Message Centre: how-to

Step-by-step instructions for every Message Centre task. For what each option means, see Message Centre; for problems, see Message Centre: troubleshooting.

Find your task

If you’re here because…	Go to
You can’t find a conversation, or need an old one	Find a conversation
A tenant, applicant or supplier has messaged you	Reply in a conversation
You want people in a conversation to vote on something	Send a poll
You need to tell one tenant, owner or supplier something	Send a message to one person
You need to tell all your tenants, or a whole property, something	Message many people at once
You want an announcement nobody can reply to	Send a broadcast
The person isn’t on COHO, or you want a formal email	Send an email and get the replies
It’s urgent and you want to text	Send an SMS
Your organisation has WhatsApp	Message someone on WhatsApp
A colleague should handle it, or you’re getting too many notifications	Assign a conversation, or mute it
Your list is cluttered	Archive and unarchive conversations
Someone should join or leave a conversation	Add or remove a participant
You don’t want people replying, or now you do	Turn replies on or off
A tenant reported a repair by message	Convert a message into a maintenance issue
A conversation was started by mistake	Delete a conversation
A tenant has moved out and you need to talk about the deposit	Message a former tenant
You need a copy of a conversation	Export a conversation
You’ve run out of SMS or WhatsApp credits	Top up credits
A new tenant is moving into a shared house	Introduce a new tenant to housemates
You want every email to cc your office or send replies to your inbox	Set default email addresses

Find a conversation

Do this when you can’t see a conversation you expect, or need an old one.

Before you start: search looks at subjects and participants’ names, emails and phone numbers, not at the words in messages.

1. Click the speech-bubble icon at the top of COHO.
2. Type a name, email, phone number or subject in Search and press enter… and press Enter. With no type selected, this searches every channel.
3. If it’s not there, check the filters:
   • Assignment: choose All;
   • Messages: choose Show all to include emails, SMSs, broadcasts and WhatsApp;
   • Maintenance, Onboardings or Viewings: click the highlighted one again to clear it;
   • Archived: click it to look in archived conversations;
   • the property heading: click the cross to clear a property filter.
4. Click Load More at the bottom of the list for older conversations.

What happens next: the conversation opens on the right. For everything with one tenant, including archived conversations, you can also open their room and expand Communications > Messages.

Reply in a conversation

Do this when someone has messaged you.

Before you start: you need edit permission for that conversation’s area (Conversations, Maintenance, Onboarding or Viewings).

1. Open the conversation from the list. Unread ones are highlighted.
2. Type in Type a message, or click the lightning icon to pick a quick answer.
3. To attach a file, click + then Files in a COHO Messenger conversation, or the paperclip in other conversations.
4. Click the send arrow.

What happens next: participants on COHO get a notification. The conversation is unarchived for everyone. In an email or SMS conversation, your reply is only kept in COHO: people without a COHO account don’t receive it.

Tip

To save a quick answer, click the lightning icon, type the text, then Save. To change one, click its pencil, edit it, then Update.

Send a poll

Do this when you want people in a conversation to choose between options, such as a date for a house meeting.

Before you start: polls only work in COHO Messenger conversations that have already started. You need edit permission for that conversation’s area.

1. Open the conversation and click + next to the message box, then Poll. Anything you’d typed in the message box becomes the question.
2. Type the Question.
3. Fill in at least two Options. Click Add option for more (up to 10), the bin to remove one, or drag the handle to reorder them. Options must be different from each other.
4. Optionally tick Allow multiple answers, or click Add close time and pick when voting ends in Closes at (at least 1 minute from now).
5. Click Send poll.

What happens next: the poll appears in the conversation and participants get a new message notification. Votes show as they come in. To vote yourself, tick an option; tick it again to remove your vote. Click See votes to see who chose each option, then Back.

Send a message to one person

Do this when you want to message one tenant, owner or supplier.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Conversations. To message owners, you also need view permission for Property ownership.

