ZapBounce

ZapBounce and Intercom

Intercom uses the same contact record for support conversations and outbound messages. A bad address therefore breaks two things that feel unrelated.

A customer who asks a support question and never receives the reply will assume they were ignored, which is a different and worse problem than a marketing bounce.

The support reply goes to the same address as the campaign

When a conversation moves to email because the customer left the site, Intercom sends the reply to the address on the contact. If that address is wrong, the reply vanishes.

The support agent sees the reply as sent and closes the conversation. The customer sees silence and escalates, often publicly.

Intercom contacts are created from the messenger, from imports and from your own identify calls, so the address quality varies by source with nothing recording which was which.

How the data moves

  1. Verify when the contact is identified

    Before or alongside the Intercom identify call, so the verdict exists before any conversation starts.

  2. Store the verdict as a custom attribute

    Intercom attributes are visible to agents in the conversation sidebar, which is where it matters most.

  3. Surface it to the agent

    An agent who can see the address is unconfirmed will phone instead of emailing a reply into the void.

  4. Filter outbound audiences on the attribute

    So marketing messages use the same verdict the support team sees.

Setting it up

  1. Create a custom contact attribute for the verdict and one for the check date.
  2. Verify addresses before or during the Intercom identify call.
  3. Add the verdict attribute to the conversation sidebar so agents see it.
  4. Filter outbound message audiences on the verdict.
  5. Backfill existing contacts through the API in batches.
  6. Train agents to check the attribute before replying by email to a closed session.

Intercom: common questions

Why does this matter for support?

Because an email reply to a closed session goes to the contact's address. A bad one means the customer thinks they were ignored.

Where should the verdict appear?

The conversation sidebar. An agent who can see it will choose a different channel rather than replying into a void.

Does Intercom verify addresses?

It records bounces. There is no check when a contact is created.

Reference

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