What is the communications inbox?
Use the inbox to read and answer all of your clients' messages - Chat, SMS (text messages), and Email - from one screen, instead of checking a separate place for each channel. Every conversation groups the full history with a client across all channels, and the whole team at your clinic shares the same view, so everyone can see what has been answered and what still needs a reply.
Note: everyone at your clinic can open the Inbox and read conversations. Sending SMS and emails requires the Manage Client Communications permission - the same permission that gates sending messages from the patient's Health Card. Chat replies don't require it.
How this helps your daily work
Front desk / receptionists - triage every incoming chat, text, and email reply from a single list sorted into New, In progress and Closed, so nothing gets missed between screens and nothing open slips out of sight
Vets & nurses - reply with full context: the client's details, their pets, and quick links to the Health Card sit right next to the conversation
Practice managers - statuses and read state are shared across the clinic, so you can see at a glance what is still open and what your team has finished, without asking around
Where to find it
In the main menu, go to Communication -> Inbox.
The Inbox has three areas:
Left - the conversation list, with a Conversations tab and a Contacts tab
Center - the selected conversation and the reply box
Right - the Context panel with the client's and pets' details
Both side panels can be collapsed and resized, so you can give the conversation more room:
Collapse a panel - hover over the conversation list or the Context panel and click the collapse icon at the top of it. The panel shrinks to a narrow strip labeled Conversations or Context. Click the expand icon on the strip to open it again.
Resize a panel - drag the divider between two panels to make the conversation list or the Context panel wider or narrower.
The Inbox remembers your panel widths, and which panels you collapsed, in the browser you use. On a narrow window the Context panel collapses on its own to give the conversation room.
Note: the Inbox shows the conversations of the clinic you are currently working in. If you work at several clinics, switch clinics to see each clinic's Inbox.
How to read and reply to a client message
Go to Communication -> Inbox. The Conversations tab lists your clinic's conversations under All, grouped by status - New, In progress and Closed - with a status tag on each row. Use the New, In progress and Closed tabs to see only the conversations in that status. Each row shows the channel its last message came in on, so you can tell a text from an email before you open it. A red warning icon on a row means the last message in that conversation wasn't delivered - hover over it to see why.
Select a conversation. Opening it marks the conversation as read for your whole clinic. It doesn't change the conversation's status.
In the reply box, pick the channel to reply on: Pet app (a message in the client's Digitail Pet Parent App), SMS, or Email. Channels that are not available for this client stay visible but disabled, with a tooltip explaining why (for example "No phone on file" or "Pet parent has no chat account").
For a new email, fill in the Subject field - an email can't be sent without one. A reply directly under the client's email keeps the subject of that thread. For an SMS, keep an eye on the character counter - one SMS holds up to 160 characters, and longer messages are sent and charged as several.
Check the Select pets field for clients with more than one pet. It comes pre-filled with the pets the conversation last talked about, so you usually don't need to change it - and because the pets link the message to the right patients' records, at least one must be selected before you can send.
Use the Record field to file the message against a medical record (SOAP). It appears next to Select pets as soon as a single pet is selected, and lists that pet's records at your current clinic, most recent first, whatever their status. The message then sits on that record, exactly as if you had sent it from the Health Card - and it shows up in the visit summary the client receives. Leave it empty when the message doesn't belong to a visit.
Click Send via Pet app, Send via SMS, or Send via Email. Your message appears in the conversation, with its delivery state underneath it. If it can't be delivered, the message is highlighted in red with a warning icon - hover over the icon to see why it failed and what to do next. SMS and email messages are also saved to the patient's record the moment they're sent, so they show up on the Health Card right away. Chat messages stay in the Inbox - use the Tails AI chat summarization workflow to add a summary of a chat to the record.
Note: the Record field only shows when exactly one pet is selected, and only for staff who can edit records and manage client communications. Change the pets so that more than one is selected and the record you picked is cleared. You won't see the field on an email reply - a reply stays filed wherever the first email in the thread was filed - or on chat, because chat messages aren't stored on the patient's record.
Track what still needs work with conversation statuses
Every conversation in the Inbox has one status, shared by everyone at your clinic, so the team can tell what still needs work from what is finished:
New - your client has written and nobody has picked the conversation up yet
In progress - someone on your team is handling it, for example while you wait on a vet's answer or on your client to send something back
Closed - nothing more to do for now
Change a conversation's status
Open the conversation.