1. In the Message Centre, click +. (Or, on a room page, click Send message on the Tenant panel, or New message in Communications.)
2. Optionally pick a Property to narrow the list.
3. In Recipients, search for the tenant, owner or supplier.
4. Choose a Medium: COHO Messenger, Email, SMS or WhatsApp. Greyed-out media can’t reach this person.
5. Click Next. Optionally pick a template, then enter a Subject (COHO Messenger and email) and Message. Add files with Attach file (COHO Messenger and email).
6. Leave Allow replies ticked if they should be able to answer (COHO Messenger).
7. Click Next, check the Assignee, then click Send to 1 recipient.

What happens next: COHO shows “Conversation created!” and a summary. Click Open conversation to see it. Messages to a property owner by COHO Messenger go into your one ongoing conversation with that owner.

Message many people at once

Do this when you need to tell all your tenants, everyone at a property, or a group of owners or suppliers something.

Before you start: decide whether people should talk to each other. Grouping only applies to COHO Messenger.

1. Click + in the Message Centre, or Contact tenants on a property page.
2. Optionally pick one or more Property entries.
3. In Recipients, click a group heading to select everyone in it, for example All active tenants, All incoming tenants, All property owners or All suppliers. Remove anyone you don’t want.
4. Choose a Medium. Each shows how many of the selected people it can reach, for example “12 / 15”.
5. For COHO Messenger, choose Grouping:
   • None: one private conversation per person;
   • By property: one conversation per property;
   • Everyone together: one conversation with everyone.
6. If your recipients are at more than one property, choose Is this a broadcast? (see Send a broadcast).
7. Click Next and write your message. Use merge fields to personalise it; Show translated version previews them.
8. Click Next, choose the Assignee, then Preview to check, and Send to [n] recipients.

What happens next: COHO shows how many conversations it created and how many people it reached in COHO, by email, by SMS and by WhatsApp. Click Open message centre, which opens on the right filter.

Caution

With grouping and Allow replies, “Replies will be seen by everyone.” Use None for anything personal.

Send a broadcast

Do this when you want a one-way announcement to tenants at several properties, without them seeing each other.

1. Follow Message many people at once, choosing recipients at more than one property and COHO Messenger.
2. Under Is this a broadcast?, choose Yes (“One-way and anonymised participants”).
3. Write and send the message.

What happens next: each person sees only your message. Find it later with the Messages filter > Broadcasts.

Send an email and get the replies

Do this when the person isn’t on COHO, or you want a formal email.

Before you start: COHO doesn’t receive email replies. Set a Reply To Address you check, or set a default once (see Set default email addresses).

1. Click +, pick the Recipients, and choose Email.
2. Click Next. Enter a Subject and your Message, and attach files if needed.
3. Check CC Address(es), BCC Address(es) and Reply To Address. Separate several addresses with commas.
4. Click Next, check the Assignee, then Send.

What happens next: each person gets their own email. Replies go to the Reply To Address, not into COHO. Find the sent email with the Messages filter > Emails; Participants shows whether it was delivered or bounced.

Tip

To email people on COHO and people not on COHO in one go, choose COHO Messenger and tick Email people without a COHO account. Those people only get the first message.

Send an SMS

Do this for short, urgent messages.

Before you start: you need SMS credits. SMS is one-way: replies don’t come back into COHO, so include how to reply.

1. Click +, pick the Recipients, and choose SMS. COHO lists anyone it can’t text.
2. Click Next and write the message (up to 600 characters).
3. Check “Sending this message will use [n] SMS credits”. Shorten the message, or remove emoji and curly quotes, to use fewer. Top up here if needed.
4. Click Next, check the Assignee, then Send to [n] recipients.

What happens next: COHO sends one text per person. Find them with the Messages filter > SMSs.

Message someone on WhatsApp

Do this when your organisation has WhatsApp and you want to chat with someone on it.

Before you start: your organisation needs WhatsApp, set up in Your Account (see Set up or stop WhatsApp). With a COHO-provided number you need WhatsApp conversation credits.

1. Click +, pick one or more Recipients, and choose WhatsApp.
2. Click Next and write the message. You can’t attach files to the first message.
3. Click Next, check the Assignee, then send.

What happens next: COHO starts one WhatsApp conversation per person, named after them. Their replies appear in it, and you can reply and attach files from the conversation (files go without text, so send any note separately). Find them with the Messages filter > WhatsApp.

Assign a conversation, or mute it

Do this when one person should own a conversation, or you want fewer notifications.

