Use IM and SMS messages

When you send an IM message to a company contact, it allows you to see the contact’s availability status, and whether the message has been successfully sent and read.

If you send the wrong information in a message or send a message to the wrong chat, you can edit or delete the message as needed.

To write a new message to a company contact:

1. Open Messages to view your list of chats.
2. Click the New option to bring up a menu.
3. In the menu that pops up, select 1:1 Message to open the contact directory.
4. In the Select Contacts window, search and click the desired company contact to chat with, and begin writing the message. If the contact has multiple phone numbers you can message, clicking the contact reveals the list of phone numbers; from the list, click the desired number. For the best messaging experience, select the contact's 8x8 Work number (listed with their four-digit user extension).

To reply in a conversation with a company contact:

1. Open Messages to view your list of chats.
2. From the All or 1-1 sections of your chat list, select the desired contact to chat with, and begin writing the message.

You now have the ability to use the 8x8 votel:// protocol to quickly jump from a browser directly into 8x8 Work for Desktop, and to initiate/view an SMS conversation page with a certain contact.

Let’s say you are navigating in a browser, and you want to jump to a certain contact conversation page, in the 8x8 Work for Desktop. Enter the votel://sendsms/<number> expression in the browser search bar. The chat with that contact number now displays in the the 8x8 Work for Desktop conversation page.

To initiate an SMS conversation in 8x8 Work for Desktop through the 8x8 votel://sendsms/<number> protocol:

1. In the search bar of the preferred browser, enter the votel://sendsms/<number> protocol, where the <number> variable represents the phone number of the contact you want to chat with.

2. In the Open 8x8 Work? window that opens, click Open 8x8 Work.

   The 8x8 Work for Desktop app opens and displays the 1:1 SMS conversation with that <number>.

Note: If the SMS conversation fails to open, caused by an invalid number or an SMS not allowed, etc., an error notification displays: "Invalid Phone Number. Please check and try again.".

While in an internal call, you can now initiate a chat with the person on the call directly from the call card by clicking the Chat icon. This option allows you to quickly chat with a caller/callee without having to navigate to the Messages tab.

Beginning with the 7.26 app release, if you want to send a 1:1 SMS message to an external number/contact by writing a new message from scratch, or looking through your list of existing chats by using the Group messaging option. Sending a message to an external number or a personal contact results in an SMS.

Note: SMS messaging must be enabled for your phone system for you to use SMS on 8x8 Work.

To write a new message to an external contact:

1. Open Messages to view your list of chats.
2. Click the New option to bring up a menu.
3. In the menu that pops up, select 1:1 Message
4. In the Select Contacts window. search and click the desired personal contact to chat with, and begin writing the message. If the contact has multiple phone numbers you can message, clicking the contact reveals the list of phone numbers; from the list, click the desired number labeled as Mobile.

Note: You can open an SMS conversation with a certain contact by using the 8x8 votel://sendsms/<number> protocol and write your message.

To reply in a conversation with an external contact:

1. Open Messages to view your list of chats.
2. From the All or 1-1 sections of your chat list, select the desired contact to chat with, and begin writing the message.

Note: You can open an SMS conversation with a certain contact by using the 8x8 votel://sendsms/<number> protocol and write your message.

Let's say you are receiving spam SMS from an external number that is not in your contact list, and the messages are interrupting your work. You can now block the sender from sending you messages with a simple click.

Note: Only spam SMS received from external numbers that are not in your contact list can be blocked. Messages received from numbers in your contact directory cannot be blocked.

With 8x8 Work for Desktop, you have the option to block SMS messages (text messages displayed in green) sent by external numbers that are not saved in your contact list. Calls and SMS messages are handled separately; blocking an SMS only blocks the number from reaching out through this particular communication channel.

To block an external SMS:

1. From the navigation menu, click Messages to view your list of chats.
2. Click the message sender you wish to block.
3. In the sender row, click for more options.

4. From the drop-down list that displays:

   • Select Block sender .
     OR
   • Select Contact info > Block sender.
5. At the prompt to confirm, click Block sender.

Once blocked, the SMS is removed from your list of chats.

Note: You may choose to block the sender from the chat window too, by clicking More Options and then, selecting Block sender from the list.

To unblock an external SMS:

Notes: To unblock an SMS sender you must remember the number you blocked.

1. From the navigation menu, select Search and type the number you wish to unblock.
2. When located, hover over the number, and click the message icon to view the messages in the Messages list.
3. Select the contact and click for more options.

4. From the drop-down list that displays:

   • Select Unblock sender .
     OR
     
   • Select Contact info > Unblock sender.Use IM

Once unblocked, the sender remains visible in the chat list.

Notes:
- You may choose to unblock a sender from the chat windows by clicking More Options and then, selecting Unblock sender from the list.
- Messages received after blocking a sender do not display in the chat history once a sender is unblocked.

Note: The text messages in bulk feature is currently on limited availability. Contact 8x8 Support for more help.

You can now send text messages in bulk to up to 50 external numbers simultaneously, significantly improving from sending each text message individually. This feature benefits customers who send the same message to multiple contacts, saving time and increasing productivity.

To send text messages in bulk:

1. Click Messages .

2. Click New > Bulk Text Message.

   

3. In the Bulk Text Messages window, add the external numbers and the text you wish to send to these numbers.

   

4. Click Send separately to create individual 1:1 conversations for each external number you added to the To list. You can send your message to up to 50 external numbers.

5. Additionally, a new Bulk Text Room is created when sending text messages in bulk, providing information on when each bulk message was sent and to whom it was generated. You can share additional information with all contacts previously reached through bulk text messages.

   

When a new message is sent from the Bulk Text Room, it is delivered individually to all contacts in bulk. When one of these numbers responds, the message will appear in the 1:1 conversation with that number, not the room conversation.

Note: You can change the room name, but you cannot remove the participants from the room.