Summary
Contact owner-based routing ensures that every inbound message or call is routed to the assigned contact owner before any automation or default assignment takes over. This helps maintain relationship continuity, protects ownership of conversations, and prevents rules like round robin chat assignment from overriding existing ownership.
This guide walks you through how to enable the feature, how routing priority works, and what happens when the feature is turned off.
Note: Contact owner-based routing feature is available for Wati customers on Pro and Business plans.
Instructions
How to enable contact owner based routing
Step 1: Navigate to routing settings
Log in to your Wati account as an admin.
Go to Team inbox.
Click Settings.
Open the Routing section.
Step 2: Enable contact owner-based routing
Turn the toggle ON for the Contact owner-based routing setting.
Once enabled, Wati prioritizes the contact owner when routing incoming messages and calls.
Step 3: Understand how routing priority works
When the feature is enabled, Wati routes conversations using the following priority:
Active conversation with a human assignee
Messages and calls continue to go to the current assignee.
The contact owner is automatically updated to match the assignee.
Closed conversation reopened by an inbound message or call
The conversation is routed back to the existing contact owner.
No owner or assignee assigned
The conversation follows your existing automation rules or default assignment logic (including round robin chat assignment).
Important
Owner and assignee stay in sync automatically
Updating the assignee updates the contact owner.
Updating the contact owner updates the assignee.
This ensures consistency and avoids conflicts between manual assignments and automated routing.
Step 4: Verify the setup
Send a test inbound message to a contact that already has a contact owner assigned.
Confirm that the message is routed directly to the contact owner.
Ensure it does not get assigned through automation or round robin chat assignment.
Disable the feature (optional)
Go back to Routing settings.
Turn the Contact owner-based routing toggle OFF.
When disabled:
Routing follows your standard automation and default assignment rules.
Contact ownership no longer takes priority.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Routing behavior
1. What happens when contact owner-based routing is turned on?
Inbound messages and calls are routed to the contact’s existing owner before any automation or round robin chat assignment runs. This ensures that conversations continue with the same agent and prevents reassignment to other agents.
2. What happens if a contact has no owner or assignee?
If no contact owner or assignee is set, the message follows existing automation rules or default assignment logic, including round robin chat assignment. The feature only affects routing when an owner or assignee already exists.
3. Will automations and round robin chat assignment still work?
Yes, automations and round robin chat assignment continue to work, but they do not override an existing contact owner or assignee when the feature is enabled. They only apply when no owner or assignee is assigned.
4. What happens when a closed conversation is reopened by an inbound message?
When a closed conversation is reopened, the system checks if a contact owner exists and whether that owner is part of the assigned team:
If the contact owner is part of the assigned team, the conversation is automatically assigned to the contact owner.
If the contact owner is not part of the assigned team, you are prompted to change the team assignment. If you decline, the conversation is assigned to Bot, and a notification and system note explain that the owner could not be assigned due to team mismatch.
Owner and assignee sync
5. How do the owner and assignee fields stay in sync?
The owner and assignee fields are automatically synchronized. Changing the assignee updates the contact owner, and changing the contact owner updates the assignee, ensuring both always reflect the same agent.
6. What happens to the contact owner when a conversation has an active human assignee?
When a conversation has an active human assignee, the contact owner is automatically updated to match the current assignee so both fields remain aligned.
Team membership edge cases
7. What happens if the contact owner is changed to an operator who is not in the assigned team?
The contact owner is updated, but the assignee is not changed. You are prompted to switch the team assignment to one that includes the new owner:
If you accept, the owner is also set as the assignee.
If you decline, the conversation is assigned to Bot, and a notification and system note explain that the owner is not part of the assigned team.
8. What happens if a closed conversation reopens and the contact owner is not in the assigned team?
When a closed conversation reopens and the contact owner is not part of the assigned team, you are prompted to change the team assignment:
If you accept, the conversation is assigned to the contact owner.
If you decline, the conversation is routed to Bot, and a notification and system note explain the team mismatch.
Configuration and access
9. Who can enable or disable contact owner-based routing?
Contact owner-based routing is an admin-level setting. Only users with admin access can enable or disable this feature.
10. What happens when contact owner-based routing is turned off?
When the feature is turned off, routing follows the standard behavior. Automations, round robin chat assignment, and default assignment rules apply normally, and contact ownership is no longer prioritized. No existing data is affected.