Welcome to Groove!

This article serves as your go-to guide for everything Groove, whether you’re a new or experienced Wonder and Admin. It’s designed to provide a quick, comprehensive overview and direct you to detailed resources for deeper insights. With over 99% of Groove users sticking with us once they get started, we’re confident that you’ll be part of that majority too. Let’s help you join the 99% by walking through each crucial aspect of Groove. 

 Dive in and find everything you need to get started and make the most of Groove! Ready? Let’s go!

What's Covered In This Article:

Connecting Your Emails to Groove

The first step in setting up Groove is connecting your inbox channels. Once linked, all your emails will flow directly into Groove, allowing your team to manage communications effortlessly from one central hub. For detailed steps on how to connect your mailboxes please visit Getting Your Emails Into Groove. In the meantime, here’s a quick summary of what you can do with your inbox setup.

With your emails flowing into Groove, you’re all set to start managing communications smoothly. Next up, let's get your profile and team set up so everyone can jump in and start collaborating seamlessly.

Setting Up Your Profile And Adding Your Team

To get your Groove workspace up and running smoothly, it’s important to fill out your profile, invite your team members, and then configure the inbox view to match your workflow. Whether you're an experienced admin or new to helpdesk software, these steps will ensure you're set up for success. For a quick overview of the setup process, Watch This Video Tutorial.

  • Filling Out Your Profile: Navigate to Settings at the top of your screen, then select the Personal tab. Complete your profile by filling out the necessary information and setting your notification preferences. This should take about two minutes. (Tip: Encourage your team to upload a photo to foster a sense of community!)

  • Setting Notification Preferences: Customize your notification settings to ensure you're informed of updates and activities in a way that suits you. Learn more about setting up your Email and In-App Notifications.

  • Inviting Your Team: Once your profile is set, click the Invite button under your profile icon to add team members. Assign the appropriate roles and permissions to help your team get started effectively. For details on user roles and permissions, visit our article on Understanding User Roles. 

  • Teams: To further streamline your setup, consider creating Teams. This feature allows you to segment users into specific groups, customize their views, and generate targeted reports, enhancing both management and reporting efficiency.

  • Training Your Team: Ensure new team members are up to speed by sharing the Overview for Agents article or, if they're fellow admins, this guide.

  • Configuring Your Inbox View: Customize the layout of your inbox to fit your team’s workflow.

Now that your profile is set and your team is ready to roll, it's time to explore the heart of Groove, your inbox. Let’s take a quick tour of the key features that will help you manage customer conversations like a pro.

Groove Tour: Navigating Your Inbox and Features 

Welcome to your Groove inbox, the central hub for managing customer conversations. This guide will walk you through key areas to help you get started quickly. For a more detailed look at each feature, feel free to explore the linked articles or check out this Quick Video Overview. The Groove Inbox Overview article is also a great starting reference for diving deeper into each feature.

  • Navigation Bar: Easily switch between key sections like Conversations, Reports, Knowledge Base, Apps, and Your Profile at the top of Groove.

  • Inboxes and Smart Folders: On the left, access your connected inboxes and use default Smart Folders to keep your conversations organized.

  • Customer Profile Section: On the right, view detailed customer information, including past conversations and integration data.

  • Main Inbox View: In the center, access the Action Bar and manage conversations through folders and inboxes, along with the Reply Box for responding to messages.

  • Search Bar: Located above the conversation section, the search bar offers flexible options to find conversations by recent activity, tags, mentions, specific time frames, and more.
     
  • Reply Box: Works like a standard email client, featuring CC/BCC, formatting tools, file attachments, Knowledge Base article links, and AI-powered features.

  • Collaboration: Use Notes and @mentions to communicate with your team privately within a thread. Leave important information to revisit later.

When you click into a conversation, you’ll see the Action Bar at the top. This bar provides tools to manage conversations, such as closing, tagging, snoozing, and more. Below, you’ll see the conversation thread with all messages and actions logged.

Now that you're familiar with navigating your inbox, let's take it a step further by organizing everything with tags. They’ll help you categorize conversations and keep things running smoothly.

Organize With Tags

Tags are essential for maintaining order and identifying trends in your support conversations. They help categorize conversations, monitor trends, and automate workflows. Here's a quick overview:

  • Categorize Conversations: Use tags to label different types of conversations, such as billing questions, returns, feature requests, and order status.
  • Automate Workflows: Set up rules to automatically add tags based on specific keywords, helping streamline your workflow.
  • Monitor Trends: Analyze tag usage to identify patterns and trends in customer interactions.