1. Open the conversation and its details panel.
2. Open Details and click Assign (or Reassign), then pick a team member. You can also click Assign on the conversation in the list.
3. To stop your own notifications without assigning, click Mute.

What happens next: only the assignee gets notifications; everyone else is muted. Unassigning unmutes everyone. If you reply to a conversation you’d muted, it’s unmuted for you.

Archive and unarchive conversations

Do this when a conversation is finished.

1. Open the conversation and click Archive (just you) or Team archive (everyone in your team; confirm with Archive for team).
2. To archive many: click the select icon at the bottom of the list, tick the conversations, then Archive or Team archive.
3. To bring one back: click Archived, open it, and click Unarchive for me; or select several and click Unarchive.

What happens next: archived conversations leave your list. Tenants and other participants aren’t told and can still see them. Any new message brings the conversation back for everyone.

Note

There’s no “archive everything” button. Use the select icon and archive in batches.

Add or remove a participant

Do this when a tenant should join a conversation, or leave one.

Before you start: you can only add current or future tenants of the conversation’s property who have joined COHO, to a COHO Messenger conversation. You need edit permission for Conversations and for the conversation’s area, such as Maintenance.

1. Open the conversation and expand Participants.
2. To add: click Add participant, choose the tenant, and click +.
3. To remove: click the bin next to the person and confirm.

What happens next: the added tenant sees the whole conversation. A removed person loses access and is listed under Removed with the date.

Turn replies on or off

1. Open the conversation and expand Details.
2. Switch Replies allowed on or off.

What happens next: when off, participants see “Replies not allowed” and can’t reply. You can still post.

Note

Email and SMS conversations are one-way, so you can’t switch replies on for them. COHO shows “Email conversations are broadcasts and cannot allow replies.” (or the same for SMS). WhatsApp conversations always allow replies, so they don’t have the switch.

Convert a message into a maintenance issue

Do this when a tenant reports a repair in a general message.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Conversations and Maintenance. The conversation must be about a property.

1. Open the conversation and click Convert.
2. Pick the category, Severity (Low, Medium or High), any Notes, a room, and the Assignee.
3. Click Convert.

What happens next: COHO creates the issue and the conversation becomes its maintenance conversation. Click Go to conversation. See Maintenance.

Delete a conversation

Do this when a general conversation was started by mistake.

1. Open it and click Delete.
2. Confirm.

What happens next: other participants lose access, nobody can reply, and it leaves your list. This can’t be undone. Only general COHO Messenger conversations (not with an owner) can be deleted; archive the others instead.

To delete one of your own messages, click it, click the bin, and confirm “Delete message?”.

Message a former tenant

Do this when someone has moved out and you still need to talk, for example about their deposit.

Before you start: COHO removes former tenants from group and maintenance conversations two days after move-out, but one-to-one conversations stay.

1. Open the room, then Previous Tenancies, and open their tenancy.
2. Click Send message on the Tenant panel. Their tenancy’s tenants are listed whatever its status.
3. Choose the medium and send, as in Send a message to one person.

What happens next: a new conversation starts with them. If you revoked their access, use Email or SMS. See Tenancies & tenants.

Export a conversation

1. Open the conversation and its details panel.
2. Click Export conversation, then With media or Without media.

Top up SMS or WhatsApp credits

Before you start: you need payment permissions for your account.

1. While sending, click Top-up credits under the credit message; or open Your Account and use Top-up credits in the SMS or WhatsApp section.
2. Choose an amount and confirm.

What happens next: the balance updates and you can send. WhatsApp credits expire 12 months after they’re added.

Introduce a new tenant to housemates

Do this when a new tenant is moving into a multi-let property.

1. Open the onboarding and go to the Follow up step.
2. Click Introduce to housemates. The message form opens with the current tenants and the new tenant selected.
3. Write a welcome and send it.

What happens next: the onboarding shows “Housemate introduction sent.” with View conversation. See Onboarding.

Set default email addresses

Do this when every email from the Message Centre should cc your office or send replies to your inbox.

1. Open Your Account and its settings.
2. Fill in Email communication default cc, Email communication default bcc and Email communication default reply-to.
3. Save.

What happens next: these are filled in each time you email from the Message Centre; you can still change them per email.