Chat on your site. Worked from your inbox.
Turn website chat into email threads
Live chat is fast but forgetful - close the tab and the conversation is gone. Email is the opposite: slow to feel urgent, but permanent and searchable. Routing website chat to email gives you both. A visitor types in the bubble on your site, and it lands in your inbox as a thread you can search, assign, and keep - while they still get answered right there in the chat.
Why this pairing
Why teams send Web Chat to Email
Website chat is great at starting conversations and bad at remembering them; email is the reverse. Bridging them gives the visitor a live, friendly chat and gives your team the organized paper trail an inbox provides - no dedicated chat tool required.
- Visitors get instant chat; your team gets a durable, searchable email record of every conversation.
- No separate chat console to staff - the inbox you already check is the queue.
- Each conversation is its own email thread, easy to file and reference later.
- Your reply shows up live in the visitor's chat bubble, so they never wait on email.
How it works
One thread, both ends
A visitor opens the chat bubble on your site and types. No login, no app to install - the conversation starts the moment they hit send.
InboxBarn routes that conversation into email as a clean email thread your agents answer straight from their own inbox. Your team reads it and answers it right there, in the tool they already have open - no portal to log into, no queue to refresh.
The reply always goes back on the channel the customer used.
Setup
Set it up in three steps
- 1
Drop the widget on your site
Paste one <script> tag, or use the inline “On Site” container for an embedded panel. The widget loads in its own Shadow DOM, so it never collides with your styles.
- 2
Add your outbound email
Give InboxBarn an SMTP account to send from. Replies chain with proper In-Reply-To and References headers, so the threading never fractures into a dozen loose messages.
- 3
Pick a category and go live
Map the source to a routing category (general, billing, VIP, sales) and point your destination at it. Send a test message - it should appear on the other side in seconds, and your reply should land right back where it started.
4.48 billion
email users worldwide - about 56% of the planet. Email is already open on the screens of the people who answer your customers - routing to it just meets them there.
Source: Statista, 2024
Questions
Frequently asked
Does the visitor get emailed?
No. They chat on your site and your reply appears in the bubble, live. Email is just where your team handles and stores the conversation.
How do I add the widget?
Drop one <script> tag, or use the inline “On Site” container. It loads in a Shadow DOM and won't touch your existing CSS.
Where does my email reply go?
Straight into the visitor's chat bubble in real time. You answer from your inbox; they see it on your site.
Can I organize chats like normal email?
Yes. Each conversation arrives categorized, and you can route categories to different inboxes and apply your usual filters and labels.
Keep reading
Other ways to route
Connect Web Chat to Email today.
Every channel is included on every plan - no per-channel taxes. Wire up the bridge in a few minutes and answer your customers from the tool your team already lives in.