9. Chat

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About Channels & DMs

Available for both Mobile and Web — SwitchBase Chat simplifies venue-wide communication by splitting and pinning Group Channels and Direct Messages into distinct categories to keep your workspace clean.

Access your Chats from the Navigation panel or your Home Page:

• A. Unread Chats → open Channels with recent activity
• B. Group Channels → dedicated Chats for specific Groups and Departments
• C. Direct Messages (DMs) → private Chats
• D. Pins → push important Chats at the very top for instant access

Create as many custom Channels and DMS as your venue requires — such as:

• Dedicated Channels for your departments → ex. Guest Services & Magic Moments

• Direct Messages (DMs) between team members → ex. Alpha, Omega & Delta, Sierra

  

Mobile Chat Article

• Learn all about Mobile Chat in our Mobile App Quickstart article

  

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Use Chat

To Chat, simply:

1. Scan the Navigation list for your active Chats

2. Open a Channel or DM → ex. Guest Services Chat

3. Read

4. Respond

5. Send

   

Set Chat Notifications

SwitchBase can ping your phone with notifications when a Chat (DM, Group, or Announcement) is sent.

• Check out our Mobile App Quickstart to learn all about Enabling & Pausing Notifications

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Pop Out Chats

SwitchBase allows you to "pop out" your Chat into a floating window. This feature is perfect for multitasking, as it lets you keep your Channels and DMs visible while you navigate Dashboards or fill out Forms.

To Pop Out a Channel:

1. Open any Channel or DM

2. Select the Pop-out Icon

3. Drag floating window to your preferred spot

4. Minimize the floating window when not in use

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Pin Chats

Pin Chats to the top for quicker access. Reorder your list by dragging the Waffle icons to your preferred spot.

To pin and unpin:

1. Hover over any Chat to reveal its Pin → ex. Magic Moments

2. Click the Pin!

   • Pin as many Chats as you wish

   

3. To reposition → click and drag the waffle icon up or down

   

4. To remove a Pin → just click it!

Show more / Show less

5. Choose Show more → to display unpinned Chats

6. Select Show less → to minimize the list

   

seven tips

1. Pinned Chats always appear in the order you set
2. Unpinned Chats appear when a new message is sent to you
3. The number of new messages appears in a bubble
4. New, unpinned Chats float directly below pinned Channels
5. Unpinned Chats are alphabetized when idle
6. Click Show More to view all of your Chats
7. Click Show Less to view only pinned and active Channels

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Edit Messages

To Edit a message you've sent:

1. Hover over your message → and click the ellipsis (...)

   

2. Select Edit from the drop-down

   

3. Make your corrections → and click Save Changes

   

4. To locate altered messages → look for Edited at end of the message

   

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Insert Emojis

To insert an Emoji into a message:

1. Click the insert Emoji icon

   

2. Select your Emoji

   

3. Click Send when ready

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Insert Images

To Add an Image to a message:

1. Hover over your message → and click the Upload Image icon

   

2. Select your Image → and click Open

   

3. Click Send when ready

   • Click x to Delete the image

   

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Insert GIFs

To insert a GIF into a message:

1. Click the GIF icon

2. Use Search to find your GIF

   

3. Select your GIF

4. Click Send when ready

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Delete Messages

To Delete a message you've sent:

1. Hover over your message → and click the ellipsis (...)

   

2. Select Delete → from the drop-down

   

3. Click Delete → in the Delete Message pop-up

   

Owners Can Delete Anyone's Messages

• If you are an Owner, you may delete any of the Chats of any members of the Group

  • Simply select Delete from the Ellipsis as explained above

  

  • The message will be removed with the notation → Message deleted

  

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Create, Share, Rename & Delete Chats

Do you have permission to create DMs or even Group chats?

Look for the Chat + icon. If you see it, then hover over and watch the Create Chat tooltip appear, click and go!

However, to act as an Owner or Access Manager for a Chat Group you will also need to see elements A, B, C in your header. These tools signal that you have the Permission to do some, or all, of the following:

• Create
• Rename
• Share
• Delete

Let's explore these additional permissions:

• A. Edit Name pencil → name and rename a DM or Group Chat

• B. Sharing button → share DMs and Group Chats

• C. Editing (...) menu → including:

  • Edit Settings → name and rename a Group Chat or DM
  • Share → share a Group Chat or DM
  • Delete → zap a Group Chat or DM

  

Sharing Group Chats and DMs

• You'll need to Share all of your DMs and Group Chats
  • Unless, of course, you want to Chat to yourself → ex. to make notes or log ideas
• A quick look at the Sharing button indicates its status:

  • Private → the Chat is not shared → only you can see it!

    • Simply click Private to Start Sharing

    

  • Shared → displays the number of Roles or Individuals with whom you've shared → ex. 6

    

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Create a new Chat

To create a new Group or DM for all of your chit-chats:

1. Click the Create Chat + icon

   

2. Name your Chat → ex. Magic Moments

3. Invite Groups and/or individual Users

   

4. Set Permission levels for each Group and User

   • Member is typically the proper setting for most participants
   • Access Managers can share the Chat Channel with others
   • Owners are the only ones who can Delete a Chat Channel
     • Learn all about permissions in → 2. Set the Permission Level

   

5. Click Create

   

6. Pin your new Chat if it's important to you

   

Use Search

• Use Search to find your Group → ex. Magic Moments

• Find individual Users with Search as well → ex. Sierra

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Rename a Chat

To Rename a DM or Group Channel:

1. Click the Edit Name pencil

   

2. Click inside the name box → and Rename the Chat

3. Click ✓ Save Changes → or click Discard Changes if you change your mind

   

Renaming alternative

• Open the Editing menu and choose Edit Settings

  

• Select the old name → and Rename your Chat

  

• Press Save Changes

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Delete a DM or Group Chat

To Delete a DM or a Group Chat for which you are the Owner:

1. Open your DM or Group Chat → ex. Concessions Chat

   

2. Select the Chat's ellipsis → ( . . . ) menu

3. Pick Delete

   

4. Click Delete again → poof ~ gone

   

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Send Announcement Chats

Announcement Channels are one-way communications — often to multiple teams and individuals at a venue on a need-to-know basis. No responses are expected or needed for Announcements.

