A direct message is an email or text message you send to a client from Client Communications, without leaving Digitail. Front desk staff use it for discharge instructions and follow-up questions, and vets use it to send results and share updates on a case.

Every direct message is saved to the patient's Health Card, in the Client Communications section, and appears on the pet's Timeline - so the whole team can see what has already been said. Linking a message to a specific medical record (SOAP) is a separate, manual step, covered below.

Direct messages are two of the four communication types in Client Communications. Phone logs and other interactions are covered in Add client comms, phone logs or other interactions.

Front desk and receptionists. Send discharge notes, forms, and payment links straight from the pet's Timeline instead of switching to a separate email client, and see at a glance whether a client has already been contacted today.

Vets and nurses. Email results and follow-up instructions from inside the case you are working on, and link the message to the right SOAP so the next person to open it sees the conversation.

Practice managers. Every email and text message the clinic sends is saved in one place, so you can review how a case was communicated after the fact.

Direct messages start from the pet's Timeline in Digitail.

Timeline → chat bubble icon → arrow dropdown → Send Email or Send Text Message

Client Communications supports two direct message types - email and text message (SMS, short message service). Email supports formatting and attachments; text messages are plain text only.

You can dictate a direct message instead of typing it, using the Dictate function from the Tails AI Assistant add-on. Dictation works for all four communication types - email, text message, phone log, and other interaction.

Full detail is in Tails AI Dictation.

Templates let you save the wording you send most often, so Tails AI Assistant generates the message you actually want instead of a generic one. With templates you can:

Setting templates up is covered in Tails AI Assistant - Automate Client Communication.

Every client communication is already saved to the patient's Health Card. Linking one to a specific medical record (SOAP) is a separate step, and it is worth doing when the message belongs to a case: you can then review past conversations while you work that case, and include the message logs when you download or share a medical summary.

You can link a communication - email, text message, phone log, or other interaction - in two ways. Use the first when you are creating the communication, and the second when you are linking after the fact, linking several communications to the same SOAP at once, or linking a communication that covers more than one pet.

The Record field works the same way when you edit an existing communication, so you can set, change, or remove the link later. If you reply from inside a communication thread, your reply is filed under the same SOAP as the original message, so the whole conversation stays together on the case.

You can also link communications from the patient's Health Card, using Associate communications. There are two routes.

From the communication:

From the SOAP:

Any communication type can be associated with several pets belonging to the same client. By default, the pet on the communication is the patient whose Health Card you started from, and you can add more pets or remove the current one. The communication appears on each of those pets' Timelines.

Remember that a communication linked to a SOAP can only have one pet on it, so add extra pets only when you do not need the SOAP link.

To see every notification and logged communication for a client in one place, see Centralize all Client Notifications & Communication.

When you send a direct email from Client Communications, the Pet Parent can reply to it, and their reply comes back into the same Client Communications conversation in Digitail. Nobody has to watch a separate clinic inbox or copy replies into the Health Card by hand.

A Pet Parent's reply arrives instantly and is added under the original message in the same Client Communications thread, attributed to the Pet Parent. All replies sit together beneath the original message - one thread, no nested layers. When a new reply arrives, that conversation moves to the top of the Client Communications list so it is easy to spot, and the team member who sent the original email is notified according to their notification preferences.

You can reply without leaving Digitail.

When a communication is linked to a SOAP, the record shows the original message plus a reply count - for example, Bella's blood results + 4 replies. Click through to the Client Communications thread to read the full conversation.

Every direct email is saved automatically to the patient's Health Card, in the Client Communications section. Linking it to a specific medical record (SOAP) is a manual step - use the Record field on the communication, or link it from the Health Card.

Pet Parents can reply only to emails you send manually from Client Communications. System emails - appointment reminders, confirmations, vaccination notices, and brochures - are no-reply. A brand-new email a Pet Parent sends you, one that is not a reply to an email you sent from Digitail, does not appear in Client Communications, even if they are an existing client.

Yes, email replying works no matter which email service your clinic or the Pet Parent uses - Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and others - and there is nothing to set up on your side.

A reply appears in Client Communications instantly.

Yes, a reply lands in both places at once: your clinic's normal email inbox, exactly as before, and Client Communications in Digitail. Digitail is added as a second destination and does not replace your inbox.

That is expected. Every Digitail email uses noreply@digitail.io as its "From" address. For emails sent manually from Client Communications, Digitail also sets a "Reply-to" address automatically, and that is what routes the reply back into the conversation.

No. Text messages sent from Client Communications are plain text - bold, italics, headers, and tables are not supported. You can still paste links, such as a Payment Link, into a text message.

A long text message is split into multiple segments when it is sent.

No. A communication can be linked to one SOAP, and a SOAP belongs to one pet. If a communication covers several pets, associate the communication with those pets and link it from the Health Card instead.

Linking requires both the Edit Records and Manage Client Communications permissions. Team members without both do not see the Record field on a communication.

No. Only the text of a Pet Parent's reply is saved in Client Communications. Any file they attach to a reply is not captured in Digitail - retrieve it from your clinic email inbox, where the reply also lands.