Messenger is available in our Pro Plan.
To use the texting feature in Messenger you need a phone number to link it to. Currently, activating a phone number is done in Appointment Reminders or Late Payment Reminders by selecting Text as a reminder. If you're not using Texting already, and you want to for Messenger, the easiest way to manage this is to create a new reminder, set it to Text, and never use it.
For more information about Appointment Reminders, see Settings - Appointment Reminders
For more information about Late Payment Reminders, see Settings - Late Payment Reminders
Note Texting is 3 cents per text (outgoing texts only) along with $5 a month to rent the phone line. Normal SMS texting rates apply.
Summary
The Messenger feature allows you to interact with your customers through email and SMS texting. These messages are stored in their entirety and includes Welcome New Customer, Invoice, and Work Order emails and Appointment Reminder and Late Payment Reminder emails and texts.
You can also initiate emails and texts from the Messenger Inbox or from the customer's Messages tab.
Key Points
Activate Messenger
The Inbox shows all correspondence to all customers
Assign conversations to other employees
Mark a conversation with a Priority flag
Respond to or view emails or SMS text conversations
Create new emails or SMS texts
The Messages tab in a customer's account shows all correspondence to that individual customer
Tip Click an image to see a larger version of it in another tab.
Activate Messenger
Go to Settings/Add-ons and put a check mark in [x] Messenger (Pro Plan feature).
View Messages from the Inbox
To view all messages, click the Inbox link in your ribbon bar in the top right. The red dot with a number indicates a new, unread messages.
In the upper right click Unassigned to assign messages /texts to someone.
Click the envelope to reopen the conversation.
Click the check mark to close the conversation.
Click the star to mark the conversation as a priority.
Click the star again to remove the priority.
Click the X to close the conversation.
On the left-side panel, view messages assigned to a specific person.
If nothing appears there are no messages assigned to this person. Click the X in the Assigned To: list to clear the list.
The list of messages appears on the left. Automatic Messages (Appointment Reminders, Late Payment Reminders...) are indicated by a clock icon.
Click a message to view it on the right as well as to see whom the message went to. To reply to a message, click your mouse in the message box, type your message and click the Send Message button.
View Messages from the customer's account
To see messages in an account click the Messages tab.
Click Show Messages to see all the message interactions with this account.
To reply to an existing conversation/message, click your mouse in the conversation box (Insert text here...). If it's an email response, use the formatting bar to add emphasis: bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, font color, font background color.
Click the Send Message button to send it to the customer.
After the message is sent it is stored in the conversation thread.
To view the Work Order or Invoices associated to a message, view a Work Order or Invoice email and click the link at the bottom and close the Message window.
Create a new message from the Inbox
Click the Inbox link in the ribbon bar and click the Create a New Message button.
Type the name of a customer in the Search Customers box.
Then click either Send Email or Send SMS (text).
When you click Send Email the Inbox opens where all your messages and texts are stored for this customer. Type your message in the Insert text here... box.
Click Send SMS to send a text message. Note This will send a message to the mobile phone number in the customer's Billing page.
John gets the text and replies back.
The text message appears in the Inbox and in the customer's Messages tab.
