Help centre / Communications

Inbox

Every e-mail, SMS and WhatsApp with customers, suppliers and anybody else, both ways, in one place - read it, answer it, and (with CRM) put it on the right record.

1Overview #

The inbox is the ERP's own mail client - the Communication Hub, for every module, not only the CRM. It holds conversations: one person, one channel, every message both ways. A reply to a mail you sent comes back to the same conversation; a WhatsApp answer joins the thread you started.

It is laid out the way a mail program is - folders on the left, the list in the middle, the message on the right - because that is what people already know how to use.

What makes it more than a mailbox is the tray: messages nobody has taken yet wait there, in the tray of the user group the mailbox or number names, until somebody claims them.

What a conversation relates to follows the modules your licence holds. With CRM, a sender is matched to an open lead or a contact by address or number, a conversation can be linked to a lead, contact or deal or turned into a new lead, and it then shows on that record's timeline. Without CRM none of that is offered - the conversations are simply yours, your tray's or a manager's.

2Who it is for #

Read and answer e-mail, SMS and WhatsApp without leaving the ERP.
Pick up what nobody has taken (the Tray) - and, with CRM, put it on the record it belongs to.
Start a new message to anybody in the address book, or any address at all.
Hand a conversation to a colleague, close it when it is finished, or reopen it when they write again.
Pull everything in now with Send / Receive instead of waiting for the next round.

3What it is not for #

One message to many people. For leads and contacts that is CRM > CRM Bulk Messages (with the CRM Bulk Messaging add-on); payment reminders, payment advice, salary notices and lists of parties are Communications > Bulk Messages.
Setting up mailboxes, gateways or WhatsApp numbers. That is Communications > Channel Setup.
Your personal mail. Only the mailboxes set up on Communications > Channel Setup are read.

4Step by step #

Open Communications > Inbox & Outbox. It starts on Mine - conversations you own (with CRM: also those on your records). - New messages arrive by themselves; nothing needs refreshing.
Use the folders: Mine, Tray - unassigned, Sent, All I may see; narrow by channel and by open or closed.
Click a conversation to read the thread. The newest message and anything unread open first.
Press Reply, or write in the quick-reply box at the foot of the thread. - It goes out from the same mailbox or gateway, so the answer comes back to the same place.
For something in the tray: Claim it - and with CRM, Link to record or Make a lead. - Linking puts every message of that conversation on the record's own Communication panel.
New message (F3) starts a fresh conversation - pick from the address book, or just type the address. - With CRM a typed address is matched to a lead or contact exactly as an incoming message would be.
Close a conversation that is finished; it reopens by itself if they write again.

