The Inbox: replying to customers

Messaging → Inbox is where you write to a customer and read what they write back. Nothing here sends unless you press send; the automatic messages are in reminders: email and SMS.

• The page opens on Conversations, with Activity beside it
• The list on the left is a mailbox switch: Inbox for threads, Sent for the outbound log
• Pick a thread and it opens on the right, as bubbles with a composer underneath

Finding the one you want

• Search the Inbox by name, email, phone or words in a message, or the Sent log by name, recipient or subject. More on searching below
• Filter chips: All, Unread, Flagged, Snoozed and Archived on the Inbox; All, Email, Text and Failed on Sent
• Mark all read appears whenever something in view is unread
• Flag a thread to keep it in the Flagged chip until you deal with it
• Snooze hides it until Later today (in 3 hours), Tomorrow (9:00 am) or Next week (Mon 9:00 am). Un-snooze brings it back early
• Archive drops it out of the default list; it stays under the Archived chip, and Unarchive returns it
• All four live behind More actions at the top right of an open thread. Flag, read and archive also appear on a list row on hover

Searching

• Type a name in either order, or a name and part of a number: every word you type has to match somewhere
• Type a phone number with any spacing. A local number starting with 0 finds the same number saved in its international form, so 0412 345 678 finds +61 412 345 678
• Type words from a message, like a part or a quote number, and the Inbox looks through what customers wrote and what you sent. This also finds older conversations that were not in the list
• When a conversation comes back because of a message, the words it matched show under its name, highlighted, in place of the latest message
• A team member's own Messages inbox searches by name, email or phone, and only the conversations already in their list

More actions also holds Stop marketing email, for a customer who asks to be taken off your list.

• It stops announcements and other marketing to that address, and a small icon on the thread shows it
• Booking confirmations and reminders keep going
• Allow marketing email undoes it, unless the customer unsubscribed themselves, in which case that decision is theirs

Which channel a reply goes out on

• With texting on, the composer shows Email and Text tabs and starts on the channel of the customer's most recent message
• An option greys out when it cannot send: no email address on file, or no mobile number
• If they texted you and there is no way to text back, a warning above the composer says so and the reply goes by email
• Email replies take a subject line. Photos can ride an email or a text, though texting a photo is not supported everywhere and the composer says so
• Enter sends, Shift + Enter starts a new line
• A send that does not land gets a Failed tag and is counted on the Sent mailbox

Starting a new one, and saved replies

• New opens a blank message: search your customers by name, email or phone, pick one, and write
• For wording you type often, open Saved replies from the composer, choose New, and give it a title and a message. `{{name}}` fills in the customer's first name

Messages from your website

If your site runs the Message us button from your website embed, a visitor's message arrives here as an ordinary thread. The visitor gets a receipt email with a private link to their side of the conversation, and your reply lands there. A visitor who has booked before lines up with their existing record.

The mechanic's version

Mechanics get Front desk → Messages, the same Inbox filtered to their assigned bookings. An owner, admin or manager gets a picker and a Viewing as label.