This article is one step from our Master Help Guide: All About the CRM. We recommend starting with the visual walkthrough video and examples inside the Master Help Guide before diving into the technical breakdown below.
Each Master Help Guide acts as your project plan, teaching you the feature, laying out the steps in the right order, and linking to every resource you'll need along the way.
Every conversation with your clients and team, across email, SMS, WhatsApp, and social DMs, lives in one place inside Messaging. You can read the full history of a conversation, reply through whichever channel makes sense, and collaborate with your team without switching tools or losing context.
This guide is perfect if you want to:
Understand the difference between My Inbox, Team Inbox, and Internal Chat
Manage a conversation with a client, including replying, filtering, and adding internal notes
Catch up on unread replies quickly and keep your inbox tidy without losing any message history
Save and share Conversation Views so you and your team can find priority chats quickly
Start a brand new conversation with a contact or a team member
Messaging brings every client conversation and internal team chat into one screen, so you can respond faster and keep your team aligned without leaving the conversation.
Messaging is made up of four panels that work together. Getting familiar with each one will help you move around confidently and set up your workspace the way you like it.
Inbox Panel: controls which set of conversations you're viewing.
My Inbox - conversations relating to you, split into All, Assigned to me, and Followed by me
Team Inbox - every conversation across your account
Internal Chat - private, team only discussions kept separate from client threads
Views - your saved Conversation Views (covered in Step 3)
Chat List Panel: shows every conversation matching your selected inbox or view, organised into Unread, All, Recent, and Starred tabs. From here you can filter, sort, and select conversations for bulk actions. Your unread count updates in real time.
Message History Panel: your main reading and reply area, showing the full history of a conversation across every channel. Use the [Conversations] and [Activity] tabs at the top to switch between the message thread and the contact's activity.
Right Panel: shows the contact's details, files, payments, and related records without leaving the conversation. Use the icons along the right edge of your screen to move between each area.
Once you're inside a conversation, everything you need to respond and stay on top of the client relationship is available without leaving the thread.
From the main Ivorey™ menu, go to CRM > Conversations > Inbox
Open a conversation to view the full message history with a contact across email, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram messages, and internal comments
Note: When you open an unread conversation, the thread automatically scrolls to the first unread message and a New divider shows where your unread messages begin. The divider stays in place until you reply or mark the conversation as read.
Use the Conversations and Activity tabs at the top of the Message History Panel to switch between your message thread and the contact's activity. The icons in the conversation header let you
🔍 search within the conversation
⭐ star the conversation so it appears in your Starred tab
✉ mark the conversation as read or unread
🗑 delete the conversation
To reply, open the channel selector in the composer at the bottom of the thread and choose the channel you'd like to send from
Note: If you collapse and reopen the composer within the same conversation, your last selected channel is remembered so you can pick up where you left off.
Type your reply, then click [Send]. You can also:
Switch to full screen mode for longer replies
Attach files, or paste a file or image directly into the composer (Ctrl + V on Windows, Cmd + V on Mac)
Insert a saved Snippet using the snippets icon in the composer
To leave a private note for your team instead of replying to the contact, click [Internal Comment] in the composer. Type your note and use @ to mention a teammate directly. You can switch between replying to the contact and leaving an internal comment in one click, and your comment draft is kept even if you switch channels or conversations
If the conversation includes a recorded call, click [View Transcript] on the call card to read it in the Message History Panel > click [Hide Transcript] when you're done. The Right Panel stays open while you read, so you can update the contact's details at the same time
Use the Right Panel to view or edit the contact's details, tags, folders and owner, or to create appointments, opportunities, invoices and payments without leaving the conversation. Refer to our Contact Profiles guide for everything you can view and manage from a contact's profile
From the main Ivorey™ menu, go to CRM > Conversations > Inbox > at the top of your Chat List Panel, tick [Select all], or tick the checkbox on each conversation you'd like to manage to enable bulk actions
Note: Your selection stays in place if you click elsewhere on a conversation card. Clicking a card opens that conversation so you can review it, and clicking its checkbox adds or removes it from your selection.
From the bulk actions at the top of your Chat List Panel, click [Actions], then choose to Mark as Read, Mark as Unread, Add Star, Remove Star, or Delete Conversations the selected conversations
Use the [Filter] icon to narrow your list by channel, tags, owner or date, combining multiple filters with AND/OR logic
Use the [Sort] icon to view conversations by newest or oldest activity
If you or your team regularly check the same filters, such as unassigned chats or a specific channel, save them as a Conversation View so you can jump straight to them with one click.
From the main Ivorey™ menu, go to CRM > Conversations > Inbox > under Views click the [+ Create View] option
Give your view a clear name, for example "Channel - Email"
Apply your filters. You can combine multiple filters using AND/OR logic, based on:
Assigned
Followers
Mentions
Last Message Direction (inbound or outbound)
Last Outbound Message Type (manual or automated)
Last Message Channel (SMS, Email, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Webchat)
Tag
SLA (response time)
Engagement Score: this needs to be enabled and set the scores in Settings > Scoring to use
Click [Create View] and your new view now appears under Views for quick access
To manage the view's settings, click [three-dots] and choose:
Edit: Change the filter
Share: Views you create are private to you by default. Only you or an admin can share a view with the rest of the team.
Delete: Remove a specific Conversation View
You can start a brand new conversation with a contact, or open a private Internal Chat with one or more team members, without leaving Messaging.
From the main Ivorey™ menu, go to CRM > Conversations > Inbox
Click the [New Conversation] button > select [Message Contacts]
Choose to create a [Single Conversation] or [Group Conversation]
Search and select the contact you'd like to message
Choose the chat type (e.g., Email, SMS, or Internal Comment) > [Create Conversation]
From the main Ivorey™ menu, go to CRM > Conversations > Inbox
Click the [New Conversation] button > select [Message Teammates]
Choose the team members you'd like to add > [Create Internal Chat]
Type your first message and [send] it to begin the conversation
To add/edit a subject to your chat for easier searching later, click the [pencil icon] at the top of the right panel
To add more team members later, open the chat > go to the Right Panel > click [Chat Participants icon] > [Edit Participants] > select who you'd like to add > choose whether they can see past messages > [Save]
Yes, your existing snippets and signatures remain available whenever you're replying to a conversation.
Sharing a view doesn't change what a teammate can see. Each person's view still respects their existing permissions and data access, so two people looking at the same shared view may see slightly different results.
No, there are no limits.
Yes. In-app notifications are turned on by default for conversations where you're a follower, so you're alerted to new messages even if you're not the assigned owner. You can also choose to receive these by Email or SMS in [Settings] > [Profile] > [Notifications] > under conversation notification, check or uncheck In-App, Email, or SMS for "Notify for new messages on conversations where I am a follower".
Notifications depend on each team member's individual notification preferences, so encourage your team to check their settings if they're not seeing alerts for new Internal Chats.
Hit the support chat widget inside Ivorey™ - we can:
Walk you through any of the steps
Troubleshoot anything that's not working
We’re here and ready to help via the chat widget in the bottom right of your Ivorey™ account. Or if you are looking for done-for-you support, you can browse our current services here 🤍