Use the status control in the conversation header to pick New, In progress, or Closed.
The conversation moves to that group straight away, for everyone at your clinic. You can move a conversation from any status to any other.
You can also change a status straight from the list, without opening the conversation: click the ⋮ button on its row (or press and hold the row on a touchscreen), choose Status…, then pick the new status.
Only one thing changes a status on its own: a new message from your client on a Closed conversation moves it back to New, so a client who writes again never gets lost among finished conversations. Nothing else moves a status automatically - not your team's replies, not automated messages such as appointment reminders, not Tails AI, and not opening or reading the conversation. A new client message on a conversation that is already New or In progress leaves it where it is.
Find conversations by status
The All tab lists every conversation grouped under New, In progress and Closed, with a tag on each row showing its status
A red dot on a group header means the group has unread conversations
The New, In progress and Closed tabs show only the conversations in that status
Within a status, unread conversations sit at the top, then read ones, each ordered by latest activity
New and In progress always list every conversation in them, however old, so nothing open drops off the list. Closed loads 30 days at a time as you scroll
Note: when you link an "Unknown sender" conversation to a client who already has a conversation, the combined conversation keeps the more open of the two statuses (New, then In progress, then Closed).
Assign a conversation to people and teams
Assign a conversation to one or more staff members or teams, so everyone at your clinic can see who is handling it. Everyone assigned is notified when they are assigned, and again whenever a new message comes in from the client.
Note: assignment is being turned on for clinics gradually. If you don't see Assign to… in the conversation header yet, it isn't on for your clinic so far.
Assign a conversation
Open the conversation.
Click Assign to… in the conversation header. When a conversation already has assignees, the button shows their name or avatars instead.
Tick the people and teams to assign. Use Search people and teams to find someone quickly. You are listed first under Staff, marked (me).
Click Assign.
The assignees show in the conversation header for everyone at your clinic. To remove every assignee at once, click Clear all.
Anyone at your clinic who can open the Inbox can assign conversations. Only active staff who work at your clinic, and your clinic's active teams, can be picked. Someone who leaves your clinic or is deactivated stays on the conversations they were already assigned to, marked (inactive), until you untick them.
Get notified about conversations assigned to you
Everyone assigned to a conversation gets a notification in the bell:
When they are assigned - directly, or through a team they are on, in which case every active member of the team who works at your clinic is notified
When a new message comes in - a new SMS, email or Pet app message from the client in a conversation they are assigned to
Clicking the notification opens the conversation. You aren't notified when you assign yourself, and nobody is notified when they are removed or for calls and voicemails.
Filter the list by assignee
In the Conversations tab, click the Assignee filter next to the search.
Pick Me and my teams, Assigned, Unassigned, or specific people and teams.
Click Apply.
The filter works on All and on each status tab, and the red unread dots follow it, so they only count the conversations you are looking at. The Inbox remembers your filter for you at this clinic. Assigned, Unassigned and specific people or teams can't be combined, so picking one clears the others.
Other things you can do
See which channel a conversation came in on
Every row in the Conversations list carries a tag showing the channel of its last message - chat, SMS, email or a call - so you can route a conversation to whoever handles that channel without opening it first. Conversations from senders who aren't linked to a client carry the tag too.
See which conversations have new activity
A conversation's place in the list, its preview text, and its timestamp all follow the last message a person was involved in - one your team sent, or one your client sent you. Automated and transactional messages - appointment reminders and confirmations, welcome messages, invoices, subscription emails - don't count as new activity, so they no longer move a conversation up the list or take over its preview. What sits at the top is what somebody is waiting on an answer to.
Nothing is hidden. A client who has only ever received automated messages is still in the list, at the time of their most recent one, and opening a conversation still shows the whole thread. Unread is unchanged - it has always followed incoming messages only.
Note: a few sends your team triggers by hand are grouped with automated messages and behave the same way - sharing a discharge document, a record summary, an invoice, a credit note, a statement, or a printed file. They are still sent and logged exactly as before, and the moment your client replies the conversation comes straight back to the top. The list also loads 30 days at a time, so if a conversation's last human message is older than the range you have loaded, an automated message inside that range still places it at its own time.
