Messaging is a critical component of any pet care business. BusyPaws consolidates your client communications into a single place so that you and your team can get up-to-speed on the status of any client quickly. Sending messages from BusyPaws is similar to any other messaging system, though the persons being sent messages must have a Customer or Prospect Profile with you.

In this guide we will first discuss how you can manage your messages, then take a look at the three locations where messages can be sent and viewed.

Use the inbox and outbox icons at the top of any message list to navigate between your incoming and outgoing message lists. Select the archive icon (right-hand side) to open a list of all archived messages.

Each message thread also has a few available actions. These actions vary slightly depending on whether the thread is in your inbox, outbox, or archive. Hovering your mouse over any thread listed populates the icons for available actions.

Click the Messages icon in the left-hand menu to open your main Message Index.

The Message Index page displays all of the messages you have manually sent out to clients, as well as any messages your clients have sent in reply. This includes any emails and SMS messages sent through BusyPaws. The left-hand side of the page displays a list of your message threads, and the right side displays the full set of messages for any selected thread. If you haven't sent any messages yet, the left column will display "No messages" and the right column will be blank.

At the left-most side of this page, you'll also notice icons to navigate between "All Mail" and "My Mail". Select the icons to navigate between the two inboxes.

To send a new message, select "New Message" in the menu bar at the top of the page.

That will open a "New Thread" pop-up. If you have SMS messaging set up, the form will include "Email" and "SMS" buttons, allowing you to choose the format of the outgoing message. When set to "Email", the form will include a drop-down menu to select which clients you want to send the message to, a subject line, and a field for the main body of the message.

When set to "SMS", the form will have only the client selection drop-down and message field. Note that, if the selected client's profile does not have an associated phone number, they will receive their message as an email, even if "SMS" is selected. Be sure to check whether the phone number attached to any selected client's profile is able to receive text messages, otherwise your message may get lost.

To add a message recipient, click the "Select Clients to Message" field. You can then use the drop-down menu to scroll through your client list or type into the search bar to find a specific client. Note that you can also search by pet name. Selecting a client from the menu will add them to the recipients list.

The drop-down menu will allow you to set multiple clients as recipients of the same message. Once you have selected one, you may continue to use the search bar to find any additional clients that you want to include. The bottom of the drop-down will display a "Currently Selected" section listing all of the clients currently set as recipients. Remove any client from the list by selecting their name again.

The drop-down menu also includes "Select All" and "Deselect All" buttons to add or remove your full client list.

Once you have added all of the desired clients, click anywhere outside the drop-down on the New Thread pop-up to close the menu. Use the Subject field to provide a brief description of the message thread (if sending an email), then type your message into the large text field at the bottom of the form.

When you're done, click the "Send Message" button at the bottom of the form to create your new message thread.

If multiple recipients were selected for your message, each recipient will receive their own message. Any replies sent back by the clients included in the group message will be sent only to you, and will not be viewable by any of the other clients in the group. All new message threads will be listed in your "Sent" folder.

Once a thread has been added to your inbox, you can send any related messages by selecting the thread from the message list on the left side of the window and typing your new message into the text box at the bottom of the thread display on the right. Once you have typed out your new message, use the "Send Email" (or "Send Text") button to send it to the client. Once the client has sent a response to a message, the thread will also display in your Inbox.

When you receive a new reply to a thread, a red notification symbol will appear next to the Messages icon to let you know that there are unread messages.

The process for sending and receiving emails from a client's profile page shares many similarities with the Message Index. The main difference is that only messages pertaining to the individual client can be accessed through their profile, and only that client may be messaged.

Start by navigating to the desired Customer Profile. Once there, select the "Messages" tab to view any message threats associated with the client's profile.

This section will have a display similar to your main Message Index, though it will include only messages sent to and received from the selected client. The "Sent" tab will list all messages sent to the client, including any automatic messages (i.e. Booking Confirmations, Waitlist Notifications, etc.), messages sent to any group booking they are a part of, and any direct messages. The "Inbox" tab will display a list of any threads with responses from the customer.

To send a message in an existing thread, select it from the list in the left column and type your message into the text field at the bottom of the thread. When done, click the "Send Email" button to send your message.

Note that any existing SMS message thread will display a slightly different text field and will have a "Send Text" button.

To create a new manual message thread, click the "New Message" button located at the top-right of the page, beside the "Actions" button.

That will open a New Thread form similar to that in the main Message Index, but with a pre-set recipient. Note that no additional recipients can be added when sending a message through a Customer Profile; only the client to whom the profile belongs can be messaged in this way. If "Email" is selected, the form will include both a Subject line and a text box for your message.

If "SMS" is selected, the form will include only the text field for the message.

For either format, enter your message, and select the "Send Message" button to send the message and create a new thread for the selected client. The thread with the outgoing message will then be listed under the "Sent" tab on the client's profile as well as in your main Message Index.

If you would like to send the customer some preset documents or forms, rather than drafting a custom message, select "Send Forms/Documents" from the "Actions" button menu at the top of the page.

This will open a pop-up with a variety of options. Select "Client Portal Access" or any of your Intake Forms then click the "Send" button to email the selected items to the client. Sending Client Portal Access will provide a link to the client portal and sending any of your forms will allow the client to fill out the form(s) for their profile. Any forms that have previously been sent to the client, but have not yet been filled out will have a green icon beside the form name, while any completed forms will have a check mark and will be greyed out.

Clicking the "Send" button sends the customer a message with any of the selected forms/documents as attachments. This message will appear under the "Sent" tab on the client's profile.

It is also possible to send messages to any client or group of clients registered for a specific booking. This can be done through the Booking Information page. Use this method to send any updates or requests relevant to a particular group or individual booking.

Start by hovering your mouse over the Schedule icon in the left-hand menu and clicking "Calendar".

Then select the desired booking from your Booking Calendar to open its info page.

Select the "Messages" tab to view any messages associated with the booking.

This section will have a display similar to your main Message Index, though it will include only messages related to the selected booking. The "Sent" tab will list all booking-related messages sent to clients, including any automatic messages (i.e. Booking Confirmations, Waitlist Notifications, etc.) and manual messages. The "Inbox" tab will display a list of any threads with responses from clients.

As for messages sent through your Message Index and Customer Profiles, selecting any thread from the list will open it in the right column, with a text field at the bottom to send new messages in the thread. Also as before, this field will vary slightly depending on whether it is an email or SMS thread.

To create a new message thread for the booking, select "New Message" from the "Actions" button menu at the top of the booking page.

This will open a New Thread form with the recipient list pre-set to include any clients registered for the selected booking. Note that no additional recipients can be added manually. Only clients registered for the booking can be messaged in this way. If "Email" is selected, the form will include both a Subject line and a text box for your message.

If "SMS" is selected, the form will only have a text field for the body of the message. Note that, even if SMS has been selected, any clients without a phone number associated with their account will receive the message as an email.

When you enter your message content and click the "Send Message" button, a new thread will be created for each client included in the recipient list. Note that any message responses sent by customers will be visible only to you and them, and not by any other clients in the booking.

You now know the many ways you can message your clients through BusyPaws. Use your messages to keep clients up to date on their bookings, send homework, or update them on their pet's progress. Send updates by email or use the SMS messaging system to send messages directly to your customers' phones. For more information about SMS messages, check out our guide on Sending & Receiving Text Messages. If you'd like to learn more about configuring your automated messaging, check out our guide on Customizable Client Notifications. To learn more about options for marketing emails, check out our Marketing Messaging help guide.