Reply to Customer Conversations
Learn how to view conversation threads, compose replies, use rich text, add attachments, and leave internal notes.
What this guide covers
This guide explains how to read and reply to customer conversations in the JobsiteOn inbox. You will learn how to navigate conversation threads, compose external replies that customers see, leave internal notes for your team, use rich text formatting, and attach files to your replies.
By the end of this guide you will know how to:
- Open and read a conversation thread
- Compose and send a reply to the customer
- Format your reply with the rich text editor
- Attach files to your reply
- Switch between external replies and internal notes
- Understand the difference between replies and notes
Before you begin
Make sure you have the following in place:
- Inbox access enabled for your user account
- A company email address configured in Settings. See Set Up Your Company Email Address if needed.
- At least one existing conversation in your inbox. If your inbox is empty, you can start a conversation by composing an email first. See Compose and Send Your First Email.
Step 1 -- Open a conversation
Navigate to the Inbox by clicking its icon in the left sidebar. Your conversation list appears on the left side of the screen.
Each conversation in the list shows:
- Contact name or email address of the primary sender
- Subject line of the conversation
- Preview text from the most recent message
- Timestamp of the last activity
- Status indicator showing whether the conversation is Open, Closed, or Snoozed
- Unread badge if the conversation has new messages you have not seen
Click a conversation in the list to open it in the detail panel on the right.
Tip: Unread conversations appear with a bold title and an indicator dot. After you open a conversation, it is automatically marked as read.
Step 2 -- Read the conversation thread
The conversation detail panel shows the full thread in chronological order. The oldest message appears at the top and the newest at the bottom.
Each message in the thread displays:
- Sender identity -- the customer's name and email, or your team member's name for outbound messages
- Timestamp -- when the message was sent or received
- Message body -- the full content with formatting preserved
- Attachments -- file cards below the message body if any files were included
- Message type indicator -- distinguishing between incoming messages, outbound replies, and internal notes
Internal notes are visually distinct from external messages. They appear with a different background color and a label indicating they are internal, so you can quickly distinguish between what the customer sent, what your team replied, and what your team discussed privately.
Scrolling long threads
For conversations with many messages, scroll through the thread to review the full history. The reply area stays fixed at the bottom of the panel so you can always access it regardless of where you are in the thread.
Note: All team members with inbox access can see the full conversation thread, including messages sent by other team members. The inbox is a shared workspace.
Step 3 -- Compose your reply
At the bottom of the conversation detail panel, you will find the reply area. This is where you type your response to the customer.
Selecting the reply mode
The reply area has two modes:
- Reply -- sends an email to the customer (this is the default mode)
- Note -- creates an internal note visible only to your team
Make sure you are in the correct mode before writing. The active mode is indicated by a highlighted tab or toggle above the text area.
Tip: Double-check that you are in Reply mode before writing a message intended for the customer. Accidentally sending a customer message as an internal note means the customer will not receive it. Accidentally sending an internal note as a reply means the customer will see internal team discussion.
Writing your response
Click in the text area and begin typing your reply. Write clearly and professionally, addressing the customer's questions or concerns directly.
Here is an example of a good reply:
Hi David,
Thanks for sending over the photos of the water damage. I have reviewed
them with our restoration team.
We can start the remediation work this Friday at 9 AM. The process will
take approximately two days and includes:
- Water extraction and drying
- Mold inspection and treatment
- Drywall replacement for the affected section
I will send over a formal estimate by end of day today.
Let me know if Friday works for your schedule.
Best,
Jennifer
Step 4 -- Format your reply with rich text
The reply editor includes a formatting toolbar with the following options:
Basic text formatting
- Bold -- make important information stand out
- Italic -- for emphasis or references
- Underline -- highlight key details like dates or amounts
Structural formatting
- Bullet lists -- for unordered collections of items
- Numbered lists -- for sequential steps or ranked items
- Blockquotes -- for quoting previous messages or calling out key information
Links
Highlight text and click the link button to create a hyperlink. Use this to share:
- Payment links for invoices
- Booking or scheduling URLs
- References to external documents or resources
Text cleanup
If you paste text from another application and it carries over unwanted formatting, use the clear formatting option to reset the text to plain style before applying your own formatting.
Tip: Use formatting sparingly. A few bold keywords and a bullet list are more effective than heavy formatting. Overly formatted emails can look cluttered in some email clients.
Step 5 -- Attach files to your reply
You can include file attachments in your reply using two methods:
Click the attachment button
Click the paperclip icon in the editor toolbar to open your file picker. Select one or more files to attach.