5The fields #

Finding things
Folders - Mine (yours - with CRM also on your records), Tray - unassigned (nobody has taken it), Sent, All I may see. The count beside each is unread first, total otherwise. Four folders
Channel - All, E-mail, SMS or WhatsApp. Four choices
Status - Open, Closed or Any. Three choices
Search - Person, address or subject. Searched on the server. Esc clears it. Free text
Unread - Only conversations with something unread. Tick box
What a row tells you - One row is one conversation, in bands - Today, Yesterday, This week, Earlier this month, Older.
Who and when - The person's name (or their address) and the time of the last message.
Subject and snippet - The subject, and the first words - prefixed You: when you wrote last.
Channel tag - E-mail, SMS or WhatsApp.
Record tag (with CRM) - Lead, Contact or Deal with its name. Without CRM no record is shown, even on a conversation that was linked while CRM was licensed. An untagged conversation in the tray is an invitation to claim it - and with CRM to link it or make a lead.
Closed tag / unread count - Whether the conversation is closed, and how many messages are unread.
What you can do with a conversation
Reply - Answers on the same channel, from the same account. Not offered for WhatsApp outside the 24-hour window - use a template from the record instead.
Claim - Makes an unassigned conversation yours.
Hand over - Gives it to somebody else - yourself, (with CRM) your team, or anyone for a manager. They are told at once. A manager is an administrator, whoever holds the preference User Can View Others Outbox, or - with CRM - a sales manager.
Link to record (with CRM) - Put it on a lead, contact or deal: pick the kind, type part of the number or name, press Enter, choose the hit. Every message of the conversation then shows on that record's Communication panel. Not offered without CRM. At least two characters to search
Make a lead (with CRM) - Creates a lead from the sender and links the conversation to it. The quickest way to turn a stranger's message into work. Not offered without CRM.
Close / Reopen - Ends a conversation, or takes it up again. A closed conversation reopens by itself when they write again.
Mark unread - Puts it back on the unread list for later.
Relate to account (with the books) - Put it on a PARTY - a customer, a supplier, any ledger: type part of the name, Enter, pick one. It then shows in that ledger's Messages (ledger master > Messages...). A sender who is one of a party's contact persons (Address Book / Contacts on the ledger) is related to it by itself. Offered with Financial Accounting, Sales or Purchase. At least two characters
Relate to document (with the books) - Put it on a DOCUMENT - an invoice, an order, a receipt: the party's latest are listed; type part of the number to narrow them. It then shows in that voucher's Messages. A document brings its party with it when the conversation has none. Only documents whose module is licensed, that you may find or view, and inside your report option's branches.
Party / document chips - Which party and which document the conversation is about. Click the document to open it; × takes the relation off (the messages stay).
Message status - The chip on each message in the thread.
Received - It came in.
Sent - Handed to the mail server or gateway; no report yet.
Delivered / Read - The gateway or Meta confirmed it. SMS needs delivery reports set up on Communications > Channel Setup; WhatsApp reports by itself.
Failed - It did not go - the reason is shown in the message.

6Rules and integrity #

A reply finds its own conversation - A reply to mail sent from the hub carries our message id and lands on that conversation whoever sent it. With CRM the sender's address or number is then matched to an open lead, then to a contact. Anything else waits in the tray.
Related to the modules you have - The hub is ERP-wide. A conversation is put on a lead, contact or deal only while CRM is licensed; the outbox lists a module's mail (Payroll's, CRM's, a workflow's...) only while that module is licensed; the address book offers ledger contacts with Financial Accounting, Sales or Purchase, and leads and contacts with CRM.
The tray belongs to a user group - Each mailbox, SMS webhook and WhatsApp number names the group whose members see its unmatched messages - or everyone, when none is named.
On the books - With Financial Accounting, Sales or Purchase a conversation can also be about a PARTY (a ledger) and a DOCUMENT (a voucher). A message keeps the party and document its conversation had when it was written. Relating never shows a conversation to anybody new: a ledger's or a voucher's Messages list only the conversations you could see in the inbox anyway.
Who sees everything - An administrator, whoever holds the preference User Can View Others Outbox (the same right opens other people's outbox), and - with CRM - a sales manager see every conversation inside their report option.
Mail is only read, never changed - The hub reads the folder; it marks nothing, moves nothing and deletes nothing on the mail server.
The WhatsApp 24-hour rule is Meta's - Free text and files reach a person only within 24 hours of their last message to you. Outside that window you must start with an approved template.
Do not contact is absolute - A person marked do-not-contact on a channel gets nothing on it - not a reply, not a bulk message. "STOP" in an SMS or WhatsApp (or as the first line of an e-mail) sets it by itself, and also opts the party out of Bulk Messages; "START" takes back only the bulk opt-out.
Bounce reports are not conversations - When a mail server refuses a message the hub sent, its report is read, the message is marked Failed (Bounced: and the server's words) and the address listed under Bulk Messages > Bounced addresses - the report itself never appears in the inbox.
Attachments have limits - Up to 10 files, 10 MB each, 20 MB together. Incoming files bigger than the kept size are listed by name only.
New messages arrive by push - The list updates itself; Send / Receive is only for when you cannot wait for the next round.

7Shortcut keys #

F3 - New message.
F5 - Refresh the list - or, in a dialog, its own action.
Esc - Close the dialog; otherwise close the tab.
Arrows / Home / End - Move through the message list.
Enter - In the search box, search; in the link box, search.

8If something does not work #

"That record is not yours to see."

