Chat

The chat layer adds real-time one-to-one and group conversations inside your application. It powers user-to-user messaging, support chat with operators, and broadcast chats inside teams, projects or organisations.

Conversation Types

• Direct (1:1): A private thread between two users.
• Group: A persistent thread with multiple participants and a name (e.g. “Project Tigris team”).
• Topic-scoped: Anchored to a record — e.g. a chat thread tied to a specific support ticket, project or order.

What's Delivered in Real Time

Messages, read receipts, typing indicators and presence (online/offline) are all delivered over the platform's WebSocket connection. Users who are offline at the time still receive the message via push notification (if enrolled) and can read it next time they sign in.

Example Deployments

• Field service app: Engineers chat with dispatchers in 1:1 threads, and an “Incidents” group lets the operations team broadcast to all engineers on shift.
• Marketplace: Buyers and sellers communicate inside the platform without exposing personal contact details. Each thread is anchored to the listing.
• School portal: Teachers run a group chat per class, and pastoral staff have 1:1 threads with parents.

Moderation and Retention

Administrators can configure message retention (e.g. delete chats older than 12 months), keyword filters that flag or block messages, and per-group banned users. Every action is recorded in the activity log.

Note: Disabling chat does not delete existing messages. Use the retention settings or a one-off bulk delete from Site Settings → Communication → Chat if you need a clean cutover.

A “chat engine” is the underlying transport and storage configuration that powers conversations. ActiveManage supports its own native engine (database-backed messages, WebSocket delivery) and pluggable external engines for organisations that already invest in a chat provider.

Supported Engines

• Native: Messages stored in the application database, delivered over the in-built WebSocket server. Zero external dependencies and zero per-message cost.
• Twilio Conversations: Twilio holds the message store and delivery channel; ActiveManage stores only metadata and a thread ID. Useful if you already use Twilio for SMS and want one billing relationship.
• SendBird / Stream / Pusher: Hosted chat infrastructure with rich SDKs. Choose this when you need >10k concurrent active users or advanced features like translation and AI moderation.

Configuring an Engine

1. Open Site Settings → Communication → Chat → Engines and click Add Engine.
2. Pick the engine type, paste in the provider credentials, and tick “Make default” if this is your primary.
3. Click Test connection. The platform creates a temporary thread, posts a system message, and tears it down.
4. Save. Existing conversations on the old engine are unaffected; new ones start using the new engine.

Worked Examples

• Small business app: Stays on the Native engine. No external bills, full data sovereignty.
• Multi-tenant SaaS: Configures one engine per tenant by overriding at the tenant level — white-label customers can plug in their own Twilio account so messages route via their numbers.
• Enterprise rollout: Starts on Native, then migrates to SendBird once the user base exceeds 5,000 daily actives, using the chat export tool to backfill history into the new provider.

Once a chat engine is configured, you decide which users get access and what they are allowed to do. Permissions are granular so you can run chat as an internal-only feature, a customer-facing feature, or both.

Permissions to Grant

• Open Chat Panel: See the chat icon in the navigation bar at all.
• Start Direct Chat: Initiate 1:1 conversations with other users.
• Create Group: Make new group conversations.
• Invite External User: Pull non-staff users into a thread (e.g. a customer into a project chat).
• Moderate Messages: Delete or hide messages posted by anyone in scope.

Enabling per Security Group

1. Open Architect Panel → Security Groups.
2. Select the group (e.g. “Internal Staff”).
3. Under the Chat heading tick the permissions appropriate for that group.
4. Save. Affected users see the new options on their next page load.

Example Setups

• Read-only customer portal: Customers are in a group that has “Open Chat Panel” only — they can read system messages but cannot start a thread.
• Internal collaboration: All staff have direct and group chat, only Team Leads can create groups.
• Support workflow: Customers can start a thread but only with the Support group. Support agents can invite developers into a thread as the case escalates.

Tip: Combine the “Available hours” setting with permissions to disable chat outside business hours, so a customer never sends a question into a void.