Conversations
One inbox for every text, email, and call with a customer — with search, filters, archiving, saved replies, and scheduled messages.
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What it is
Conversations is your shared inbox. Open it from the left sidebar under Conversations. Every text message, email, and phone call with the same customer sits together in one thread, newest at the bottom, so anyone on your team can pick up where the last person left off.
A thread can belong to a customer you text, a customer you only ever email, a client record, or a field worker. You will also see internal threads — these are the automatic alerts Joby sends your team, marked with an orange INTERNAL label.
1. Search bar
Sits at the top of the list. Finds names, phone numbers, email addresses — and words inside the messages themselves.
2. Filter buttons
The row of rounded buttons under the search bar. Narrows the list to unread, voicemail, clients, and more.
3. Conversation list
The left column. Each row shows the contact, a preview of the last message, the time, and an unread count.
4. Thread and message box
The right side. Full history on top, the box where you type your reply along the bottom.
When to use it
- A customer texts or emails you and someone needs to answer.
- You want the full history with a customer before you call them back.
- You need to find "that message about the broken spring" from three weeks ago.
- You want to start a brand-new text or email to someone.
- You want to line up a message to go out later — tomorrow morning, for example.
- You want to clear finished threads out of the way without losing them.
Use Calls instead when you only care about the call log and recordings, and Emails when you want a pure email mailbox view.
Before you start
- Your role must include Conversations. An admin sets this in Settings›Team Roles. Without it, the page will not open.
- A company phone number must be set up before you can text or call. See the Phone Numbers guide.
- Texting must be registered. In the United States, carriers require your business to be registered before texts will deliver. See Phone Registration.
- To send email, a company email address must be connected. See the Email Inbox guide.
- To call from your browser, allow microphone access when your browser asks. The Call button stays greyed out until your phone is ready.
- Optional but recommended: save your common replies under Settings›Communication Templates so you can insert them with one click.
Step-by-step: read and answer a message
- Click Conversations in the left sidebar.
- Find the thread you want. Unread threads show a coloured number badge on the right of the row. Click the row to open it.
- Read the history. Messages you sent sit on the right, messages from the customer sit on the left, and calls and emails appear as their own cards in date order.
- Type your reply in the box at the bottom. On a computer, press Enter to send and Shift + Enter to start a new line.
- Optional — click the paperclip icon to attach a photo, video, or file.
- Optional — click a saved reply button, or the template picker beside it, to drop in wording you use often. Customer details such as their name fill in automatically.
- Click the round send button (the paper plane) to the right of the box.
Opening a thread marks it as read for everyone, so the unread badge disappears from your teammates' screens too.
Text or email?
When the contact has both a phone number and an email address, a small two-button switch appears to the left of the message box: a speech bubble for text and an envelope for email. Click whichever you want. If the contact has only one of the two, the switch does not appear and Joby uses the one it has.
Choosing email adds extra boxes above the message: From email, Reply-To, and Cc (optional).
Common mistakes
"A conversation has disappeared"
- Clear the search box — search hides everything that does not match.
- Check the filter buttons. If Unread or SMS Only is on, answered threads and email threads are hidden. Click Clear.
- Someone may have archived it. Turn on the Archived filter to look.
"My message says Failed"
- Check the number is a real mobile number — landlines cannot receive texts.
- Confirm your business texting registration is approved. Until it is, texts are blocked by the phone carriers, not by Joby.
- Check the customer has not replied STOP, which blocks further texts to them by law.
"The Call button is greyed out"
- Your browser phone has not finished starting. Wait a moment, then try again.
- Allow microphone access when your browser asks, then reload the page.
"I cannot switch to email"
The text/email switch only appears when the contact has an email address on file. Add one to their lead or client record first. If nobody has connected a company email address yet, the message box shows No email configured.
"I can't see the filter buttons my colleague has"
Each filter and the archive action are switched on per role. Ask an admin to review Settings›Team Roles.
"My scheduled message never sent"
- Check the bar above the message box — if it is still listed, the time has not arrived yet.
- Scheduled times follow your company's timezone, set in Settings›Company Settings.
- Somebody may have cancelled it using the X on that bar.
"I replied but the customer never got it"
Check which way you sent it. If the switch was set to email, your reply went to their inbox, not their phone. The bubble style and the From: label above the message box tell you which was used.
Tip for busy front desks
Start your day with the Unread filter on. Work top to bottom, archive each thread as you finish it, then click Clear. Anything left in your main list is still waiting on you.
More detail (11)
Starting a new message
To message someone who has no thread yet, click the pencil-and-square button beside the search bar. On a phone, it is in the top bar. This opens the New Message window.
- In To, start typing a name — Joby searches your existing conversations, leads, and clients and shows matches. You can also just type a phone number or email address.
- Pick text or email using the same switch described above.
- For email, set From, Reply-To, Subject (optional), and Cc (optional).
- Type your message and click send.
The new thread then appears in your list like any other. There is also a New Lead button at the top of the page if you want to create a lead record rather than send a message.
Finding an old message
Type in Search conversations... at the top of the list. Joby matches contact names, phone numbers, and email addresses — and it also looks inside the message text.
- Threads whose messages matched show a small yellow number badge — that is how many matching messages are inside.
