Overview
In Internal Chat, talking to your team works like any modern chat: you type in the message field of a channel or a direct message and it appears in real time for the other members. Beyond text, you can call a teammate with @ by picking them from the channel's member list, reply to a specific message, react with an emoji, record a voice message, attach files and images (or pull a file straight from the Media Library), keep a reminder just for yourself with a Private note, edit and delete your messages, and search messages and channels. All of this is internal and private between the agents in your account — it never reaches the customer.
Prerequisites
- The Internal Chat module enabled for your account.
- Being a member of the channel (or direct message) where you want to talk. In announcement channels, only people on the authors list can post; everyone else just reads.
- To edit or delete, being the author of the message (or an account administrator).
Step by step
- Send text — Open a channel or a direct message, type in the field at the bottom and send. The send key follows your profile preference (Enter or Ctrl/⌘ + Enter).
- Mention with @ — Type @ and the list of this channel's members opens right above the
composer, with photo and name. Keep typing to filter, move with the ↑ ↓ arrows and confirm with
Enter (or click the name). The chosen name becomes a highlight inside the message and that
person gets the mention notification, respecting their notification level for the channel.
The mention has to be picked from the list. Typing
@anaas plain text notifies no one — it is just text. The list only offers people who are in the channel (you are not in it: mentioning yourself notifies nobody), so mentioning someone from outside means adding them to the channel first. The same @ works in the message that accompanies a shared item in Share to chat — there the list offers the members of the channel you picked as the destination. - Reply to a message — Use the reply action on the message you want and write your answer. It stays linked to the original message (a quoted snippet appears above your reply), making it easy to pick up the right thread.
- React with an emoji — Open the message's emoji picker and choose one. The reaction appears for all members of the channel. Any member can react; clicking the same emoji again removes your reaction (it toggles).
- Attach a file or image — Use the composer's paperclip to send a file or image. Images, audio, video and documents are detected automatically and shown in the right format, with a preview (thumbnail and size) before you send.
- Record a voice message — Tap the microphone. Recording starts immediately and the waveform replaces the text field, with the elapsed time beside it. Use stop to finish, ▶ to listen before sending, and the microphone again to discard. Once sent, the audio appears in the thread with a player (play, 1×/1.5×/2× speed, volume and download).
- Send from the Media Library — Tap the image icon to pick a file that is already in your account's Library. It is attached directly, with no re-upload. The reverse also works: every attachment sent in Internal Chat is filed in the Library, organised by channel and by author, ready to reuse later. Private notes are the exception — they never reach the Library.
- Write a private note — At the top of the composer, switch from Reply to Private note. The box turns amber and whatever you write there is a reminder only you can see inside that channel: nobody else sees it, nobody is notified, and its attachment does not reach the Library.
- Edit a message — On one of your messages, use edit, adjust the text and save. The message then shows an edited marker so it's clear the content changed. While you are editing, the attachment, microphone and library buttons are disabled: an edit changes the text of an already-sent message, and any file you had staged stays staged for your next message.
- Delete a message — On one of your messages, use delete. It's a soft delete: the message stays in the conversation, but with its text and attachments removed, showing message removed in its place.
- Search messages and channels — Use Internal Chat's search and type a term. You get the messages and channels that match the term, within what you have permission to read.
Settings & options
- Send key: set on your profile page (Enter or Ctrl/⌘ + Enter). The send button shows the active shortcut, so you always know which key sends the message.
- Emoji picker: available in the composer and on each message (to react).
- Who appears in the @ list: the members of the channel you are writing in — not the account's general agent list. It is the same list as the members panel.
- Media formats: images, audio, video and documents are accepted and classified automatically; recorded audio becomes a voice message.
- Maximum attachment size: follows the limit configured for the installation. A file above the limit is refused right away, with the file name and the limit in the message — instead of failing mid-upload.
- Media Library: the composer's image icon opens your account's Library; and everything sent in Internal Chat is archived there automatically, in folders by channel and by author.
- Personal note: you can write a note visible only to you inside a channel (a private reminder) that notifies no one and never reaches the Library.
- Search scope: search only scans the channels you can read — public channels and the channels/direct messages you're a member of. Deleted messages don't appear, and neither do other people's private notes.
Use cases
- Ask for help by mentioning the right teammate with @ so they get notified.
- Confirm quickly with a reaction (👍, ✅) instead of one more message.
- Pick up an old topic with reply, keeping the original message's context.
- Find a decision logged weeks ago using search with a keyword.
Tips, limits & best practices
- Mention sparingly: every @ triggers a notification. Use it when you truly need someone's attention.
- Edits and deletions are on record: editing shows edited and deleting leaves message removed — it's not a way to make a message vanish without a trace.
- Search only scans what you can access: private channels you don't belong to never show up in results.
- Prefer reply over quoting by hand — the link keeps the history clearer.
Troubleshooting
- I mentioned someone and they weren't notified: the mention has to be picked from the list
that opens when you type @ — inside the message it renders highlighted. An
@nametyped by hand is ordinary text. Also check that the person is a member of the channel: the list only offers people who are. - The @ list doesn't open: it appears as soon as you type @ in a channel that has other members. In a direct message with a single person, or in a channel where you're the only member, there is nobody to mention but you — and you are not in your own list.
- My audio/file wasn't sent: if the file is over the installation's limit, the alert names the file and the limit and the file is not attached — record a shorter audio or send a smaller file. If the send fails because of the connection, you get an alert and your text and attachments stay in the composer so you can try again.
- I can't edit/delete a message: only the message's author (or an account administrator) can edit or delete it. Other people's messages won't show those actions to you.
- I can't post in a channel: in announcements, only authorized authors post; in private channels, you need to be a member.
- My reaction doesn't appear: check your connection and refresh — reactions arrive in real time to the channel's members; you only see reactions in channels you can read.
- Search doesn't return a private channel: that's expected — search only includes public channels and those you're a member of. Ask for an invite to join.