...

• The icons in the top right-hand corner of the screen will open the corresponding area of the application (Appointments, Boarding, Messages)
• The tabs in the upper left-hand corner will allow you to navigate to a specific section of the application (Appointments, Boarding, Messenger)
• Current User shows the user from who messages will be sent.
  
  • Click the Change User button to change which user is sending messages
• Messages With is the Staff to whom you will be sending a message
  •  Staff are listed alphabetically by first name. 
  •  Hold the Control key to select multiple Staff to receive the same message
• View Message Type will show All Messages and Tasks, Messages Only, All Tasks, Or Uncompleted Tasks in the message thread between the current user and the staff with whom you are messaging
• The Messages between box in the middle of the screen shows messages and/or tasks sent between the two staff displayed in the heading
• The Message box is where you will type out the message to send.
  • Click Send when you are ready to send to the staff with whom you are messaging
  • Click Advanced if you would like to create a task or link to a specific client/patient record (See the Using the Advanced Window section of this article for instructions for using the Advanced window).
• The All Messages for box on the far right shows all messages for the current user. This box can be minimized by clicking the  icon at the top of the menu bar.

...

Information on setting these colors can be found in the Internal Messaging Messenger Setup document.

Getting Started

Now that you've familiarized yourself with each section of the Messenger, you're ready to get started with the feature. If you haven't already done so, it is recommended to review the Internal Messaging Messenger Setup documentation to configure your staff records.

...

We have found that hospitals are most successful with the Internal Messenger feature when they create staff records for each workstation in the hospital. With the exception of sending messages and tasks to a specific provider, in most instances, users will want to send a message to a specific location in the hospital. A message about the client who is coming to the front desk to pay , can be sent to all Front Desk computers instead of to a specific person who may, or may not, end up checking out that client. A message about a prescription refill can be sent to the pharmacy computer, or a message about the patient in surgery can be sent to the treatment or surgery workstation. This ensures that the workstation will get the notification and is not dependent on a specific person receiving the notification. 

The exception will be when creating tasks or sending messages to a particular provider. In most instances, you would still want to send these to a specific provider instead of a workstation location.  

Our Internal Messenger Setup document will walk you through how to create Staff records for each workstation.