Message a client

Messages is the conversation list, one thread per client, for the things that are too short for an email and too specific for a reminder.

A conversation belongs to a client, not to a phone number. That is what keeps a reply in the same place as the booking it is about, and it is why the first thing you do is choose the client rather than type a number.

1. Open Messages.
2. Select New Conversation.
3. Choose the client the conversation is with. Use the search field rather than typing a number directly — a conversation with no client behind it cannot be found again from their record.
4. Pick the Channel: WhatsApp or SMS. Both send to the number on the client record.
5. Write the message, or start from Quick Templates for the greetings and updates you send often.
6. Select Send.
7. Select Archive when the thread is done. Archived conversations stay searchable and can be brought back with Unarchive.

Active

Conversations still in play

Archived

Finished threads, kept and searchable

Channel

WhatsApp or SMS

Direct Number

The number the message goes to, taken from the client record

Quick Templates exist because most messages are one of four things: a greeting, a confirmation, a change, or a reminder. Starting from the template and editing one line is faster and less error-prone than composing from nothing, and it keeps the tone consistent across whoever is on the desk.

Replies arrive in the same thread, so the conversation reads in order rather than as a series of separate messages. That is why the client matters more than the number: two threads to the same person split the history in half.

A character count sits under the message box in the New Conversation dialog. It is a prompt rather than a limit: if the count is climbing, the thing you are writing is probably an email, and Messages is for the short version.

Archive rather than Delete. A deleted conversation is gone for both sides of the story, and "what did we actually tell them" is a question that comes up months later.