Answer client messages from the portal and website
Reply to portal and website messages from one team inbox, assign an owner, archive what's done and start a conversation with a client.
Anyone on the team. There's no permission for this inbox: every person with access to the account sees and answers every conversation.
The «Web» tab only appears if your account has access to the website builder.
Some clients would rather send a quick message than an email. Clients write to you from the , visitors from the chat on your website, and on Campus accounts, app users from the app. All of it arrives in one team inbox, «Communication» → «Customer portal», where anyone on the team can pick it up.
Answer the coordinator's message
The Landmark Venues coordinator writes from the portal: can you add two more round tables to the wedding? Let's answer and hand it to the person running the job.
- Open the inbox Go to «Communication» → «Customer portal». The shortcut in the sidebar is called «Customer portal chats».
- Find the conversation Use the tabs «All», «General», «Projects» and «Web», sort by «Recent», «Oldest» or «Unread», or search by title, contact, project, subject or last message.
- Reply Type your answer, or dictate it, and attach images or files up to 25 MB. The client sees it in the portal.
- Hand it over Click «Assign responsible users (optional)» and choose the . If someone already has it, the button says «Reassign».
- Archive it when it's done Click «Archive». It moves from «Active» to «Archived» and becomes an .
Along the way, the assignment left a notice in the thread that only your team sees. «Participants» shows who's in the conversation.
What happens next
- Archiving only tidies your team's list. The client doesn't notice and can keep writing; any new message, theirs or yours, makes the conversation active again.
- There's no way to close a conversation.
- When a client or a visitor writes, Filmo raises the alerts «Message received in the portal» and «Message from the website chat». Each person gets them in Filmo or by email, according to their own settings. See Alerts and notifications settings.
- The responsible user of a portal conversation is notified of new messages even without that alert.
Note: The list loads the 50 most recent conversations. «Archived» and the counters are worked out from those 50, so the «Communication» counter in the sidebar is approximate, and shows «9+» from ten.
Other ways to do it
Start a conversation with a client
- Open the window In «Customer portal», click «New conversation». «New portal conversation» opens.
- Choose the contact Pick the client in «Contact». They must have activated their portal account.
- Write the subject Fill in «Subject», between 3 and 120 characters.
- Add a first message Optionally, write it in «Initial message (optional)». Without one, the thread starts with «Conversation created» in the client's language.
- Create it The conversation appears in the client's portal.
On Campus accounts, «New conversation» opens «New support conversation» instead, to talk to an app user. See Answer Campus support chats.
What your client sees in the portal chat
- The client opens the portal's «Messages» bubble, or «Open chat» on a document.
- They start a conversation with a subject and a first message of up to 4,000 characters, and can link up to five of their quotes, invoices or orders, found by number.
- They can attach images, PDF, text, CSV, Excel or Word files of up to 10 MB.
- Conversations belong to the contact, not to the person: everyone with portal access to that contact sees the same threads.
- They see your replies, but not your team's notices, such as assignments.
- When a client asks for changes to a contract from the portal, the request arrives here as a conversation. See Get a contract signed.
The client only sees «Messages» if the section is turned on for their contact. See Change what one client sees in the portal.
If you see an error
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| El contacto no tiene acceso reclamado al portal… (in Spanish) | The contact hasn't accepted the portal invitation yet | Invite them to the portal and wait until they activate their account |
| The client can't find «Messages» in the portal | The «Messages» section is off for their contact | Turn it on in the contact's portal settings |
| «File too large» | Your attachment is over 25 MB | Reduce the file or share a link |
| «The file exceeds 10 MB» (the client sees it) | The client's attachment is over 10 MB | Ask them to reduce it or send a link |
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The client inbox has no permission of its own: anyone with access to the account can read, answer, assign and archive.
No. Client chats and email are separate. You may get an email alert about a new message if you turned that alert on.