With tags keeping everything in order, the next step is streamlining your workflow even further. For more details, check out our handy article on Creating and Using Tags. Let’s dive into how automation can make managing your support tasks a breeze.

 

Let's Get Automated

Automating tasks is essential for enhancing your support team's efficiency. Groove's automation tools, Instant Replies, Smart Folders, and Rules, help you save time, reduce errors, and maintain consistency across customer interactions. Here's how you can leverage these features:

  • Instant Replies (canned replies) are pre-written responses to common queries, allowing your team to respond swiftly and consistently. Categorize responses (e.g., Billing, Tech Support, Returns) to help agents quickly find and use the right reply.
    • Agents can access Instant Replies directly from the reply window in Groove, streamlining communication.
    • Quick Tip: Start by organizing responses into categories like Billing or Tech Support for quick access.
  • Smart Folders let you filter conversations based on specific criteria, ensuring you focus on what’s important. Whether it's open conversations that haven't been updated in 48 hours or all refund requests. Customize folders to track high-priority tickets or specific keywords like "urgent" or "awaiting customer."
  • Rules: Rules automate repetitive tasks in Groove by setting up "if this, then that" actions. From auto-tagging conversations to assigning tickets, Rules streamline your support process. Creating and Using Rules is simple and extremely powerful.
    • Quick Tip: Start simple. For example, create a rule that tags all billing-related inquiries and assigns them to your billing specialist. As you get more comfortable, you can build more complex workflows that streamline your entire support process.
    • Templates for Rules: Groove offers pre-made templates for common automation needs like SLAs and escalations.

Automation sets a strong foundation, but Groove's AI features push things even further. Let’s dive into how these tools can supercharge your support process.

Exploring AI Features (NEW)

Groove goes beyond standard automation with our powerful suite of AI tools designed to elevate your support experience. Whether you're looking to automate responses, analyze customer sentiment, or organize data with suggested tags, Groove AI has you covered. Here's a quick overview of the key AI features that can streamline your support process:

  • AI Drafts: Generates response drafts based on your existing Knowledge Base and past conversations, ensuring consistency and saving time. 
  • AI Sentiment Analysis: Quickly assesses the tone of customer interactions, categorizing them as positive, neutral, or negative. This feature helps prioritize urgent issues, monitor agent performance, and track customer satisfaction trends over time.
  • AI Summary: Provides a concise overview of entire conversations, making it easier to manage handovers and quality assurance. This feature is particularly useful for lengthy threads, allowing your team to maintain efficiency.
  • AI Suggested Tags: Enhances organization by recommending tags based on conversation content. This ensures consistent tagging practices and better data management, even for newer companies still building out their tag lists.

  • AI Text Modifications: Allows you to adjust the length or tone of your messages with ease. Whether you need to make a response shorter, more detailed, or simply match your desired tone, this feature helps you fine-tune your communication.
  • AI Instant Replies: Transforms sent messages into reusable templates by automatically detecting and inserting variables like "Name" or "Client Name," making it easy to save and reuse personalized responses with just a click. 

To dive deeper into these powerful features, read the full article here. After boosting efficiency with AI features, it's time to dive into reports and uncover insights that help track your team's performance and customer satisfaction.

 

Understanding Reports

Groove's reports provide a comprehensive view of your support operations, helping you track performance and identify trends. Here’s a quick overview of the key reports available:

  • Agent Reports: Provides detailed metrics on individual agent performance, including conversation assignments, resolutions, customer interactions, response times, and customer satisfaction ratings within a selected time period.
  • Organization Reports: Provides a clear overview of performance metrics for both individual agents and teams, allowing you to assess productivity, monitor resolution efficiency, and gauge Happiness.
  • Conversations Report: Displays stats about your support volume and the types of conversations you're handling. See your busiest times and tag insights for tracking conversation trends.
  • Productivity Report: Measures your support performance, focusing on response times and resolutions.
  • Knowledge Base Reports: Provides metrics on the performance of your knowledge base, including total visits, most popular articles, and search success rates.

To access these reports, click on Reports in the top navigation. For a deeper dive into each report, check out the detailed Groove Reports Overview.

