SSE). When a new message arrives or a conversation is resolved, the count adjusts instantly without requiring a page refresh.

Tip: Keep the Heedback tab pinned in your browser. The title badge makes it easy to glance at unread counts without switching tabs.

Step 5: Test Your Notification Setup

Before relying on notifications in production, verify everything works:

Push test: Open the Heedback widget on your site (or use a test page) and send a message as an end-user. Confirm that a push notification appears on your desktop within seconds.
Digest test: Send a test message and wait up to 10 minutes. Check that the email digest arrives in your inbox with the correct content.
Badge test: Send a message and observe the sidebar badge increment. Reply and close the conversation — the badge should decrement.
Multi-device test: If you use multiple devices, confirm notifications arrive on each one where you’ve enabled them.

Tips and Best Practices

Don’t rely on a single channel. Enable both push and email. Push is fast but can be missed during meetings. Email is slower but creates a persistent record.
Respond within your digest window. If a customer sends a message and doesn’t hear back within 10 minutes, they’ll receive a follow-up digest. Fast responses prevent unnecessary email noise for the customer.
Use conversation assignment wisely. When a conversation is assigned to a specific team member, only that member receives push notifications for it. This prevents alert fatigue across the team while ensuring the responsible person is notified.
Check browser notification permissions periodically. Browser updates or OS changes can sometimes reset notification permissions. If push notifications stop working, revisit your browser settings.

Embeddable Widget — The widget is where most customer messages originate. Notifications close the loop by alerting your team in real time.
Integrations — Slack notifications complement browser push. Use Slack for team-visible alerts and push for individual attention.
Team Management — Assign conversations to team members to route notifications to the right person.
Support Inbox — The unread badge reflects what’s happening in the inbox. A well-triaged inbox keeps notification counts meaningful.