Inbox

The Inbox is where Fondaro opens, and it is where you answer people. The list is the Inbox's sidebar, right beside the icon bar: everyone waiting for an answer from you and the things that arrived for you, one row each. Beside it is the conversation you have open, with the reply box already open under it. A lead who wrote on WhatsApp, someone new who emailed about a home, a colleague, a team channel and an agent at another agency all open in that same place.

The list

At the top of the list is one row that stays put while the rows scroll under it: the search, then one button that says what the list is showing, such as Waiting, All or WhatsApp. Everything else about the list is behind that button: which people you see, where they wrote from, (for administrators) whose Inbox it is, New message and Inboxes.

Need more room for a conversation? Press ⌘B (Ctrl B on Windows) to fold the list away; the conversation moves to the centre. F brings the list back with its button open.

Each row says who it is and how long ago. Under the name is what they want, such as Wants a viewing or New lead from Idealista, then their own words. A dot on the left means they are waiting for you. +2 beside a name means there is more than one reason they are here.

The picture says where they wrote from. Without a photo it is the mark of the channel itself (email, WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn or Telegram); with their profile photo, that mark sits on its corner. A colleague carries the team mark, a channel shows #, and anyone at another agency carries a building, so you always know whether you are talking to a buyer or to a colleague. Point at the picture to see the address or number it came in on.

Sources

Under Sources in that button: Everything, then each channel you have connected (Email, WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Telegram), then Team and Other agencies when you have them. There is one per channel, however many addresses or numbers you have connected on it. Picking one shows everything on that source, and the button takes its name. Your Inbox remembers what you picked on this browser, so it opens the same way next time, from the icon bar too.

Waiting, New and All

Under Show in the same button:

• Waiting (the default) is everyone waiting for you: leads who wrote, new leads nobody has contacted, someone new, a colleague's direct message, a mention of you in a channel, and requests from other agencies. While anyone is waiting for your answer, the Inbox icon in the icon bar carries a dot and your browser tab shows how many; notices like an opened brochure or a declined invite show in Waiting but are not counted.
• New is only the new people: new leads, someone new who wrote, and agents at other agencies asking to message you. The filter shows how many.
• All is every conversation, newest first, whether it waits or not, your team's channels included. Requests stay at the top.

Press 1, 2 or 3 to switch, or F to open the button. It stays in the address too.

What shows up

• Someone wrote to you on email, WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn or Telegram, and nobody has answered yet. The row leaves as soon as anyone replies to them, on any channel.
• A new lead that nobody has called, emailed or messaged yet, such as a portal enquiry that just arrived. It leaves with the first call, email or message.
• Someone new wrote about a home and is not a lead yet (see Someone new).
• A lead declined a meeting you organised, or answered maybe. Reschedule sits at the end of the row once you are on it. The row leaves when you move or cancel the meeting.
• A lead opened the brochure you sent them.
• Your team: a colleague's direct message and a mention of you in a channel. Other chatter in a channel never waits for you.
• Requests from other agencies: an agent asking to message you, an invitation to co-list a home, a request to partner (administrators), and agents going to your open house tomorrow.
• Inbox requests: for administrators, a colleague asking for an inbox your plan does not include; the row opens Inboxes, where you allow or decline it. For the person who asked, "You can connect your inbox now" once an admin allowed it; the row opens that inbox's setup page. See Ask your admin for an inbox.

An inbox of yours that needs reconnecting is not a row in the list. The Inbox icon in the icon bar carries an amber dot instead (Settings › Me › Inboxes shows which one), and a conversation it stops you answering says so where you would type, with Connect.

Administrators also see new leads nobody is on yet when they choose Everyone. A lead waiting always comes before your team.

Your day is on the Calendar, where Not done in its sidebar shows how many events are still open.

The conversation

Click a row, or press Space, to open its conversation beside the list. On a wide screen the first row opens by itself when you arrive. Move down the list with J and K, or with the arrows at the top of the conversation (L and H), and the conversation follows you.

Every conversation opens ready for your answer:

• A lead opens on their whole conversation across channels, the same chat you use with your team: one top row with their face, name and status, tabs for each channel you talk on, then the messages, and the reply box at the bottom on the channel they last wrote on. If you have not connected that channel, the reply box says so, with Connect and a way to answer on another channel of theirs instead. A new lead's enquiry is the first card until anyone writes, and the reply box starts on WhatsApp when you can reach them there, otherwise email. After a declined meeting or an opened brochure, you write your follow-up in the same place. See Conversation and Activity for everything on the lead's side.
• An email is shown as the email itself: who it is from and to, the subject, the text and any attachments, with Reply. The reply box under it is already your reply, with the subject filled in.
• Someone new opens on what they wrote, with the reply box ready (see below).
• A colleague, a channel or another agency opens your chat with them.

When you open a conversation with a click, the cursor is already in the reply box. Walking the list with J and K leaves the cursor in the list; press R to jump into the reply box. Enter opens the lead's full page, with the cursor in their reply box.