Check whether your message was delivered and seen
Every message you send shows its own state, so you can tell a message that never landed from one your client simply hasn't answered yet:
Sent - the message was accepted by the provider
Delivered - it reached your client's phone, mailbox, or device
Seen - your client opened the email or read the chat message
Important: an SMS stops at Delivered. No mobile network reports whether a text has been read, so a text without a Seen state does not mean your client ignored it. Email opens are measured with a tracking pixel, which misses clients who block images and can register an open when a mail app loads the message on its own - treat it as a useful signal, not proof that the message was read. Messages your client sends you carry no state, and a message that fails to send shows why it failed instead of a state.
See why a message wasn't delivered
When a message your team sent can't be delivered, it is highlighted in red in the conversation, with a warning icon on its corner. Hover over the icon to see why it failed and what to do next, in plain words. For example:
This is a landline and can't receive texts. Add a mobile number to the client profile.
This email address doesn't exist. Update it on the client profile and resend.
Their inbox is full. Try again later, or reach them another way.
You don't have to open a conversation to spot a failure. When the last message in a conversation wasn't delivered, a red warning icon appears next to the channel icon on that row of the Conversations list, and hovering over it shows the same reason.
If the Inbox has no reason to show, the tooltip says the message wasn't delivered and links to the Communication Log, where every message your clinic sent is listed with its status.
Mark a conversation as read or unread
Opening a conversation, or replying in it, marks it as read for your whole clinic. Read status is shared across the clinic: once anyone opens a conversation it shows as read for everyone, so two people don't answer the same message.
To come back to a conversation later, or leave it for a teammate to pick up, open it and click Mark as unread (the drawer icon) in the conversation header. The next conversation in your list opens (or the previous one, if it was the last), and the one you marked moves to the top of its status group, unread for everyone at your clinic, with a red dot next to its date, until someone opens it again. Marking a conversation as unread doesn't change its status.
To change the read state without opening a conversation, click the ⋮ button on its row in the list and choose Mark as read or Mark as unread.
Filter a conversation by channel
In an open conversation, use the channel filter to focus on one or more channels. Pick the channels you want and click Apply, or switch back to All channels to see everything again.
Show or hide automated messages in a conversation
A conversation opens showing only the messages people wrote - what your team sent directly and what your client replied - so you aren't scrolling past appointment reminders and confirmations nobody typed. Tails AI and system notes aren't affected and stay visible.
To bring the automated messages back, use the Show filter in the open conversation. Your choice is remembered across conversations and sessions, so you only set it once. A conversation that holds nothing but automated messages shows an empty state with a way to clear the filter.
Search conversations and messages
In the Conversations tab, use Search by name to find a client's conversation
In an open conversation, use Search messages to find a specific message, and jump between matches with the next and previous arrows
Start a conversation with a client who hasn't messaged you
Open the Contacts tab, find the client with Search clients, and select them to start a conversation. Tick App users only to see only clients who have the Digitail app installed and can receive chat messages.
Reply to an SMS from an unknown number
When a text arrives from a phone number that isn't linked to any client, it appears as an "Unknown sender" conversation. You can read it straight away, and reply by SMS without leaving the Inbox.
Because an unlinked conversation isn't on anyone's record yet, link it as soon as you know who it is:
Link to existing pet parent - attach the number and the conversation to an existing client
Add new pet parent - create a new client, then the conversation links automatically
Once linked, the conversation and its messages appear on that client's record like any other.
Reply to a co-owner or another contact person
When a text or email comes from a co-owner or another contact person on a client's file rather than the account holder, you can answer it by SMS or email like any other conversation. The Inbox shows you which contact person the conversation belongs to, Select pets offers their pets that are patients at your clinic, and the message is filed against both the pet and that contact person.
Note: a contact person with no patients at your clinic still has SMS and email disabled, because there is no pet to file the message against.
Invite a client to chat in the app
Chat works through the Digitail app. If a client hasn't installed the app, the Pet app option is disabled with an App not installed notice - click Send invite to email them instructions to download the app. The invite requires an email address on file.
Work with client and pet details while you reply
The Context panel on the right shows the client's profile and their pets. From there you can:
Switch between the Client and Patient tabs
Open the pet's Health Card or Timeline in a new tab, so you never lose your place in the conversation
Use the quick actions to create a Record, an Appointment, or a Task for the patient you're discussing
Call the client directly with Digitail VoIP - coming soon
Let Tails AI help you reply
In the reply box you can use Generate Reply Message to draft a reply with the Tails AI Assistant, or Record message with Tails Dictation to dictate instead of typing.
