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Messages

Messages is internal chat between you and the other people on your account. Nothing here is ever seen by a lead or a client. Think of it as a quick way to say "can you call this customer back" without leaving Tropical Hill to text a coworker.

The Messages page, with the conversation list on the left and an open one-to-one conversation on the right

To message a customer, use the Inbox instead.

Starting a conversation​

Click New Message and pick a teammate.

The New Message window, listing the teammates you can start a direct conversation with

Everyone active on your account appears except you. Picking someone you already have a conversation with reopens it rather than starting a second thread. A deactivated account can't be messaged — see Managing Users & Roles.

The conversation list​

The left panel lists every conversation you're part of, most recently active first, with the other person's name and email, a preview of the last message, its time, and an unread badge. It refreshes in the background about every ten seconds, so a new message appears without reloading the page.

Reading and sending​

Click a conversation to open it. Your messages are on the right, theirs on the left, each with a timestamp, and the header shows who you're talking to and when they were last active. Opening a conversation marks it read. Type in the box at the bottom and click Send. While a conversation is open it checks for new messages every few seconds, so a back-and-forth keeps up.

The speech-bubble icon in the top bar carries an unread count from anywhere in the app.

What Messages doesn't do​

  • No group chats. Every conversation is strictly one-to-one.
  • No attachments. Text only.
  • Not attached to records. A message isn't linked to a lead, client, job or task, and won't show up in that record's history.

Tips​

  • Use Messages for coordination that doesn't need to be kept — "running late to the 2pm". Anything that matters later belongs on the record: a note on the lead, or a task on the job.
  • With no group chat, news more than one person needs is better as a task or a note than as several separate conversations.