What Ask suggests for this person sits just above the reply box, as one or two buttons you can press; right-click one and pick Not now to hide it. A pressed suggestion spins while it works. Save to documents saves the files they sent straight to Documents; one that needs a time or words opens its card right there, ready to approve. Press . from the list to take the first suggestion. When Ask drafts a reply, the draft appears there for you to read and send yourself.

On a phone the list fills the page. Opening a row shows the conversation in its place, and the back arrow at the top returns you to the list. An invitation or an open house opens beside the page, over the conversation, and Esc closes it again.

Dismiss a row

Some messages need no answer: "Thanks, see you Saturday!" Point at the row and click the ring at its right, or press E, and the row leaves. Undo in the notice at the bottom of the screen brings it back.

• A lead's message: No reply needed. It stays that way on your phone too, and the next message from that person brings them back.
• A chat with a colleague or another agency is marked as read once the Undo has passed.
• Someone new: Not a lead. Once the Undo has passed, their messages are deleted from Fondaro.
• Everything else (a new lead, a declined meeting, an opened brochure, a request, a reconnect): Dismiss. It stays dismissed for everyone in your agency until something new happens, such as the brochure being opened again or the inbox breaking again.

Someone new

When someone Fondaro does not know writes about a home, their row opens what they wrote, with the reply box under it. Answer first: your reply goes out from the inbox or account they wrote to, and an email reply lands in their thread as a normal reply. An email reply can copy others in with Cc and Bcc and use the same formatting as any email (see Sending an email).

At the top of the conversation you decide who they are:

• Add as lead opens the same Add Lead form as your CRM, filled in from their messages (name, email or number, language, and the home they asked about). Set the status, type and owner as you would for any lead and press Create Lead. If that email or number already belongs to a lead, the messages go to that lead instead. Your replies go with them.
• Link to lead lets you pick the lead they already are. The likely ones are listed first; type to find anyone else.
• Not a lead (under ⋯) deletes their messages from Fondaro.

Fondaro keeps messages from someone new for 14 days while you decide; the conversation shows the date.

If you are an admin, your Inbox also shows someone new who wrote to a teammate's connected account, for the people your view covers. You can add them as a lead, pick the lead they already are, or mark them as not a lead. Only the teammate can answer them, because the reply goes out from their account.

Search

Search filters the list by name and by what people wrote, as you type, and stays in the address so going back keeps your place. When nothing matches, Ask Fondaro hands your words to the assistant instead (or press Shift Enter in the search).

Administrators pick whose Inbox they see under Whose in the button at the top of the list. Chats are always your own: choosing a colleague or Everyone changes which leads you see, never whose chats.

New message

New message and Create channel are at the bottom of the button at the top of the list; C starts a new message.

New message asks who to write to: colleagues first, then your leads and agents at other agencies once you type two letters. Picking a colleague or an agent opens an empty conversation beside the list. Nothing is sent and nothing appears in their list until you write your first message. Picking a lead opens the lead's conversation with the reply box ready on the channel you talk to them on.

A conversation with an agent at another agency starts as a request: your first message is what they see. Under it you see Request sent, then Seen once they have read it, and the reply box waits until they accept. If they decline, it says so. Requests sent to you are at the top of the list; open one to read it and choose Accept or Decline, or report or block the person from its ⋯ menu. You can start up to five new conversations with other agencies a day.

Channels

Create channel makes a conversation for a group:

• Your team: a channel for your agency, about a topic, a project or a deal. Make it private if only the people you invite should find it.
• Across agencies: a group with colleagues, agents at partner agencies and people you have messaged. They join when they accept the invitation.

Chatting with your team and other agencies

The top of a chat is the person or channel you are talking to: their face, their name and their agency, never an email address. Click their name to see who they are beside the conversation. What the chat is about (a home, a request) is the card in the message it was sent with.

If someone is bothering you, open the chat's menu to report or block them. A blocked person cannot message you. To report a single message, point at it and open its More menu. The same menu sets which messages notify you in that chat.

Writing and replying

• Enter sends, Shift+Enter starts a new line. Your message appears straight away; if it cannot be sent, it stays with Not sent. Retry.
• Your draft is kept for each chat, so you can switch conversation or reload the page and carry on where you left off.
• To edit a message, point at it and choose Edit from its More menu, or press ↑ in an empty reply box to edit your last one. Enter saves and Esc cancels.
• To react, point at a message and pick a reaction. The first ones offered are the emoji you used most recently. Your own reaction is highlighted; click it again to take it back.
• Reply in thread (point at a message) keeps a side conversation under one message. The thread opens in the chat's place; the arrow at its top takes you back. A message with replies shows how many under it; click that to open the thread.

Voice messages

In a chat, when the reply box is empty, the microphone stands where Send stands.

• Hold the microphone to record and release to send. Slide left to cancel, or slide up to keep recording hands-free.
• Click it to record hands-free, then send when you are done.
• From the keyboard, press Cmd+Shift+Space (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+Space (Windows) to start a hands-free recording, and press it again to send. You can also choose Record a voice message in the command palette.
• A voice message can be up to 10 minutes long.

