# Text and email clients from Messages

> Messages keeps one conversation per client with every email and text Crewtavo sent them, their texts back, their Client Hub messages and your team's notes. Reply by email or text, or add a note.

**Messages** is where you talk to clients: one conversation per client, with every email and text Crewtavo sent them (quotes, invoices, reminders, automations and your own messages), the texts they send back, what they write in the Client Hub, and notes your team leaves for each other.

## Open Messages

On a computer, or a tablet held sideways, choose the **Messages** button (a speech bubble) at the top of the screen, next to **Search**. On a phone, or a tablet held upright, tap the search button and type "Messages". A notification about a new text opens that client's conversation straight away.

The list on the left has one row per client, with their latest message and how long ago it came in. Initials in a green circle and a dot mean the latest message is from the client, so it's probably waiting on you. "You:" means the latest one is from your business, and "Note:" that it's a note.

To narrow the list:

- **All**: every conversation.
- **From clients**: messages clients sent you, which are their texts and their Client Hub messages.
- **Email**: emails Crewtavo sent.
- **Texts**: texts both ways.

**Search conversations** finds a client by name, or by the words in their latest message.

## Read a conversation

Choose a client to open their conversation. Messages are grouped by day, newest at the bottom, and each one says whether it was an **Email**, a **Text** or an **Internal note**, and when. One that couldn't go out says **Not delivered**.

At the top are the client's name (choose it to open their client page), their phone and email, and a phone button to call them from your phone. On a phone, the back arrow takes you to the list again.

Messages updates by itself within about half a minute, so a reply shows up without reloading.

## Reply to a client

At the bottom of the conversation:

1. Pick **Text**, **Email** or **Note**. It starts on **Text** if the client has a phone number and texting is set up, otherwise on **Email** if they have an email address and email is connected, otherwise on **Note**.
2. For an email, check the subject. It starts as "A note from" and your business name.
3. Write your message and choose the send button (or press ⌘ + Enter, or Ctrl + Enter on Windows).

A text is sent from your business's Twilio number, without your business name added, so sign it if the client might not know the number. Over 160 characters, Crewtavo shows how many texts it goes as ("sends as 2 texts"); a text can be up to 1,600 characters. An email goes out from your business's email with your logo, the way your quotes do.

If something's missing, the composer says so instead of sending: "No phone number on file for this client.", "No email address on file for this client.", "Texting isn't turned on yet." or "Email isn't turned on yet." Add the client's details on their client page, or set up [texting](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/texting-with-twilio/) or [email](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/email/).

If the email or text provider refuses a message, Crewtavo says why, and the message stays in the conversation marked **Not delivered**, so you can try again or reach them another way.

### Leave a note for your team

Choose **Note** to write something only your team sees, like "Gate code changed" or "Prefers texts after 5". The client never sees notes. Notes also show on the client's page under **Notes and messages**.

## Start a new conversation

Choose **New message**, then pick the client. Their conversation opens, ready to write. The client has to be in Crewtavo already; to add someone, see [Add clients and properties](https://crewtavo.com/docs/clients/clients-and-properties/).

## What comes into Messages

| From | How it shows |
| --- | --- |
| A text the client sends to your Twilio number | In their conversation, as a **Text**. |
| **Message us** in the [Client Hub](https://crewtavo.com/docs/clients/client-hub/) | With the subject "Message from the client portal". |
| **Ask to change** on a visit in the Client Hub | With the subject "Asked to change the visit on" the visit's date and name. |
| **Request changes** on a quote in the Client Hub | With the subject "Changes requested". |

Everything in this table counts under **From clients**.

:::caution[There's no email inbox]
Crewtavo sends email but doesn't receive it. When a client replies to an email from Crewtavo, the reply goes to the **Email** in **Settings → Company** (or the address your emails are sent from, if that's empty), not into **Messages**. Answer it from your own email, and add a note here if the team should know.
:::

### Texts from numbers Crewtavo doesn't know

An incoming text is matched to a client by the **Phone** on their client record (the last 10 digits, so the format doesn't matter). A text from a number that isn't on any client is dropped: it doesn't show up anywhere in Crewtavo. That includes the phone numbers of a client's other contacts: only the client's own **Phone** counts. If a client texts from a new phone, update their phone number and ask them to send it again.

If two clients have the same phone number, a text from it shows in both conversations.

Only the words of a text come in. A text with just a picture doesn't show up.

## Who's told about new messages

When a client texts your number, every owner, admin and office person gets a notification, "New text from a client", that opens the conversation. Each person chooses whether that also comes as a push, an email or a text under **Messages from clients** in their notification settings (see [Your profile, notifications and Crewtavo on your phone](https://crewtavo.com/docs/team/your-profile-and-phone/)).

A quote's **Request changes** notifies the office through the automation **Tell the office when a client asks for changes** (see [Automate reminders and follow-ups](https://crewtavo.com/docs/clients/automations/)).

:::note
**Message us** and **Ask to change** from the Client Hub don't send anyone a notification: they wait in **Messages** under **From clients**, so check there regularly.
:::

## Who can see and send messages

- **Owners, admins, office staff and estimators** can open every conversation, start new ones, and send emails and texts.
- **Crew leads** see conversations and can add notes.
- **Field crew** only see the clients they're working for, and can add notes.
- Emails and texts about invoices show only to people who can see invoices, and ones about quotes and jobs only to the office and estimators.

See [What each role can see and do](https://crewtavo.com/docs/team/roles-and-permissions/).

## If texting or email isn't set up

Until then, Messages says "Email and texting aren't turned on yet. You can still add notes." Email is set up under **Settings → Email** (see [Send email from Crewtavo](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/email/)). Texting needs a Twilio account and three settings on your server: see [Text clients with Twilio](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/texting-with-twilio/).

Source: https://crewtavo.com/docs/clients/messages/ (last updated 2026-10-28)