# Chat & Messaging (/how-to/chat)



Chat & Messaging lets you have direct, two-way conversations with customers about their bookings. Customers send messages from the self-service booking portal, and your team responds from the Customer Portal page in the dashboard. Each conversation is tied to a specific booking, so you always have context about who you're talking to, what they booked, and when.

Messaging must be enabled per-location in Customer Portal Settings before conversations can begin.

Guides [#guides]

<Cards>
  <Card title="Respond to Customer Messages" href="/how-to/chat/respond-to-customer-messages">
    Read incoming messages, compose replies, and keep the conversation moving from the dashboard.
  </Card>

  <Card title="View Chat History" href="/how-to/chat/view-chat-history">
    Find past conversations, review full message threads, and access booking details from a chat.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manage Unread Messages" href="/how-to/chat/manage-unread-messages">
    Track unread counts, mark threads as read, and stay on top of customer inquiries.
  </Card>
</Cards>

How it works [#how-it-works]

Chat in Resytech follows a simple flow:

1. **Customer sends a message** from the booking portal (the self-service page linked in their confirmation email).
2. **Your team sees the conversation** in the Customer Portal section of the dashboard, under the Conversations panel.
3. **Any team member can reply**. The reply is attributed to the logged-in staff member, so customers see a name rather than a generic "Support" label.
4. **Notifications fire** when a customer sends a message, using the platform event system, so your team can integrate alerts into existing workflows.

Sender types [#sender-types]

Every message has a sender type:

| Sender Type | Value | Description                              |
| ----------- | ----- | ---------------------------------------- |
| Customer    | `0`   | Sent by the person who made the booking  |
| Operator    | `1`   | Sent by a team member from the dashboard |

Thread lifecycle [#thread-lifecycle]

* A thread is created automatically the first time a customer sends a message for a booking, or when an operator initiates a conversation from a booking.
* Each booking has at most one chat thread.
* Threads persist indefinitely and can be revisited at any time.

Prerequisites [#prerequisites]

Before customers can message you:

1. **Customer Portal must be enabled** for the location. Go to **Customer Portal > Settings** and toggle the master "Enabled" switch on.
2. **Support Messaging must be enabled**. In the same settings page, check the **Support Messaging** checkbox under the messaging section.

If messaging is disabled, the Customer Portal page shows a notice with a link to enable it in settings.

Related guides [#related-guides]

* [Checkout Customization](/how-to/checkout) -- configure the booking experience customers see before they can message you.
* [Workflows & Automation](/how-to/workflows) -- build automations triggered by chat events.
* [Customers & CRM](/how-to/customers) -- manage the customer profiles linked to each conversation.