---
title: "Assign an owner and teams"
description: "Hand a conversation to one accountable person, pull in the teams that share the work and add followers, so no conversation sits there unowned."
updated: "2026-08-28"
audience: [agent, administrator]
source: "https://helpdesk-docs.svr1.feedapp.click/en/hop-thu/phan-cong"
---

An unassigned conversation is one everybody assumes somebody else is handling.
This page hands it to a person, and invites whoever else needs to know.

## Goal [#goal]

The conversation has exactly one accountable owner, carries the teams that share
the work, and notifies the people who care about it.

## Before you begin [#before-you-begin]

* Write permission on conversations: the `administrator` role, or `role_conversations` at admin level — see [Roles and per-feature permissions](/en/khai-niem/vai-tro-va-quyen).
* Colleagues who already have accounts in the workspace; if not, start with [Invite a colleague into the workspace](/en/bat-dau/moi-dong-nghiep).
* Teams created by an administrator. A conversation can only pick from the teams that exist.

## Steps [#steps]

1. Open a conversation from the queue. The bar above the timeline carries the
   customer name, the assignee control and the followers' avatars.
2. Click the assignee control — it reads **Unassigned** while nobody owns the
   conversation — and pick a colleague. The change is written immediately; there is
   no save button.
3. Open the **Contact Info** panel along the right edge. Its **Conversation** block
   holds an **Assignee** row and a **Teams** row.

   ![The contact panel beside the timeline, with the Conversation block open showing the Status, Channel, Assignee and Teams rows](https://helpdesk-docs.svr1.feedapp.click/images/docs/hop-thu/phan-cong/03-nguoi-phu-trach-va-nhom.en.webp)

   *Assignee and teams both live in the Conversation block.*
4. Press the edit button next to **Teams**, pick one or more teams and press
   **Save**. A conversation holds several teams at once, so the team that opened it
   stays on it when a second team is pulled in.
5. Add followers from the avatar cluster in the header: click it, then
   **Add followers**. A follower receives the conversation's notifications without
   being accountable for it.
6. Sending a message in a conversation makes you a follower of it. There is no need
   to add yourself to that list by hand.

> **An owner and a team answer different questions:** The assignee answers "who is holding this". The teams answer "which parts of the
> company have a stake in it". Changing one leaves the other alone, and neither of
> them decides who is allowed to read the conversation.

## Verify [#verify]

The header shows the chosen name in place of **Unassigned**, and the panel on
the right repeats it on the **Assignee** row. A line recording the assignment
appears in the timeline, naming the team as well if you changed teams. Back in
the queue, the **Mine** tab lists any conversation you assigned to yourself.

## Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]

| Symptom                                                   | Cause                                                                                  | What to do                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The assignee control shows a name but opens no list       | The account has no write permission on conversations, so the control renders read-only | Ask an administrator for the conversations admin role            |
| The name snaps back to the previous one                   | The server refused the request and the console restored the earlier state              | Read the error beside the control, reload the page and try again |
| The team you need is missing from the list                | No such team exists in the workspace yet                                               | Ask an administrator to create it, then come back                |
| The conversation vanishes from the queue after assignment | The queue is on the **Mine** tab and you handed it to somebody else                    | Switch to the **All** tab to see it again                        |

## Next steps [#next-steps]

* [Reply to a customer, or write an internal note](/en/hop-thu/tra-loi-va-ghi-chu-noi-bo)
* [Tag a teammate and open a thread](/en/hop-thu/nhac-ten-va-luong-phu)
* [Roles and per-feature permissions](/en/khai-niem/vai-tro-va-quyen)