How do I Use Chat in the Desktop Softphone App?

Chat in the Desktop Softphone App

See also: 

• How do I Use Sangoma Chat for Mobile?

• How do I Use the Switchvox Desktop Softphone App?

Text chat is available in the Desktop Softphone app (new in Switchvox version 7.4). The app can be used as a chat-only app, if you log in with your SIP Phone extension number and password. The app can also be used as a phone if your Switchvox administrator has set that up for you. 

If you're using the app just for chat, you can click-to-dial from the within the app (from Favorites, for example), to place a call using your desk phone.

If you have more than one phone (a Main extension and Additional Phones), you can select which phone you want to use. To do that, use the gear icon in the calls area of the app. (If you only have one phone, you will not see this icon.) This is the same tool as the Make Calls With setting in the Switchboard.

If your Switchvox was recently updated but you are not seeing new features in the app, use the keyboard shortcut to force the page to reload. On Windows, this is likely Ctrl-F5, and on macOS it's likely Shift-Ctrl-R.

Internal Group Chat

Open

Chatting includes the following:

• Start a chat

  • From your favorites, or contacts.

  • Search for people to chat with, then use their chat icon.

  • IF you start a chat with an external contact, you can’t add anyone else. This is going to be an SMS chat.

  • IF you start a chat with an internal contact, you can add more internal contacts (but not external contacts), then chat with all those people. You can’t start a chat with yourself.

  • Maximum of 10 people.

• See recent chats

  • See who is actively using chat (green dot). This indicator is shown for people you are actively chatting with (you have messages to or from that person) in the last 60 days.

  • Remove a chat from the Recent list (unless it has unread messages). This does not delete the chat messages, it just deletes the chat session from the Recent list.

  • Recent chats include chat sessions with messages that are less than or equal to 7 days old.

• Within chats

  • See a history of your chat with this person or this group of the same people. History includes sessions with messages that are less than or equal to 60 days old.

  • Chat history rows show the time since last viewed.

  • See ‘is typing’ indicator (and time out if appropriate)

  • Style your messages (*bold*_italic_~strike~`code` ```preformatted``` >quote)

  • See group chat participants as grey’d out if they’re offline

  • Include HTTP links in a text, and they will be click-able

• Notifications

  • See notifications for incoming message (much like an incoming call notification)

  • Hear audio alerts

External using SMS: One-to-One

If you have an SMS phone number from SIPStation, you can receive texts that are sent to you, and send a text to an external number. The chat icon is available on your External Contacts if your extension has an SMS phone number attached. 

If you don't see the chat icon associated with external numbers, or an SMS option, please see your Switchvox administrator. 

External SMS messages can only be exchanged with one number at a time. In other words, group SMS is not available.

If your External Contacts are not being engaged when you receive an SMS chat, it is probably because of dialing prefixes used in your External Contact or sent in the SMS message. For example, if your Switchvox administrator has configured Switchvox so that you can dial 10-digit phone numbers, and your External Contact has a 10-digit number, and you receive an SMS message from the same 10-digit number but with a prefix of 1, then the incoming SMS won't be associated with your External Contact. If this happens, you may be able to change your External Contact to match the number as provided in SMS messages. (Related: How Do I Allow 10-digit Dialing?)