Conversations
Every interaction with a contact—calls, SMS messages, and internal notes—lives in a single conversation thread. This gives your team full context at a glance, so anyone picking up a conversation knows exactly what happened before.
Understanding the Conversation List#
The left panel of your inbox shows all active conversations. Each item displays:
- Contact name or phone number — shows the contact's name if saved, otherwise the raw number
- Last activity preview — a snippet of the most recent call, message, or note
- Timestamp — when the last interaction occurred
- Unread indicator — a blue dot for conversations with unread activity
- Message type badges — icons indicate voicemail (red phone) or SMS (blue message bubble)
Click any conversation to open it in the center panel.
Searching and Filtering#
Search#
The search bar at the top of the conversation list lets you find conversations fast. It searches across:
- Contact name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Company name
- Last message content
Just start typing and results filter in real time.
Filter Tabs#
Use the filter tabs below the search bar to narrow by status:
| Filter | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| All | Every conversation, regardless of status |
| Unread | Open conversations you haven't viewed yet |
| Read | Open conversations you've already seen |
| Done | Conversations you've marked as complete |
Each tab shows a count, so you can see at a glance how many unread items need attention.
Quick triage
Start your day with the Unread filter to catch up on new activity, then work through each conversation before marking it done.
The Conversation Timeline#
When you select a conversation, the center panel displays a unified timeline of all activity:
- Calls — show duration, direction (inbound/outbound), and whether AI participated. Click to expand for transcripts and summaries.
- Conference calls — multi-party calls appear with participant details
- SMS messages — display with delivery status indicators (sent, delivered, failed)
- Notes — internal team notes that contacts can't see
Everything appears in chronological order, so you can follow the complete history of your relationship with that contact.
Composing a New Message#
Click the compose icon (message square with a plus) in the inbox header to start a new SMS conversation. The compose modal walks you through three fields:
- From — pick which of your SMS-enabled phone numbers to send from. If you've given numbers custom names, those show up here too.
- To — search your contacts or type a phone number directly. The field validates the number format before you can send.
- Message — write your text (up to 1,600 characters). A character counter turns yellow when you're near the limit, and a segment warning appears if your message exceeds 160 characters.
Hit Send and dialnote opens the new conversation automatically.
SMS-enabled numbers only
The compose modal only shows phone numbers that have SMS capabilities turned on. If you don't see any numbers, check your phone number settings.
Managing Conversation Status#
Conversations have two main states:
Open — active conversations that need attention. These show up in your Unread and Read filters.
Done — conversations you've finished working on. Click the green "Mark as Done" button in the conversation header to move a conversation here.
Done isn't deleted
Marking a conversation as done just organizes it—nothing gets removed. If someone calls or texts again, the conversation automatically reopens.
Real-Time Updates#
Your inbox updates instantly as new activity happens:
- New calls appear in the timeline as they end
- Incoming SMS messages show up immediately
- Notes added by teammates appear without refreshing
- Transcriptions and AI summaries populate when processing completes
You don't need to refresh or reload—dialnote keeps everything in sync automatically.