Press play to listen; playing one voice message stops any other, and the next one you have not heard plays after it. Click the speed to switch between 1x, 1.5x and 2x. A small microphone beside a voice message you have not played yet shows until you play it.

Show text under a voice message turns it into text you can read and search. It is free for voice messages up to 2 minutes. With a message selected (click it), you can also press . to show its text.

GIFs and emoji

Use the GIF button beside the reply box to search for a GIF; it sends on its own, as its own message. GIFs come from KLIPY and are filtered to be safe for work. If you have asked your computer to reduce motion, a GIF shows as a still until you press it.

The smiley button inserts an emoji into your message. The emoji you used most recently sit at the top of the list.

Sending a record as a card

You can put a listing, an open house, a buyer request, a collection, an agent, an agency or one of your leads into a chat as a card. The person you are talking to can open it straight from the message.

There are three ways to add a card:

• Attach (the paperclip button beside the reply box, or Cmd+Shift+A / Ctrl+Shift+A) opens the list straight away. With nothing typed it offers This conversation (the home the chat is about) and Recent (the records you sent lately), then you can search homes, leads and people. Its first row, Upload a file, attaches a file instead; you can also drop a file anywhere on the chat.
• Type @ in your message and start typing a name, a place or a reference. Pick a result with the arrow keys and Enter. The card is added to your message and a short name is written where you typed.
• Paste a link to a listing, an open house, a request or a collection from your dashboard, or type a listing's reference (a Fondaro reference or a Resales one). Fondaro offers the home as a card with Attach; nothing is attached until you press it.

A home shows as a small card with its photo, price, facts and place, so two homes never look alike. Cards wait above the reply box, up to three; remove one with the cross beside it, or press Backspace in an empty reply box to remove the last one. A card goes with words: Send waits until you have written something. For many homes at once, send a brochure or a collection instead.

In the chat, a card sits inside its message, under your words. Press it to open the record beside the conversation. A listing's reference written in a message is a link to that listing too.

Each person sees a card as they are allowed to see it:

• Another agency's home shows what the network shows: no commission, no private notes.
• A lead never leaves your agency. A colleague sees the lead; an agent at another agency only sees your words, never the lead's name or contact details. Fondaro reminds you when you add a lead in a chat with another agency.
• A collection shows only to its members.
• Something that has been removed, or that the person may not see, shows as a short line instead of a card.

Message from anywhere

Message is the same button everywhere: on a person's glance, on the short card that shows when you point at a name, on a listing's agent. It opens a conversation with the right person, with the record already added as a card:

• Message on a person, or Message the agent on a home: the conversation opens with the person, or with the listing as a card.
• Message host on an open house: it goes to the agent hosting the open house, with the open house as a card.
• Offer a home on a buyer request: it goes to the agent who posted the request, with the request as a card. From a home's Requests this answers, that home is added too; anywhere else, add your home with Attach.

Nothing is sent for you. The cards wait in the reply box, so your first message carries your own words, and the conversation only exists once you send it.

While your Inbox is open, Message and a message notice open the conversation beside the list. Anywhere else, it opens beside the page you are on, so you can keep a lead or a listing on screen while you write; press Cmd+Shift+M (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+M (Windows) to open or close it, and Esc to close it. The arrow at its top takes the conversation to your Inbox. Old links to Messages open your Inbox on All, with that conversation open beside the list.

Who can read your messages

Every chat says who can read it where it starts: on a message request, when you create a channel, and in a new conversation before the first message.

• A direct message: only the two of you. Your agency's admins cannot read it, and neither can anyone at the other person's agency.
• A channel in your agency: its members and your agency's admins.
• A group with other agencies: its members. No agency's admins can read it.

A lead's conversation follows the lead: whoever can open the lead can read it.

If someone reports a message, Fondaro's safety team reads that message, and only that message, to act on the report.

Your chat messages, voice messages and their transcripts are encrypted where Fondaro stores them, and they travel over an encrypted connection. Photos, files and voice messages are stored encrypted and are only reachable through links that expire. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted: Fondaro's servers can read them, which is how a voice message can be shown as text and how a reported message can be reviewed. Nothing you write is used to train anything.

Deleting messages and how long they are kept

Delete a chat message from its menu. The message disappears for everyone, and its photos, files and voice recordings are removed from storage within 24 hours. You can delete your own messages; an admin of your agency can also delete messages in your agency's chats.

A chat is kept until its messages are deleted or your agency leaves Fondaro.

Keys

Every one of these is also in the command palette (⌘K / Ctrl K) under the person's name, and Waiting, New and All, New message and the filter are there under Inbox. The keys inside a lead's conversation (M, Shift H, [, ]) are on Keyboard Shortcuts.

All caught up

When everyone has an answer, the Inbox says so and shows the next thing on your calendar; click it to see it beside the list. The two guides sit under it. If you have not connected your email yet, it offers Connect your email instead: that is what brings the people who write to you here.

Where the old home went

The listing about to lapse now lives on My listings under Expiring, with every other listing whose end date is close. A brochure being opened is now a row for the lead who opened it. Requests from other agencies are rows here, and open houses near you are in Search.