Reply to customers from the Inbox

Before you start

Emails, captured replies, and portal messages for one order form its conversation. Automatic emails alone don't put a conversation in the Inbox.

A customer reply, manually sent staff email, scheduled staff email, or internal note can bring it into the Inbox. This keeps automated notifications from becoming unanswered work by themselves.

1. 1MessageA customer reply or staff message starts the work.
2. 2Order conversationThe message stays with its record.
3. 3InboxYour team finds and answers it.
4. 4CustomerThe reply appears in the portal or goes by email.

Find and open a conversation

1. 1

   Step 1: Choose your Inbox view

   Open Inbox. Choose Open, Mine, Needs reply, Waiting, Unassigned, Closed, or All. Open is the starting view.

   The header badge counts unread conversations, up to 99+. View counts can show 999+. A count tells you how much work is present, not which issue needs action first.

2. 2

   Step 2: Search or filter the list

   Use Search name, email or number. Under Filters, narrow Type, Show, Record, or Assignee. Clear all removes those filters.

   Type separates customers and vendors. Show includes Unread, Awaiting reply, and Overdue. For vendor work, follow vendor messages and payments.

3. 3

   Step 3: Open the relevant conversation

   Read the record, preview, unread dot, and counts such as 1 to do. Open the conversation and use Details to check its quote, items, status, and total.

   The detail controls include Open quote, Send payment request, Send signature request, Resend quote, Record payment, and View customer. Check the linked record before using a sales action.

   A live indicator can say the customer is viewing the quote now. Use Open items to identify a question or change request before drafting your answer.

4. 4

   Step 4: Open the conversation from an order

   On the order page, click the conversation icon in the header. It opens the Conversation card, which normally starts collapsed. Open in Inbox takes you to the full workspace.

   Messages are marked On the portal or By email. Sent emails show delivery information, with View email and Show quoted text where available. The card includes the newest 50 emails.

Reply to the customer

1. 1

   Step 1: Write the answer

   Choose Reply to followed by the customer's name. Enter your reply. In the Inbox, Quick replies can insert a saved answer; team Inbox setup explains how to maintain those answers.

   Quick replies aren't available on the order's Conversation card. Open the Inbox when you want to use one, then review the inserted text against this customer's question.

2. 2

   Step 2: Attach supporting files

   For a portal reply, use the paperclip to attach JPEG, PNG, WebP, or PDF files. You can attach up to 5 files, each up to 10 MB. The selected attachments appear with the draft.

   Choose the actual finish photo or document the customer needs. These attachments are supported for portal replies; don't assume the email composer offers the same file behavior.

3. 3

   Step 3: Resolve the question and send

   Tick Mark the question resolved with this reply when your answer settles the question. Click Send reply. A portal reply appears in the conversation.

   With the portal off, Reply queued means the email appears after sending. Email replies include up to 5 earlier messages the recipients participated in, along with your usual copies.

   Warning

   An unverified sender doesn't change the recipient

   When an email sender couldn't be verified, your reply goes to the address on file. That unverified message is never quoted in later emails.

   Reply in OrderPilot to preserve the conversation. Replies you send from your own mailbox aren't captured back into this thread.

Leave an internal note

1. 1

   Step 1: Switch to the team-only composer

   Choose Internal note. Enter information your team needs, such as a vendor explanation or follow-up responsibility. The composer identifies the note as visible only to your team.

2. 2

   Step 2: Save the note

   Click Add note. Note added confirms it was saved. Internal notes are never emailed, never shown to customers, and aren't included in customer data exports.

What happens next

Your reply moves an Open conversation to Waiting. A customer reply moves it back to Open. A new reply reopens a Closed conversation.

A portal message shows Seen when read. Unseen replies can trigger an alert email after the waiting period in Portal access. The portal message and its alert are separate.

If something goes wrong