Why: The record belongs to somebody else's circle - its owner, their team lead, a sales manager, or somebody it is shared with. Reading it, its calls, its score or its telephone numbers is refused to anybody else, whichever screen asks.
What to do: Ask its owner to share it with you, or ask a sales manager to hand it over.

"That record is no longer there."

Why: The lead, contact or deal was deleted, or merged into another, after this screen read it.
What to do: Refresh the list and open it again.

"Say which lead, contact or deal."

Why: The message was sent without the record it belongs to.
What to do: Open the record and write from its Messages panel.

"Say which conversation." / "Say what to do with the conversation." / "That conversation is no longer there."

Why: The conversation was closed, merged or removed after the inbox listed it.
What to do: Refresh the inbox.

"Only the conversation's owner, a manager, or someone who may edit its record answers it. Claim it first if it is in your tray."

Why: Answering speaks for the record, so it needs the right to edit it.
What to do: Claim it if it waits in your tray; otherwise ask its owner.

"Only someone who may edit this ... writes to it - its owner, an Edit share, or a manager."

Why: Writing to a lead, contact or deal needs the right to edit that record, not only to read it.
What to do: Ask its owner for an Edit share.

"That template is not an APPROVED template of this WhatsApp account - sync the templates on Communications > Channel Setup."

Why: WhatsApp only lets a business start a conversation with a template Meta has approved for that number.
What to do: Sync the templates on Communications > Channel Setup, or pick one marked Approved.

"No WhatsApp account is set up - add one on Communications > Channel Setup (Meta's phone number id, access token and app secret)."

Why: WhatsApp was picked, but the company has no WhatsApp number connected.
What to do: An administrator adds it on Communications > Channel Setup.

"The attachments come to ... MB - ... MB at most together."

Why: Together the files pass what one message may carry.
What to do: Remove a file, or send it in a second message.

"The Communication Hub is not licensed for this company - the inbox, the outbox and the channel set-up need it. Contact your software vendor."

Why: The inbox, the outbox, the address book and the channel set-up are the Communication Hub (COMMHUB), a module of its own. Companies that had the CRM Communication Hub add-on were given it automatically.
What to do: Ask your vendor to add the Communication Hub, then sign out and in.

"Relating a message to a lead, contact or deal needs the CRM module, which this company's licence does not hold."

Why: Link to record, Make a lead, do-not-contact and a record's own messages are CRM work on top of the hub.
What to do: Nothing to fix - use the conversation as it is, or ask your vendor for CRM.

Link to record and Make a lead are missing / no Lead, Contact or Deal tag anywhere

Why: The licence has no CRM, so conversations are not related to CRM records - and the server leaves them off even where a conversation was linked earlier.
What to do: Nothing is lost: the links come back as they were if CRM is licensed again.

A numbered list of sync problems at the top

Why: Send/Receive met a problem on one or more mailboxes or webhooks - each line names which.
What to do: Open Communications > Channel Setup and read the mailbox's last error; the commonest is a refused password.

Nothing new arrives, although mail is waiting in the mailbox

Why: The reader runs in the background inside the API. If the API is not running, nothing is read.
What to do: Press Send/Receive to read now. If that finds nothing either, check the mailbox on Communications > Channel Setup.

"The mail server refused the account or password. Gmail and Microsoft 365 need an APP password (or IMAP switched on for the mailbox)."

Why: The mailbox's own sign-in failed - an ordinary password will not do for Gmail or Microsoft 365.
What to do: An administrator puts an app password on the mailbox in Communications > Channel Setup.

"The incoming server could not be reached - check its name and port, and that this server may connect out to it."

Why: The IMAP server name or port is wrong, or the firewall blocks the connection out.
What to do: Check the server and port (usually 993 with SSL) on Communications > Channel Setup.

"That folder does not exist in the mailbox."

Why: The folder named on the mailbox is not there - usually a typo, or a provider that names it differently.
What to do: Set it back to INBOX.

"Relating a message to a party or a document needs Financial Accounting, Sales or Purchase, which this company's licence does not hold."

Why: Parties and documents belong to the books, so the hub relates messages to them only with one of those modules.
What to do: Nothing to fix - the conversation works as it is. Ask your vendor for the module if you need it.

"That party is no longer there, or it is inactive." / "Say which party."