To share an Announcement Chat with multiple Groups or Teams:

1. Open your target Chat from the Chat list → ex. Announcement

   

2. Click the Share Chat button → or click Ellipsis (. . .) and pick Manage Access

   

3. One-by-one, select all the Groups (and/or Individuals) → that should see your Announcements

   • Guest Services Team
   • Team Member-Command Center
   • Team Member-Custodial

4. Drastically limit each Group or individual by selecting Viewer

   

5. Click Save Changes

   

With Announcements, there is no way to reply

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Share DMs and Group Chats

Flexible SwitchBase sharing ensures that your teams stay focused on the specific communications they need to see and act on. There are four parts:

1. Start Sharing
2. Set the Permission Level
3. Stop Sharing

To allow Group Members to initiate and send DMs to each other, see:

4. Permit Private DMs

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1. Start Sharing

There are two options for sharing; click the Share Button → or pick Share Channel from the Edit menu.

Share Chats with Groups and Users — as you'd share Dashboards and Forms:

• A. Groups → Chat with Groups → ex. Magic Moments, Guest Services Team, Training, etc.
• B. Users → DM individual Users → ex. Alpha, Austin, Beta, etc.

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2. Set the Permission Level

There are five permission levels to select from:

• Owner → has full access to view, message, edit, share, and delete the Chat
• Access Manager → can view, message, and share the Chat with others
• Team Member → can view, and message
• Viewer → can only view the Channel
• Custom → refine access with hand-selected permissions
  • Read Custom Permissions for more detail

every Chat needs an Owner

• When you create a new Channel (Group or DM), you'll automatically be its Owner → ex. 'Karl'

  

• You can reassign Ownership → and Multiple Owners are allowed

  

  • Warning: If you try and Delete the last Owner, you'll be stopped cold when you try to Save!
    • Assign a new Owner to continue

  

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3. Stop Sharing

many reasons to block Chat access

• Teams don't wish to be inundated → ex. Guest Services may not need to see the Group Chats from Patrol or Maintenance
• You may need to keep some Chats confidential → ex. limiting the Security or Risk Team Group Chats to a need-to-know basis

To stop sharing a Chat with either a User or a Group:

1. Click the Share button → or pick Share Channel from the Ellipsis (. . .) menu

   

2. Click X to remove an Individual or a Group altogether

   • Notice that every Chat Needs an Owner

   

3. Click Save Changes

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USE CASE →

4. Permit Private DMs

In this use case we'll create a limited Role that will enable DMs between team members. Keep in mind:

• Roles → grant Users the privilege to create and share Resources → ex. Channels, DMs Forms, Dashboards, etc.

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4a. Create a "Staff Basics" only Role for DMs

To define a very limited "Staff Basics" Role that will (only) allow selected Users to create and share private DMs:

1. Click Roles → Create Role

   

2. Create the Role by:

   • A. Naming the Role → ex. Staff Basics
   • B. Switching on Direct Messages only
   • C. Saving this very limited Role!

   

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4b. Add the Role to New Group Members

As you Invite or update Users, assign the new limited Role → ex. Staff Basics

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4c. Update Existing Group Members

To add your new Staff Basics Role to existing team members like Alpha:

1. Click open their User Resource Profile from the Users page → ex. Alpha

   

2. Add the limited Role → ex. pick Staff Basics

   

3. Click Save Changes

   

Notice that the new "Staff Basics" Role appears in the User Records of both Alpha and Sierra!

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5. Send a DM

To send a private DM, Alpha can:

1. Click the + Create DM Icon

   

2. Pick a User from the list → ex. Sierra

   

3. Send a private DM → ex. to Sierra!

   

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Custom Permissions

The standard SwitchBase permission levels (Viewer, Member, Access Manager, and Owner) cover almost every scenario. Custom permissions are rarely needed because they usually replicate these presets.

For example, granting a user both View and Message permissions effectively makes them a Member by definition. (Clicking the Share box will make someone an Access Manager!)

About the Update Permission

The primary reason to use Custom access is to trigger the Update permission. This is an Ownership-level power that allows a user to Edit a Chat's Settings to Rename a Group Chat or DM.

Assigning "Update" without giving the power to "Delete" is ideal for SwitchBase Admins who need to delegate the ability to manage a Chat's identity without the risk that a Chat Group or DM will be deleted accidentally. Remember, Deleting a Chat removes all of its messages and any record of it ever existing. Ouch.

Refer to this table for further insight:

Custom Option	Equivalent Role	Description
View	Viewer	Read-only access to the assigned Chat
Message	Member	Includes View access, plus the ability to send messages
Share	Access Manager	All the above, plus the power to Share/Unshare the Chat with other Roles or Users
UPDATE	Partial Owner	All the above, plus the ability to open "Edit Settings" and Rename the Chat
Delete	Owner	Full control, including the permission to permanently Delete the Group Chat or DM

To set Custom settings:

1. Select Custom next to any User → ex. Sierra

2. Check (or uncheck) the permissions you wish to set (or remove) → ex. View, Message, Share, Update, & Delete

   

3. Click Save Changes

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