Messages
Messages brings your practice's conversations together: SMS, email and portal messages with clients, team channels and direct messages, your own Gmail, and secure messages from other healthcare providers. Open Messages from the main navigation.
Messages replaces the old Inbox, Communications, Team chat and Secure messaging pages. Old links open the matching Messages lane.
Lanes
The lane rail on the left filters the conversation list. Providers appears only when your practice uses secure provider messaging.
| Lane | Shows |
|---|---|
| Needs reply | Conversations waiting on a reply from your practice |
| All | Every conversation you can see |
| Clients | SMS, email and portal conversations with clients |
| Team | Team channels and direct messages you belong to |
| Your email | Your own connected Gmail |
| Providers | Secure messages with other healthcare providers |
| Archived | Conversations you have archived |
The count beside Needs reply shows conversations waiting on you; other lanes show unread conversations. You only see conversations your role and client access allow.
Reply to a client
- Open the conversation.
- Under Reply by, choose SMS, Email or Portal. A channel is unavailable when the client has no mobile number or email address on record.
- Write your message and select Send.
Sends wait a few seconds before they go, so you can select Undo if you change your mind. To send later, use Schedule send and pick a date and time. Scheduled messages can be cancelled before they go.
Attach files with the paperclip, or drop them on the message box.
Insert
Select Insert (the document icon) in the message box to add:
- Templates: your practice's SMS or email templates
- Saved text: canned responses for common replies (see Canned Responses)
- Appointment: the client's next appointment details
- Form links: a link to a form already sent to this client
Insert at cursor adds the text where you are typing; Replace draft
replaces what you have written. The client's name fills in automatically. A
message with an unfilled {{...}} placeholder cannot be sent until you replace
it.
Start a new conversation
Select New. What it offers depends on the lane you are in:
- Clients or All: New message to a client
- Team: New conversation (a direct message) or New channel
- Your email: New email
- Providers or All: New provider message
Options you are not able to use are not shown.
Team channels and direct messages
The Team lane holds your practice channels and direct messages. In a channel you can:
- reply in a thread, react, and edit or delete your own messages
- pin important messages to the top of the channel
- view members and, if you manage the channel, add or remove members and change roles in Channel details
- create a task or appointment from a message
Direct messages are private to the people in them.
Your email
Your email shows your own Gmail inside Messages. Select Add your Gmail and follow the Google connect window.
- Your mail is visible only to you. Nobody else in your practice can see it, including practice owners.
- You can link an email to a client, contact, referrer or team member so it appears in that person's history. Praxi suggests matches; nothing is linked until you confirm. Linking files the mail for you; it does not share it.
- If Google stops sharing your mail, the lane shows Reconnect your Gmail.
Providers
The Providers lane shows secure messages exchanged with other healthcare providers through HealthLink or Medical-Objects. It appears only when your practice uses secure provider messaging. See Secure Messaging.
Calls and voicemails
If your practice uses Practice Phone, calls and voicemails appear in the client's conversation timeline. Missed, incoming and outgoing calls are labelled, voicemails can be played in place, and Show transcript opens the transcript when one is available.
Triage
Use the … menu on a conversation, or select several conversations for bulk actions:
- Assign to a colleague, or Unassign
- Star conversations to find them quickly
- Snooze until a date and time; the conversation returns when the snooze ends
- Labels and Priority to sort your work
- Mark read, Mark unread and Archive
The Filter menu narrows the list by these values. Select Clear filters to reset.
Messages panel
The Messages panel on the toolbar gives a quick view of recent conversations. Open the full Messages page for everything else.
Where settings live
Messages is for day-to-day work. Configuration stays in Settings (use Find a setting to search):
- Settings → Communications: email signatures, inbox preferences and client email templates
- Settings → Notifications: how you are told about new messages
- Settings → Integrations → Secure messaging: your practice's provider messaging account
Email campaigns and email analytics are separate from Messages.
Need help from the Praxi team? Open Help → Contact Praxi Support.