Why: The ledger was deleted or made inactive after the list was read.
What to do: Pick another, or have the ledger made active again.

"That document is no longer there, or it is not yours to see."

Why: The document was deleted, is in a branch outside your report option, belongs to a module this licence does not hold, or you may neither find nor view that voucher type.
What to do: Ask for the Find or View right on the voucher type in User Manager, or sign in with the report option that covers its branch.

"Type at least two characters of the party's name." / "Type part of the document's number, or relate the conversation to its party first."

Why: The search needs something to go on - or, for a document, a party whose latest documents it can list.
What to do: Type more of the name or the number, or relate the conversation to its party first.

"Pick the party to relate it to." / "Pick the document to relate it to." / "Pick the party." / "Pick the document."

Why: Relate was pressed without a row picked in the list.
What to do: Click one of the rows, then Relate (F5).

Relate to account / Relate to document are missing

Why: They are offered to whoever may act on the conversation (its owner, a manager, or with CRM whoever may edit its record) and only with Financial Accounting, Sales or Purchase.
What to do: Claim the conversation first, or ask its owner.

"Type at least two characters." in the Link dialog

Why: The record search needs something to go on.
What to do: Type two or more characters of the name, the number or the address.

"No lead or contact you can see matches '...' - type the address below instead."

Why: Nothing within your reach matches, so there is nothing to link to.
What to do: Make a lead of it, or ask for the record to be shared with you.

"This conversation is not yours to see." / "... not yours to act on." / "... not yours to answer."

Why: A conversation belongs to its owner and to whoever may edit its record.
What to do: Claim it if it is in one of your trays, or ask its owner.

"It already has an owner." / "It is not in a tray of yours." / "Somebody claimed it a moment ago."

Why: Claim only takes a conversation that is still unclaimed in a tray you are in.
What to do: Refresh - the list now shows who has it.

"Only its owner, a manager, or someone who may edit its record hands it over." / "Pick who takes it over." / "You can hand a conversation only to yourself or a member of a team you lead; a manager, to anybody."

Why: Hand-over follows the same reach as records. A manager is an administrator, whoever holds the preference User Can View Others Outbox, or - with CRM - a sales manager; without CRM there are no teams, so others hand only to themselves.
What to do: Ask a manager where it must go.

"This conversation is already on a record." / "Link it to a lead, a contact or a deal."

Why: Each conversation hangs on one record, and the link needs to know which kind.
What to do: Nothing to do - open the record from the conversation.

"This is an ... conversation - answer it on ..."

Why: A reply goes back on the channel it came in on.
What to do: Use that channel's reply; to switch channel, compose a new message from the record.

"Only someone who may edit the record changes its do-not-contact." / "This record has no lead or contact to keep it on."

Why: The flag lives on the person, so a deal with neither a lead nor a contact behind it has nowhere to keep it.
What to do: Set it on the lead or the contact.

"That attachment is no longer there." / "This attachment is not yours to open."

Why: The row has gone, or the conversation is outside your reach.
What to do: Ask its owner.

"'...' was larger than the size kept (setting 254) - only its name was kept. Open it in the mailbox itself."

Why: Big files are not copied into the ERP; the name and the size are.
What to do: Open it in the mailbox. An administrator can raise setting 254 if this is common.

"The tray is empty" / "Nothing matches" / "You're all caught up"

Why: Nothing is waiting, or the filters exclude it.
What to do: Clear the search and the filters; check you are looking at the right tray.

A message I know was sent is not on the record

Why: Only messages sent through the hub, and replies read from a configured mailbox or webhook, reach the record - and only while CRM is licensed.
What to do: Send from the record rather than from your own mail client, and link the conversation if it arrived unmatched.

9For an administrator #

Trays - Give each mailbox and endpoint a tray group, or everybody sees the unmatched messages.
How often - Setting 253 decides how often mailboxes are read; setting 254 the largest attachment kept.

10Settings it uses #

Read the synced mailboxes every N minutes (253, default 5).
Largest attachment kept, MB (254, default 5).
CRM: bulk messages sent a minute (255, default 60).

This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Inbox screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.

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