Drag and drop
Drag files from your desktop directly into the reply editor area. The editor shows a visual indicator when files are ready to drop.
Managing attachments
Attached files appear as cards below your reply text, showing:
- File name and type
- File size
- A remove button (X) to delete the attachment before sending
You can attach multiple files to a single reply. Common file types include PDFs, images, documents, and spreadsheets.
Note: There is a size limit per attachment. For very large files, consider uploading them to a file sharing service and including the link in your reply instead.
Step 6 -- Send your reply
Once your reply is written, formatted, and any attachments are added, click the Send button.
After sending:
- Your reply appears immediately in the conversation thread
- The customer receives the reply as an email in their inbox
- The conversation timestamp updates to reflect the new activity
- If the conversation was previously Closed, it may remain Closed -- sending a reply does not automatically reopen a conversation
Tip: After sending a reply, consider whether to close the conversation, leave it open for a response, or assign it to another team member for follow-up. See Manage Conversation Status for guidance.
Using internal notes
Internal notes are a powerful way to collaborate with your team without the customer seeing your discussion.
When to use internal notes
Use notes when you need to:
- Ask a colleague for input on a technical question before replying to the customer
- Document a decision or context about the conversation for future reference
- Flag the conversation for a manager's review
- Leave instructions for a team member who will handle the next step
Creating an internal note
- Switch the reply area to Note mode by clicking the Note tab
- Type your internal message
- Click Add Note to save it
The note appears in the conversation timeline with a distinct visual style so it is clearly differentiated from customer-facing messages.
@Mentions in notes
You can mention specific team members in your notes by typing @ followed by their name. The mentioned team member receives a notification, drawing their attention to the conversation.
This is useful for:
- Asking a specific person to weigh in on a customer question
- Notifying a manager about an escalated issue
- Handing off a conversation to another team member
Note: Internal notes are never sent to the customer by email. They exist solely within the JobsiteOn inbox for your team's reference.
Replying to specific messages
In long conversation threads, you may want to reference a specific earlier message. While the reply is always sent as the next message in the thread, you can quote relevant portions of earlier messages in your reply using the blockquote formatting option.
This helps provide context when the conversation has covered multiple topics:
> You mentioned needing the work completed before April 15.
Yes, we can absolutely meet that deadline. I have blocked off April 10-12
for your project on our schedule.
Quick keyboard shortcuts
Speed up your reply workflow with these keyboard shortcuts:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Focus reply area | R |
| Switch to Note mode | N (when reply area is focused) |
| Send reply | Cmd + Enter (Mac) or Ctrl + Enter (Windows) |
| Bold text | Cmd + B / Ctrl + B |
| Italic text | Cmd + I / Ctrl + I |
| Add link | Cmd + K / Ctrl + K |
Troubleshooting
My reply was sent but the customer says they did not receive it
Check the conversation timeline for any delivery status indicators. Common causes include:
- The customer's email address has a typo in the contact record
- The customer's mailbox is full or their email provider rejected the message
- Your domain's DNS records (SPF/DKIM) are misconfigured
Verify your email configuration in Set Up Your Company Email Address.
I accidentally sent an internal note as a reply
If you accidentally sent a message intended as an internal note to the customer, act quickly. Send a follow-up reply to the customer acknowledging the mistake if the note contained sensitive team discussion. There is no undo for sent replies.
To prevent this in the future, always check the reply mode indicator before clicking Send.
The reply area is not appearing at the bottom of the conversation
This can happen if the conversation panel has not fully loaded. Try:
- Refreshing the page
- Clicking away from the conversation and clicking back into it
- Checking that your browser window is wide enough to display the full inbox layout
FAQ
Can I edit a reply after sending it?
No. Once a reply is sent, it cannot be edited because it has already been delivered to the customer's email inbox. If you need to correct information, send a follow-up reply with the corrected details.
Can I delete a sent message from a conversation?
Sent messages cannot be deleted from the conversation because they have already been delivered to the customer. Internal notes can be managed differently -- check your team's admin settings for note deletion permissions.
Do customers see when I am typing a reply?
No. There is no typing indicator visible to customers. They only see your message once you click Send and it is delivered to their email inbox.
Can multiple team members reply to the same conversation?
Yes. Any team member with inbox access can reply to any conversation. If two people are viewing the same conversation simultaneously, the second person will see the first person's reply appear in real time before sending their own, which helps prevent duplicate responses.
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