Drafts for SMS and chat arrive as plain text, so no stray formatting characters reach your client, links stay clickable, and the character counter reflects what is actually sent. Email drafts keep their formatting, because email renders it. Your draft stays put if you switch between the Chat, SMS, and Email tabs.
Start a telemedicine video call
If your clinic has a telemedicine room set up, you can start a video consult from the conversation you are already in, without leaving the Inbox. Use the telemedicine button in the reply box: it sends your client the room link and opens the room for you, the same call you would have started from the old Chat page.
Important: telemedicine does not depend on Chat or on the Digitail app. Your client only needs the room link, and it works from any channel you send it on. Chat and the Inbox simply make it quicker, because they send the link and open the room in one step.
Setting up a room for your clinic, and adding a personal room link per vet, are covered in Telemedicine Appointments with Whereby.
Tips & best practices
Assign a conversation when it needs a specific person - assign the vet who has to answer, or the team covering the front desk today, and they are notified straight away; filter on Me and my teams to see only your own work
Remove the assignment once you are done - open the assignee control and untick yourself, or click Clear all, so nobody keeps getting notified and Me and my teams only shows what still needs you
Move a conversation to In progress as soon as you pick it up - your teammates see straight away that someone is on it, and moving it to Closed when you're done keeps New down to what still needs a first look
Reply on the channel the client used - the reply box preselects the channel the conversation last used, but you can switch at any time before sending
Double-check the pets on a multi-pet client - the pre-filled selection follows the last message, so change it when your reply is about a different pet
File the message while you write it - picking a Record in the reply box saves a second trip to the patient's record afterwards, and keeps the conversation with the visit it belongs to
Click a client-reply notification to jump straight to the message - it opens the conversation and scrolls to the message the client replied to, however old the reply is and however far down the list the conversation has slipped; notifications from before the Inbox was enabled for your clinic still open the patient's record
Check the delivery state before you chase a client - a message still on Sent or Delivered may simply not have been opened yet, while one that failed is highlighted in red with a warning icon
If a message wasn't delivered, read the reason before you resend - hover over the warning icon to see what went wrong, such as a landline number or a full inbox, and fix it on the client profile first; the Communication Log shows the same reason for every message your clinic sent
Use Mark as unread to keep a conversation on the team's radar - it moves to the top of its status group, unread for everyone at your clinic, until someone opens it
Keep texts short - messages over 160 characters (or 70 characters when using special characters or emoji) are split into several SMS and charged for each
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I still use the old Chat page?
Yes. The Chat page stays available until the Inbox is fully rolled out, and your chat conversations appear in both places in the meantime, so you can switch over whenever your team is ready.
When I read a message, is it marked as read for my teammates too?
Yes - read status in the Inbox is shared across your clinic, so once anyone opens a conversation it shows as read for everyone. That way the unread conversations at the top of each status reflect what the whole team still needs to look at, not just you. The same goes for Mark as unread: a conversation you mark as unread shows as unread for everyone until someone opens it. Reading a conversation doesn't change its status.
What do New, In progress and Closed mean in the Inbox?
They are conversation statuses, shared by everyone at your clinic. New means your client has written and nobody has picked the conversation up yet, In progress means someone on your team is handling it, and Closed means there is nothing more to do for now. In the Conversations tab, All is grouped by these three statuses, each status has its own tab, and you change a status from the status control in the conversation header.
Why did a closed conversation move back to New?
Because your client sent a new message. A new client message on a Closed conversation moves it back to New automatically, so it lands in front of your team again. It's the only automatic status change in the Inbox.
Does replying to a client change the conversation's status?
No. Your team's replies, automated messages such as appointment reminders, Tails AI and opening a conversation never change its status. Move the conversation to In progress or Closed yourself from the conversation header.
Can I filter the conversation list by status, or see the status on each row?
Yes, both. In the All tab, every row carries a tag showing the conversation's status. To see only one status, open the New, In progress or Closed tab.
Do emails that clients send directly to our clinic email address appear in the Inbox?
No - the Inbox captures email replies to messages your clinic sent from Digitail. A brand-new email a client sends straight to your clinic's own email address is not captured, so keep checking that mailbox separately.
Why can't I send an SMS, or why don't I see SMS replies?
