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Unified Inbox

The Inbox brings every conversation with your patients and contacts into one place. Text messages, email, web-chat, and social messaging conversations are threaded by person, not by channel — so "Robin Georgeff" is one conversation, whether Robin texted yesterday and emailed today. Incoming faxes and phone-call summaries appear in the same timeline as read-only notes.

The unread badge in the portal header updates live, and new messages appear in open windows without reloading.

The conversation list​

Each row is one person, showing their name, the channels they have used, the latest message excerpt, and an unread count. Tabs filter by status:

  • Open — needs attention (new inbound messages reopen a conversation automatically).
  • Snoozed — hidden until a time you choose (an earlier reply from the patient brings it back).
  • Closed — done for now.
  • All — everything, for searching history.

You can also filter by channel, by assignment (Mine / Unassigned), and search by name, phone, or email. Reading a conversation marks it read for the whole practice — read state is shared, like a front-desk inbox, and Assign to me claims a conversation so colleagues can see who is handling it.

Reading a conversation​

The timeline shows every message across channels, oldest first, with a channel tag on each message. Attachments appear as chips:

  • Sanitizing… — the file is being converted to a safe PDF (see Security & Privacy); it becomes viewable in a moment.
  • A named chip — click to view the safe PDF or image.
  • Blocked — the file could not be converted safely and will not be shown.

Faxes show as a note with a View fax link; phone calls recorded by your phone system show View summary, with the full transcript available on request.

Replying​

A channel selector above the composer offers every channel available for that person — SMS if they have a mobile number, email if they have an email address, and any social channel they have messaged you on. Choose the channel, type, and send (Ctrl+Enter works).

Email replies support rich text: formatting, links, lists, font sizes and colors, and inline images (paste or insert). Your email signature is added automatically — each staff member can set a personal signature on the Security page, and the practice can set a default for everyone else. Attachments can be added to any channel.

If your practice has per-user sending addresses configured, your email replies go out from your own address (for example amber@example.com) with your own display name — see Practice Email.

Who appears in the inbox​

Conversations are created automatically from inbound messages. For email, your practice controls two behaviors (configured with IntelliPract support — see Practice Email):

  • Handled mailboxes — only mail to or from your practice's real mailboxes is brought into the inbox; mail to old aliases and marketing addresses is left in your regular mail system untouched.
  • Unknown senders — a first-time email from someone not yet in your records (for example, a prospective patient inquiring) can automatically create a contact, so the conversation appears in the inbox and you can simply reply. Newsletters and automated mail never create contacts.