Messages & Course Chats
With the Messages & Course Chats addon, you write directly with your customers, without email or external messengers. On top of that, there are group chats with several people. You work in the Bookicorn Manager, your customers in the customer app or in their customer area in the browser.
What the Messages & Course Chats addon does
- Direct messages between your studio and individual customers.
- Group chats with several people that you start yourself, and group chats for offerings.
- An inbox in the Manager with all conversations.
- Push notifications to your customers for new messages, if they allow notifications.
Activate the Messages & Course Chats addon
You activate the addon under Manager → Addon Store with Messages & Course Chats and Activate. It's a regular addon and takes up one addon slot of your plan. After that, Manager → Messages works, and your customers see the Messages menu item in their customer area.
The inbox in the Manager
You find all conversations under Manager → Messages (app.bookicorn.net/nachrichten). At the top, you filter with All Messages, Direct Messages and Class Groups and search with Search chats....
Start a new conversation
You start a new conversation in the inbox with New Message. You select one or more people and confirm with Start Chat. If you select one person, a direct message is created. If you select several, a new group chat is created.
Group chats in the inbox
If you create an offering while the addon is active, it automatically gets its own group chat with the name of the offering. Customers with an account who book it join automatically, and so does the offering's trainer if they have a login. You find all group chats in the inbox under Class Groups, including the ones you started yourself. Offerings that already existed before the addon don't automatically get their own chat. For them, you start a group chat with New Message. Your customers see the chat in their messages under its name. If it has no name, it shows Offering chat.
You can start a group chat with people you choose yourself at any time with New Message.
How your customers write to you
Your customers open the Messages menu item in the customer app or in the customer area of their booking page and write to you with Message studio. Only customers with an account can write. Anyone who booked as a guest sees Account required.
When a customer gets a message, they receive a notification on their phone if they have switched on Messages in the app under Settings → Notifications.
Enable messages for trainers
Trainers with a login only see the inbox if you enable it in their profile under Role:
- Messages in the Menu section: shows the trainer the Messages area.
- Send messages in the Communication section: allows them to write.
Without the addon, both switches show Upgrade required. More under Trainer permissions.
Report, block and remove
Nobody has to put up with harassment in the chat. In the customer app and in the Manager, messages can be reported and people can be blocked.
- Report: Press and hold someone else's message and choose Report. The report reaches you under Notifications in the category Chat with the title Chat message reported (app.bookicorn.net/benachrichtigungen). If it comes from a group chat, tapping it opens the chat. Every report also goes to the Bookicorn team, which reviews it within 24 hours. The person who wrote the message doesn't find out who reported it. Trainers can report messages too, the report then goes to you.
- Remove for everyone: In a group chat, you or your trainer press and hold someone else's message and choose Remove for everyone. The message disappears for everyone, and reports about it count as resolved.
- Block: Press and hold someone else's message and choose the Block entry with the person's name. After that you no longer see messages from this person and get no notifications about them. In a direct chat, the input field is replaced by You blocked ... with the button Unblock. In group chats your customers unblock in the Participants list, which opens with a tap on the chat's name. In the Manager you block in direct chats, in group chats you remove messages instead.
What happens without the addon
Without the addon, Manager → Messages stays visible in the menu and shows what the addon can do. Your customers don't see a Messages menu item in their customer area. If they open messages anyway, it says Your studio has not activated chat.
Frequently asked questions
Can my customers message me through Bookicorn? Yes, with the Messages & Course Chats addon. They write in their customer area under Messages with Message studio.
Can I message a whole group? Yes. With New Message, by selecting several people. You find an offering's group chat under Class Groups.
Can guests without an account write? No. Customers need an account to write.
Is my trainer allowed to send messages? Only if you switch on Messages and Send messages in their profile under Role.
How do I handle a reported message? Under Notifications, tap Chat message reported. For a group chat the chat opens, where you press and hold the message and choose Remove for everyone. The notification shows you the beginning of the message, even if it comes from a direct chat between a customer and your trainer.
Can I block someone myself? Yes, in a direct chat. Press and hold one of the person's messages and choose the Block entry. You can undo this at the bottom of the chat with Unblock.