In this article, we'll give you a high-level overview of the ThinkMessenger functionality and some ideas about how you can use ThinkMessenger to quickly, efficiently, and automatically communicate with your guests.
If your ThinkReservations account doesn't have ThinkMessenger enabled yet, please reach out to us, and we will be happy to speak with you about pricing and to get your account set up!
Conversation Inbox
To view a list of your active conversations, start by navigating to Messenger, found in the dropdown menu under the ThinkReservations logo in the top left.
Tip: You can also get to Messenger from the button in the black bar on the bottom right, or from a reservation with the speech bubble next to the guest's phone number.
In the desktop view, you will see three columns. The leftmost column is your active conversation list. Here, you will see a list of all your active conversations with the most recent messages at the top. An unread message is noted with a blue dot on the left side.
When you select a conversation from the list on the left, it will open in the center column. In the top right corner of the page, click on the three blue dots to mark the selected message as unread or archive it. Archiving the message will remove it from the active conversations list. Even when a conversation is archived, the messages are never deleted - you'll be able to view the full history of the conversation with this contact.
The Situational Awareness column on the right provides context regarding the conversation. It will show records of the next check-in and last check-out for the contact associated with the conversation. You can click on the Conf ID to open the reservation.
If multiple contacts share a phone number, this column will first show a list of possible contacts. You can select one for situational awareness information, then click Back to return to the list. If you have sent a message manually to a phone number without associating a customer, the Situational Awareness column will remain blank.
Sending A Text Message
To send a message from a reservation, first click on the "New Conversation" button - a blue plus sign next to the customer name. This will open the existing conversation thread where you can view the message history with this customer.
To create a new conversation thread, navigate to Messenger from the dropdown menu in the top left, then click the blue plus sign at the top of the active conversations list. Next, search for a customer by name or phone number. Select the correct customer from the list of suggestions, then click the "Start Conversation" button in the top right.
If you are sending a message to a phone number that is not already associated with an existing customer profile, you can leave the top option selected. Note that you may be unable to send certain message templates without an associated customer.
In the center column of the messenger page, you will see the message bubble at the bottom. To send a message, simply type your draft in the box, and click the "Send" button.
If your conversation is associated with a customer, you can also choose send any of your templates manually by clicking the "Choose template" button - the magic wand icon.
In the dialogue box, select the template you would like to send.
If the template contains any personalized variables associated with a reservation, you will also have to select a reservation from the dropdown menu. Next, click the green Confirm button. Your template will appear in the conversation bubble. Review, make any desired modifications, then click "Send."
To add an internal note in the conversation thread, click the orange sticky note button to the left of the conversation bubble. This note will appear highlighted in yellow and will be visible to Messenger users but not sent to the customer. This may be useful in noting a request has been fulfilled when multiple staff members are using the Messaging feature at the same time.
Mobile App
You can also use the messaging feature on your mobile device!
The functionality is the same on mobile, with one minor difference in the appearance of the Messenger page. Each of the three columns will be its own page. You can navigate between the conversations list and an individual conversation by selecting it from the list and using the < arrow in the top left. You can navigate between your selected conversation and the Situational Awareness page by clicking the info symbol in the top right and the Back button in the top left.
Notifications
We highly recommend enabling notifications for Messaging so that you never miss a guest correspondence. You can receive notifications on your desktop and/or mobile device.
Notes about Notifications:
Notifications are specific to each user within your account.
Every user who accesses Messaging will need to enable notifications within their own user login (even if they are on a device shared by other ThinkReservations users).
Notifications are specific to each browser used to access Messaging.
Notifications must be enabled individually on each browser and device (even if the user has already enabled notifications on another device).
Example: a user may enable notifications within their log in on the desktop at work in the Google Chrome browser. This will not automatically enable notifications when that user is logged in on their mobile device. It will also not automatically enable notifications on the desktop computer at work for that user within other browsers (Safari, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) OR for other users who are using Google Chrome on the desktop computer at work (the other users need to enable their notifications separately within their own login).