Your Messaging Inbox

The Messages page is your shared communication hub. Every SMS, email, system event, internal note, and automated follow-up lives in one place so your team can see the full customer story before responding.

Go to Messages in the sidebar to open it.

Page Layout

The inbox uses a two-panel split view. The left panel lists your conversations. The right panel shows the full thread for whichever conversation you select.

Left Panel: Conversation List

At the top of the list is a search bar. Type a name, phone number, email address, property address, or account name to filter the inbox.

Below the search bar you can narrow the inbox with workflow filters such as:

• Mine to see conversations assigned to you
• Unassigned to find threads no one owns yet
• Unread to focus on new inbound activity
• Needs Response to see conversations that still require follow-up

Each row in the list shows:

• Customer name in bold
• Last message preview - a short snippet of the most recent activity
• Timestamp - relative time like "2 hours ago" or "3 days ago"
• Unread badge - a count of unread inbound messages, if any
• Channel icon - a Mail icon for email or a MessageSquare icon for SMS
• Workflow badges - indicators for assignment or response status when needed

Conversations are sorted by most recent activity. The customer who messaged you last appears at the top.

Click any row to load the conversation in the right panel.

Right Panel: Conversation Thread

The top of the right panel shows a header with the customer's name in bold. Their email address and phone number appear below the name, along with channel icons.

The header also shows the current assignee and whether the thread still needs a response. You can update both without leaving the conversation.

Below the header is a timeline of all communication in chronological order. Four types of entries appear:

• SMS messages display as chat bubbles. Inbound messages from the customer appear on the left. Outbound messages from you appear on the right.
• Email events show the subject line and a preview of the email body.
• Internal notes appear with a distinct style so your team can share context without sending anything to the customer.
• System events appear as centered text. These include events like "Estimate #1234 sent," "Customer viewed proposal," and "Invoice paid."

At the bottom of the thread is a Linked Estimates section. It lists every estimate tied to this customer. Each entry shows the estimate number, status, total amount, and date.

Compose Area

The compose area sits at the bottom of the right panel. Use it to send a new SMS or email directly from the conversation, or add an internal note for your team.

A toggle lets you switch between SMS, Email, and Note mode.

In SMS mode:

• A text area for your message
• The customer's phone number, auto-filled from their record
• A Send button

In Email mode:

• A subject line field
• A body text area
• The customer's email address, auto-filled from their record
• A Send button

In Note mode:

• A plain text field for internal context
• An Add Note button
• Team-only visibility so the customer never sees the entry

SMS and email modes also include an AI Draft button marked with a Sparkles icon. Click it to generate a suggested follow-up message. The system uses AI to analyze estimate age, status, and conversation history, then writes a draft for you to review before sending.

Unread Message Badge

A red badge on the Messages link in the sidebar shows the count of unread inbound conversations. When you open a conversation, the unread count updates automatically.

How Messages Get Into the Inbox

You do not need to manually log conversations. Messages appear in the inbox automatically from these sources:

• Estimate delivery. When you send an estimate, the SMS and email are logged to the customer's conversation.
• Customer SMS replies. When a customer replies to one of your text messages, the reply arrives via a Twilio webhook and appears in the thread.
• Customer email replies. When a customer replies to an email, the reply is routed through your organization's email slug and logged to the thread.
• Automated follow-ups. Messages sent by follow-up sequences are logged here so you can see what your automations have sent.
• Internal notes. Team members can leave private notes on the thread for handoffs, phone call summaries, and next steps.
• System events. Actions like "estimate viewed," "proposal signed," and "invoice paid" appear as timeline entries in the relevant conversation.

Tips

• The inbox updates in real time. You do not need to reload the page to see new activity.
• Use the search bar to find conversations by customer name, phone number, or email address.
• Use assignment and response filters during busy periods so no conversation gets missed.
• Add an internal note before handing a thread to another rep so they have the right context.
• The AI Draft button works best for follow-ups on estimates that are three or more days old.