Use case: Not every conversation belongs to a request. Use Messages to chat with a client's whole organization, or privately with one person, without leaving your portal.
Turn on messaging (admins)
Go to Settings > Modules and extensions.
On the Modules tab, click Messaging.
Turn on the Messaging switch.
When it is on, everyone sees Messages in the sidebar. If you turn it off later, the Messages page is hidden from everyone, and existing messages are kept.
How chats are organized
On your side, Messages has two groups:
Organization channels: one shared chat per client organization. Everyone in the organization is in it, with your admins and the team members assigned to that organization.
Direct messages: private chats with one or more people.
Clients see all their chats in one list called Chats.
Start a chat with clients or organizations (admins and team)
Click Messages in the sidebar.
Click the plus icon next to Organization channels or Direct messages.
In New chat, open Select organizations or clients and pick one or more names. Search to find someone faster. Pick an organization to open its shared channel, or pick people to start a direct message.
Click Create, write your message and send it.
Good to know: admins can chat with anyone in the portal. Team members can start chats only if they are allowed to manage clients, and only with the organizations they are an account manager of, and those organizations' clients.
Start a chat with the agency (clients)
Click Messages in the sidebar, then the plus icon next to Chats.
In New chat, choose who to talk to:
The agency (shown with the agency's name and the label Organization) opens your organization's shared chat. Everyone in your organization is in it, with the agency's admins and the team members assigned to your organization.
One or more team members starts a private chat with them.
Click Create, write your message and send it.
Clients cannot start a private chat with other people in their own organization. To talk with them, use the organization's shared chat.
For agency admins: a team member appears in a client's list only if they are an account manager of that client's organization. To add one, go to Users > Clients, open the organization and add them under Account managers.
Add or remove people
Open the chat and click the avatars at the top right. Manage members opens.
Click Add participants, pick the people to add, and click Add.
To remove someone, click the X next to their name. Clients cannot remove members.
Share files
Click the upload icon under the message box to attach files to a message. Messages with several files have a Download all files option. Files follow the usual upload limit of 10 GB per file (see Are there file upload limits?).
Edit or delete a message
Hover over a message and use its icons. See How to edit or delete messages for who can edit or delete what.
Leave or delete a chat
Open the chat and click the three dots at the top right.
Choose Leave chat to stop receiving its messages, or Delete chat.
Anyone can leave a chat.
Anyone can delete a direct message. Only admins can delete an organization channel.
Admins choose between Delete chat permanently (the chat and all messages are deleted) and Delete chat temporarily (messages are kept and appear again when the chat is reopened).