 

Streamline With Integrations

Groove integrates seamlessly  with endless platforms, giving you a 360° view of your customers without switching between apps. You can also import customer data directly into Groove via Webhooks or our API. 

Here are some of our most popular integrations:

  • Shopify: View past order details, cancel, refund, create, or duplicate orders directly from within a conversation. A must-have for any Shopify store. 
  • Stripe: Get a full view of your customer’s Stripe data within the conversation. 
  • Trello: Create Trello cards directly from a conversation, and get notified in Groove when the card is updated, so you can keep the customer informed. 
  • Salesforce: Pull additional customer information from Salesforce into your Inbox sidebar for more informed support. 
  • HubSpot: Sync additional contact information from HubSpot into your Groove Inbox to enrich your customer profiles.
  • Slack: Get immediate notifications in Slack for every new conversation, note, and more, so your team can stay on top of customer support.
  • Recharge: Access payment history, manage subscriptions, and perform actions like skipping or canceling subscriptions right from the conversation. 
  • Zapier: Connect Groove with thousands of apps to automate your workflows without any coding knowledge. 

To explore all available integrations and set them up, head over to the Apps section in the top navigation. For a comprehensive guide on setting up and using integrations, visit our Getting Started with Integrations page. Once you've checked that out, let's move onto the Groove Widget.

 

Introduction To the Groove Widget

The Groove Widget is a powerful, customizable tool that integrates essential support features directly into your website, ensuring customers can easily access help and resources without leaving the page.

  • Key Features of the Groove Widget: The widget allows you to seamlessly integrate your Knowledge Base, Contact Form, and Live Chat into your website, providing multiple avenues for customer support. Explore the Getting Started with the Groove Widget article. 
    • Live Chat Support: Offer instant, real-time assistance with Live Chat, giving customers the help they need right when they need it.
    • Knowledge Base Integration: Enable customers to find answers independently by integrating your Knowledge Base directly into the widget. This self-service option reduces support volume and enhances user satisfaction
    • Contact Form Access: Make it easy for customers to reach out by including a Contact Form in your widget, streamlining the process of submitting queries or issues.
  • Customizing Your Widget: Tailor the appearance of your Groove Widget to match your brand’s look and feel, and choose which features to prioritize based on your support strategy. Read our customization guide.

You can also browse all of our Widget-related Articles for further customization and usage tips. The Groove Widget sets up your support with ease, and next, you'll see how managing Live Chat and social channels can further enhance your customer interactions.

 

Managing Live Chat & Social Channels in Groove

Live Chat is a powerful tool that allows you to provide real-time support directly from your website, enhancing customer satisfaction and engagement. To get started, visit our Getting Started With Live Chat guide.

For continuing chat conversations over emails, check out our Guide on Transitioning from Chat to Email. Next, explore how building a robust Knowledge Base can further empower your customers and streamline support.

Build Your Knowledge Base

Empower your customers to find answers independently, reducing support volume and enhancing satisfaction. Groove's Knowledge Base (KB) is a customizable FAQ page with powerful analytics, proven to decrease support volume by up to 30%. Here's an introductory video on Knowledge Bases. 

With your Knowledge Base in place, you'll be ready to provide even more efficient and self-sufficient support for your customers

 

Stay Connected with Groove Mobile Apps

Keep your support team connected and responsive on the go with Groove’s mobile apps for Android and IOS. Whether you’re managing tickets, responding to customers, or monitoring team activity, the Groove mobile app ensures you stay in control anytime, anywhere.

  • Groove Android App: For Android users, our Android App Guide walks you through everything you need to know about using Groove on your Android device, ensuring a smooth and efficient mobile experience. Explore the Android App Guide.
  • Groove iOS App: Get started with Groove’s iOS app by exploring our iOS App Guide. This guide provides a detailed overview of the app’s features and helps you maximize its potential on your Apple device. Explore the iOS App Guide.
  • Login Assistance: If you need help logging in, especially with Google or Office 365 credentials, refer to our Mobile Login Guide for step-by-step instructions. Access the Mobile Login Guide.

Now that you've got Groove on your phone, you can answer your customers from literally anywhere.

 

What's Next?

You’re all set to make the most of Groove! Share the Overview for Agents guide with your team and explore our Knowledge Base for more articles. If you have any questions or need any help along the way, just reach out to us at support@groovehq.com.

We'd love to hear from you :)!