- Open the thread and a yellow bar appears at the top showing your search words and 1 of 8. Use the up and down arrows in that bar to jump between matches, and the X to clear it.
- Archived threads still turn up in search results, marked with a grey Archived tag.
- On very common words you may see "Showing 500 most recent matches." Add another word to narrow it down.
Filter buttons
The rounded buttons under the search bar narrow the list. Click one to switch it on, click it again to switch it off. Your admin controls which of these your role can see, in Settings›Team Roles, so you may not have all of them.
- SMS Only — hides everything except text message threads. The button reads All while it is on, to switch back.
- Unread — shows only threads nobody has answered. The number in brackets is your total unread count.
- Field Workers — threads with your field workers. If your company renamed them (to "Technicians", for example), the button uses your wording.
- Clients — threads with saved client records.
- Voicemail — threads containing a voicemail.
- Archived — swaps the list over to everything you have archived.
- Clear — appears once any filter is on and switches them all off at once.
While the Unread filter is on, an extra Mark All Read button appears. It clears the unread badge on every thread currently listed, and tells you how many it updated.
Archiving finished threads
Archiving tidies a thread out of the main list without deleting anything.
- From the list — hover the row and click the three dots on the right, then Archive.
- From an open thread — click Archive in the header, beside the Call button. On a phone it is the box icon in the top bar.
- To bring it back — turn on the Archived filter, then use Move to inbox in the three-dot menu, or Unarchive in the thread header.
Archiving also marks the thread as read. If the customer writes again, the new message still arrives and you will still find the thread by searching.
Archiving is not deleting
Nothing is removed. The whole history stays searchable, and you can move the thread back to your inbox at any time.
What you will see inside a thread
Everything is grouped under date headings — Today, Yesterday, then the full date.
- Text messages — yours on the right, theirs on the left. Photos and files sent either way appear in the bubble; click a photo to open it full size. Web addresses in a message are clickable.
- Emails — shown as their own card with the subject and body. Incoming emails have a Reply button on the card.
- Calls — a card showing Inbound Call or Outbound Call, how it ended, how long it lasted, the numbers involved, and Answered by or Placed by with the office agent's name. If the call was recorded, a player sits on the card.
- Voicemails — the same call card, plus a Voicemail transcript panel with the typed-out message.
- Joby AI summaries — when the AI assistant handles a call, it posts a tidy summary card with the caller, outcome, and key details.
Who sent it, and did it arrive?
Along the bottom edge of each message you sent:
- The office agent's name, or Sent from automation when a workflow sent it.
- Messages written by the AI assistant carry their own small Joby AI label above the bubble.
- One tick means sent. Two ticks mean delivered to the phone.
- A red Failed tag means it did not go out.
Moving around a long thread
- Scroll up and older messages load automatically.
- If you have scrolled back in time, a Jump to Latest button appears to take you back to the newest message.
Actions inside a thread
- Call — the blue button in the thread header dials the contact. It stays greyed out until your browser phone is ready.
- Open the contact's record — click the contact's name in the header. Client and field worker names open their profile panel.
- Edit Lead / New Lead / Open Client — when Joby spots a lead number, an extension, or a client in a message, a small button appears under that message so you can jump straight to the record or create one. These need Leads access.
- Accept Lead — on internal alert threads waiting for a response, a green button assigns the lead to you. Once someone accepts, the thread shows who took it and when.
Joby AI writing help
If your role includes the AI helper, a Joby AI button with a wand icon sits just above the message box. Click it for three options:
Write SMS reply
Drafts an answer based on the conversation so far. Reads Write email reply when you are composing an email.
Correct spelling
Fixes typos and grammar in what you already typed.
Write it better
Rewrites your draft in a more professional tone.
The result drops into the message box for you to read and edit. Nothing sends until you click send. Correct spelling and Write it better stay greyed out until you have typed something.
Sending a text later
Text messages can be queued for a future time — handy for an early-morning reminder you write the night before.
- Type the message as normal.
- Click the clock button beside the message box.
- Pick the date and time, then confirm.
Joby confirms with Message scheduled, clears the box, and shows the pending message in a bar just above where you type. Click the X on that bar to cancel it before it goes out. Scheduling is for text messages only — the clock button is hidden while you are composing an email.
New messages arrive on their own
You never need to refresh. When a customer replies or a call finishes, the thread and the list update by themselves, and Joby plays a short sound for incoming messages — including when you are on another page.
Hidden phone numbers and emails
Some roles are set up so customer contact details stay private. In those accounts, phone numbers and email addresses appear as dots ((•••) •••-••••) throughout Conversations. You can still open threads, read messages, reply, and call — Joby dials the right number without showing it to you. If you need the real number, ask an admin to adjust your role.
How to check it worked
- Your reply appears immediately on the right side of the thread, with the time beneath it.
- One tick becomes two ticks within a few seconds — that is the customer's phone confirming delivery.
- The thread jumps to the top of the conversation list, and the unread badge is gone.
- For a scheduled message, a Message scheduled confirmation appears and the pending message is listed in the bar above the message box.
- For archiving, the thread leaves the main list and shows up under the Archived filter.
- For a new message, a fresh thread appears at the top of the list with the contact's name or number.
One tick, two ticks
One tick means Joby sent it. Two ticks mean the phone received it. A red Failed tag means it never left — check the number and try again.