Conversations
Conversations is the unified communication inbox for the Cloud CRM. Every text message, email, and internal note exchanged with a customer lives in a single chronological thread, tied to that customer's contact record. There's no switching between a text app, an email client, and a notes system — the full communication history for any customer is in one place, visible to every team member with access, and searchable.
The inbox model mirrors what your customers already experience: a continuous thread like iMessage or WhatsApp, not a stack of disconnected emails. When a customer texts back about a job three months later, your dispatcher sees the entire prior conversation immediately — no digging through email archives or asking the tech who handled it. This context is what separates businesses that customers feel taken care of from those that make them repeat themselves every time they call.
Outbound communication goes through a single business number. Every team member who sends a message appears as the same business number to the customer. Internally, each message is tagged with the sender's name so your team knows who sent what. Customers see one unified business identity; your team sees the full internal record.
Inbox Features
Unified Thread View
All SMS, email, and internal notes for a contact appear in a single thread sorted by timestamp. Message type is indicated by a channel icon (SMS bubble, email envelope, internal note flag). Each message shows the sender, timestamp, and delivery/read status.
AI-Suggested Replies
When a new message arrives, the AI analyzes the message and the recent job context to suggest two to three reply options. Suggestions are editable before sending. Common use cases:
- Customer asking for an ETA → AI pulls the scheduled time from the project and suggests "Your tech is scheduled between 10am and noon today. We'll send a heads-up 30 minutes before they arrive."
- Customer asking about an invoice → AI pulls the invoice amount and payment link and suggests a reply with both embedded.
- Customer leaving a positive comment after a job → AI suggests routing to the Review Funnel.
Auto-Tagging
Inbound messages are automatically tagged by intent: appointment inquiry, invoice question, complaint, compliment, referral, estimate request. Tags appear on the message in the inbox and are searchable. Automations can be triggered based on tags — for example, a complaint tag can escalate to the owner immediately.
Read Receipts
For SMS messages, the system tracks whether the message was delivered and, where supported by the carrier, whether it was read. Email messages use pixel tracking for open confirmation. Read receipts appear as status indicators on each sent message.
Internal Notes
Team members can add internal notes to any conversation thread. Notes are visible only to CRM users — customers never see them. Notes are useful for logging a phone call summary, flagging something for another team member, or documenting a verbal agreement with the customer. Notes are full-text searchable.
Bulk SMS Campaigns
The Conversations module supports outbound SMS campaigns to filtered segments of your contact list. Campaigns are used for:
- Seasonal promotions (e.g., "Schedule your fall HVAC tune-up before slots fill up")
- Re-engagement of past customers (e.g., "It's been 12 months since your last service")
- Announcement broadcasts (e.g., "We've added evening and weekend availability")
Campaign recipients are selected from the Contacts module using tag filters, lead source filters, or last-activity date. Messages are personalized with merge fields (first name, last job type, etc.) and sent on a schedule to avoid carrier spam detection.
CRUD Operations
| Operation | Available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| View | Yes | Inbox shows all conversations; filterable by channel (SMS/email/notes), read/unread status, and tag; individual contact thread accessible from the contact record |
| Create | Yes | New conversations started from contact record or from Conversations module; internal notes added from the thread view |
| Update | Yes | Messages cannot be edited after sending (audit trail); internal notes can be edited and are versioned |
| Delete | Yes | Individual messages and notes can be deleted by admins; conversation threads cannot be deleted while linked to an active project |
Bulk SMS campaigns are subject to carrier messaging guidelines. A10DLC registration (US only) is required before sending high-volume SMS. The CRM handles registration as part of the onboarding setup — do not attempt to send bulk SMS before registration is confirmed or messages will be blocked.