Sending SMS requires the SMS module to be enabled for your clinic and the Manage Client Communications permission. Seeing client replies additionally requires 2-Way SMS with a clinic phone number. If something is missing you'll see a notice in the reply box - contact our Support team to learn about enabling 2-Way SMS, pricing, and setting up your clinic's SMS number.
How far back does the conversation list go?
New and In progress always list every conversation in them, however old. Closed starts with the most recent conversations and loads older ones automatically as you scroll. To reach a conversation from further back, search for the client by name in the Conversations tab - search covers your full history, however old the conversation is.
Can I assign a conversation to a specific team member?
Yes. Click Assign to… in the conversation header and pick one or more staff members or teams. Everyone assigned is notified in the bell when they are assigned and when new messages come in, and anyone can filter the list on Me and my teams. Assignment is being turned on for clinics gradually, so if you don't see Assign to… yet, it isn't on for your clinic so far.
Who gets notified when a conversation is assigned to a team?
Every active member of that team who works at your clinic, apart from the person who made the assignment. They are notified again whenever the client replies by SMS, email or Pet app.
Why can't I delete a team?
A team that is assigned to a conversation that isn't Closed can't be deleted, and you see "The team has open conversations assigned and cannot be deleted." Close those conversations, or remove the team from them, then delete it.
What happens to the assignees when I link an unknown number to a client?
If the client already has a conversation, linking merges the two, and the unknown sender's conversation loses its assignees. The Inbox asks you to confirm first and names who will be removed.
Where did the Chat option in the reply box go?
It is now called Pet app, and the button reads Send via Pet app. It still sends a message to the client's Digitail Pet Parent App.
Why doesn't my text message ever show Seen?
Because no mobile network reports whether a text was read. SMS stops at Delivered, which means the message reached your client's phone. Only email and chat can reach Seen.
Can I file a message to a medical record from the Inbox?
Yes. Pick a Record in the reply box when you compose an SMS or a new email, and the message is filed against that medical record (SOAP) as well as the pet. The field appears once exactly one pet is selected, and needs the permissions to edit records and manage client communications. Email replies and chat messages can't be filed this way.
A client's co-owner texted us - can I reply from the Inbox?
Yes, as long as that contact person has a pet who is a patient at your clinic. Reply by SMS or email as usual; the message is filed against the pet and against the contact person. If they have no patients at your clinic, SMS and email stay disabled because there is no pet to file the message against.
We sent this client a reminder - why hasn't their conversation moved to the top?
Because automated and transactional messages no longer count as new activity. The list is ordered by the last message a person was involved in, so a reminder, a confirmation or an invoice going out doesn't move a conversation up or change its preview. The conversation returns to the top as soon as your client replies or your team sends something directly.
Where did the automated messages in this conversation go?
They are still there, just hidden while you read. A conversation opens showing only the messages people wrote - use the Show filter to bring the automated ones back. Your choice is remembered across conversations and sessions.
Can I start a telemedicine call from the Inbox?
Yes, if your clinic has a telemedicine room set up. Use the telemedicine button in the reply box to send your client the room link and open the room. Your client does not need the Digitail app or the old Chat page for this - the room link works from any channel.
Can I mark a conversation as unread?
Yes. Open the conversation and click Mark as unread (the drawer icon) in the conversation header, or use the ⋮ button on its row in the list. The conversation moves to the top of its status group, unread for everyone at your clinic, until someone opens it again, and the next conversation in your list opens. Its status stays the same.
Why is a message in the conversation red with a warning icon?
The message wasn't delivered. Hover over the warning icon to see why and what to do next, for example "This is a landline and can't receive texts. Add a mobile number to the client profile." The same icon appears on the conversation's row in the list when the last message in the conversation wasn't delivered.
The conversation list or the Context panel has disappeared. How do I get it back?
It has been collapsed into a narrow strip at the edge of the Inbox, labeled Conversations or Context. Click the expand icon on the strip to open the panel again. On a narrow window the Context panel collapses on its own, so widen the window or expand it when you need it.
What's changed
October 2026 - Inbox: conversations sorted by status instead of Unread and Read
The Inbox Conversations tab now has All, New, In progress and Closed tabs, All is grouped by conversation status with a status tag on each row, and you set a conversation's status from the conversation header.
Previously, the Conversations tab showed an Unread section at the top and Read conversations below, read or unread was the only state a conversation had, and Mark as unread moved a conversation back to the Unread section.