In this article
Messages (Discussions and Conversations) can be sent from a number of locations (entities) in Penelope. These include but are not limited to:
The exact location will depend on your Penelope configuration.
Discussions
In this section
Discussions are communication threads that occur among Workers and are related to a specific entity in Penelope (i.e. Individual, Case, Service File, Service Event etc). Discussions can have Followers who are notified when additional comments are added.
You can use discussions for collaborative communications including discussing the assignment of a client to a particular counsellor, supervision, case review, notes on invoicing, assessments etc.
Information
It is possible to tag Discussions as Administrative or Clinical using the Type drop-down when creating a new Discussion, however it should be noted that this is for information purposes only.
Start a Discussion
You can start a discussion from most entities in Penelope including an Individual Profile, Case, Service File, Group, Invoice etc.
In the entity (Individual Profile, Case, Service File etc) click the Messages tab.
In the Messages section click Start Discussion.
In the New Discussion dialog box complete the required fields (Subject and Body are required). It should be noted that the Type field (options = Administrative or Clinical) is for information purposes only.
Add or remove Followers as required.
Click Save.
Followers are notified automatically. They can access the Discussion through the case file appropriate entity or through the Messages layer.
Reply to a Discussion (Messages Layer)
There are two ways to reply to a Discussion. To reply to a Discussion from the Messages layer you will need to open your Messages layer and navigate to the Discussions folder.
From the Discussions folder open the message you would like to reply to.
Click the Reply arrow.
Type a Reply.
Click Send.
Reply to a Discussion (Entity)
Alternatively, you can reply to a Discussion from within the entity.
In the entity (Individual Profile, Case, Service File etc) click the Messages tab.
In the Messages section click the Subject of the Discussion you would like to open.
In the Messages section click Reply.
Type your Message.
Click Save.
Conversations
Conversations are communication threads (similar to email) that occur between two or more Workers within Penelope but do not relate to a specific entity in Penelope (i.e. not related to specific Individual, Service Files, Event etc).
Those involved in a conversation are Followers. Each Follower will receive notifications when other comments are added to the conversation. Updates to the Conversation will appear as pop-up notifications in real-time and appear in the Workers Inbox.
If the Worker is not logged in when a conversation is updated a notification can be sent to the Worker’s email address or mobile phone by SMS (depends on configuration).
Start a Conversation
To start a Conversation you will need to open your Messages layer
In My Messages click the pencil icon at the top of the screen.
In the Compose New Conversation section (To field) type the name of the colleague(s) you would like to send a message to.
Select a Worker Category if applicable.
Enter a Subject.
Select a Priority.
Type a Message.
Click Send.
Reply to a Conversation
To reply to a Conversation you will need to open your Messages layer and navigate to the Conversations folder.
From the Conversations folder open the message you would like to reply to.
Click the Reply arrow.
Type a Reply.
Click Send.