Text, email, chat and portal in one box
Why one client has one thread however they got in touch, and how to tell which way your reply is about to leave.
2 min readUpdated August 17, 2026
A client texts on Monday, emails on Wednesday about the same thing, and rings on Friday. Three conversations in most software. One here.
- 1
- 1Reply to the client, or note for your team
One client, one thread
Every way in ends up in the same place: texts, emails, the chat widget on your website, and questions from a client's own portal page. They stack up in one thread in the order they happened, each message marked with the way it arrived.
That's the whole design, and the reason for it is the Friday phone call. You don't want to guess which of four screens the last thing was said on.
Choosing how your reply leaves
The reply box has channel pills in its corner — via Text, Email, and Web chat on a thread that has a live chat visitor. Pick one and the line under the box states exactly what will happen, including the number or the address.
A greyed-out pill means there's nothing to send to. No mobile number on the client's record and Text is unavailable; no email address and Email is. Hover it and it says which, and adding the missing detail to their record brings the option back.
The two that behave differently
The client portal isn't an outbox. A message that arrived from a client's portal page is answered by text or email like any other — and because the portal mirrors the whole conversation, your reply shows up there as well. The composer says so above the box when that's the thread you're in.
The website chat is the one channel with a stranger on the other end. Until you know who they are, the only way to reach them is the widget they're typing into — so a chat thread replies into the chat, and there's a Send & close button for the common case of one answer finishing the job. Link the visitor to a client record and their phone and email become available like anyone else's. Answering a chat covers that side of it.
Common questions
How do I know which way my reply will go?
The pills in the corner of the reply box say via Text / Email, and the line under the box spells out the rest — Sends as a text to +1 (555) 555-0100. The channel is never a guess.
Why is a channel greyed out?
There's nothing to send to. No phone on file greys out Text; no email address greys out Email. Hover it and it tells you which.
Someone wrote from their portal. Can I answer there?
Answer by text or email as usual. Their portal page mirrors the whole conversation, so your reply appears there too — the portal isn't a separate outbox.
What about the website chat?
A chat thread replies into the widget, and only while the visitor is a visitor. Once you link them to a client record you get their phone and email too, and the ordinary channels open up.
Will a client get the same message twice?
No. One reply goes out on one channel, whichever one you picked.
What if the same person texts and emails?
Same thread. One client has one conversation, and the icons on the messages show which way each one arrived.
Related articles
- Reply to a clientInbox · Answering by text or email, leaving a note for the team instead, and starting a conversation with someone who hasn't messaged you first.
- Answering a chatWeb chat · A website chat is just another thread in your Inbox — with a stranger on the other end, which changes two things: who they are, and what you do about it.
- What your clients seeClient portal · The passwordless page behind every appointment message — confirming, moving, cancelling, and asking a question — plus what it deliberately won't let them do.
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