Audit search for retained customer records
Search retained contacts and conversations across chat, messaging, tickets and calls, then inspect their history.
What it is
Audit searches retained contacts and conversations. You can look for customer details, message text and conversation or ticket identifiers, then open the matching history. Export, deletion and recovery are separate permissions.
Who uses it and why
- Supervisors find a conversation when investigating a customer issue.
- Administrators locate retained customer records and use authorised privacy actions when needed.
Where to find it
With the Audit role, open Settings, then Audit. The search workspace contains Contacts, Chats, Tickets, Text and Call tabs.
Recover appears separately when your Audit permissions include Recover Deleted Items.
How it works
- Select the website whose records you need.
- Open Audit and enter a distinctive word, customer detail or record identifier in Search everything....
- Set From and To to narrow the dates. The selected end date includes the whole day.
- Choose the result tab. Apply its available filters, such as Type, Status, Contact..., Operator..., Team or Subsite.
- Open a matching contact or conversation to inspect its details and retained history.
Search updates as you change text, tabs or filters. Use Clear Search to clear the current search filters.
Social messaging conversations appear under Chats, with Type choices for the supported messaging platforms. SMS conversations have the separate Text tab; email uses Tickets.
Configure it
Someone with the Settings or Manager role can review your Audit role at Settings › Account › Operators. The role's permissions separately control Export, each deletion action and Recover Deleted Items.
Search filters affect the results shown. They do not change the retention period or restore deleted data.
Permissions
| Permission | Lets you |
|---|---|
| Audit | Search contacts and historical conversations in Audit. |
| Export | Make Audit export actions available within the Audit role's permissions. |
| Delete Contacts | Make contact deletion available in Audit. |
| Delete Chats | Make chat deletion available in Audit. |
| Delete Texts | Make text conversation deletion available in Audit. |
| Delete Tickets | Make ticket deletion available in Audit. |
| Delete Calls | Make call deletion available in Audit. |
| Recover Deleted Items | Make the Recover view available for recoverable deleted items. |
Limits and good to know
- Audit searches recent activity and older retained history. Text matching can differ between recent and older results; use full distinctive words or an identifier if a partial search misses a record.
- Search badges are navigation aids. Do not use them as unique customer or conversation totals for performance reporting.
- Filters differ between tabs. For example, ticket Status is not a universal filter for every record type.
- Ordinary search excludes deleted records in the relevant search paths. Use Recover only for items that remain recoverable and that you are permitted to access.
- Record availability depends on retention and deletion. Audit is not a promise that all past conversations remain available.
- Opening a record does not grant permission to export or delete it. Deletion tools can affect a contact and associated conversations, so check the action's scope before proceeding.
Depends on and works with
+4 more · this feature uses
- Email verification for protected exportsRelated
Audit exports use personal-data email verification, separately from report export verification.
- Customer data deletion and recoveryConfigured by
The deletion recovery period determines which deleted items remain available in Audit Recover.
- Permanent deletion of retained customer dataRelated
Permanent deletion removes the retained copy that Audit Recover would otherwise restore.
- Personal data retention and automatic deletionConfigured by
Retention determines how much history remains searchable.
View all connections as a list
This feature uses
- Roles and permissionsConfigured by
The Audit role and its separate action permissions control the available tools.
- Website, channel and subsite accessConfigured by
Website access determines the website being searched.
- Conversation history and searchEnhances
Conversation history provides transcript inspection from search results.
- Messaging conversationsEnhances
Social platforms appear within Chats with a Type filter.
- SMS number and channel setupEnhances
The Text tab searches SMS conversation history.
- Incoming email and ticket repliesEnhances
The Tickets tab searches retained email conversations.
- Customer contact detailsEnhances
Contact profiles provide identity details shown with search results.
- Operator LogRelated
Operator Log shows recorded actions, while Audit searches customer and conversation records.
- Email verification for protected exportsRelated
Audit exports use personal-data email verification, separately from report export verification.
- Customer data deletion and recoveryConfigured by
The deletion recovery period determines which deleted items remain available in Audit Recover.
- Permanent deletion of retained customer dataRelated
Permanent deletion removes the retained copy that Audit Recover would otherwise restore.
- Personal data retention and automatic deletionConfigured by
Retention determines how much history remains searchable.
Used by
- Operator LogRelated
Audit searches retained customer records when an investigation needs the affected conversation.
- Personal data exportRequires
Audit search provides the contact and visitor records used to start an export.
- Customer data deletion and recoveryRequires
Audit provides the record search and recovery workspace.
- Permanent deletion of retained customer dataRequires
Audit Recover provides the retained-item list and Permanent Delete action.
FAQ and troubleshooting
Why can I search but not export?
Your Audit role may not include Export. Ask someone with the Settings or Manager role to review that permission at Settings › Account › Operators.
Where are WhatsApp or Messenger conversations?
Use Chats and select the appropriate Type. The Text tab is for SMS.
Why does an old conversation not match part of a word?
Recent and older history can use different matching rules. Try a complete distinctive word or the conversation identifier and check the dates.
Why is Recover missing?
It requires Recover Deleted Items within your Audit permissions. Even with that permission, permanently erased or expired data cannot be assumed recoverable.
Where can I see who changed an account setting?
Use Reports › General › Operator Log. Audit search is for customer and conversation records.