Unified Message Center
One inbox for every text, email and call across all your contacts — see what came in, who’s waiting on a reply, and answer without leaving the page.
On this page
1What it is
Normally, every conversation lives inside its contact’s profile. The Unified Message Center (UMC) lifts those conversations out and lines them up in one place: the latest text, email or call for each contact, newest first, with the reply tools right beside them. It’s the page to keep open when your job is answering people rather than working a list.
It appears as Message Center in the main navigation once it’s switched on for the account. If you don’t see it, ask your account admin.
2How the page is laid out
The page has two halves. On the left, the message list: one row per conversation, showing the message type, the contact, a preview of the message and its date. On the right, the contact panel: as soon as you click a row it loads that contact’s name, phone (with click-to-call if you have telephony), the flame marker, and a set of tabs for working with them.
3The message list
Each row starts with an icon for the message type and an arrow for direction. The types the UMC tracks are:
| Type | Includes |
|---|---|
| Text | Outbound texts you or an action plan sent, and inbound texts from the contact. |
| Outbound emails, inbound replies, and unsubscribe notices when a contact opts out. | |
| Call | Outbound calls, inbound calls and appointment-related calls logged against the contact. |
Rows with unread activity are highlighted. Clicking a row opens the contact on the right and marks the message as read. The Search Contact box narrows the list by name, phone or email, and the Refresh List icon pulls in anything new.
4Replying and logging
With a contact loaded on the right, the tabs give you everything you’d have in the profile’s communication area:
- Whiteboard — the contact’s free-form notes area. Edit and Save Whiteboard; there’s also a quick Save Note box and a Log-a-Call form with reason and disposition codes.
- History — the full timeline of notes and messages for the contact.
- Text and Email — the same composers as the profile, with your templates available. Sending from here records the message in the contact’s history exactly as it would from the profile.
- Event and Task — schedule an appointment or create a task for the contact without leaving the inbox.
Click the contact’s name to open the full profile when you need something the tabs don’t cover.
5Filters and page settings
Above the list you can restrict the inbox to one contact type and one scope — Main Contacts, Active Opportunities or All Opportunities — and tag it further with Tags.
The funnel icon opens the Advanced Filter. Switch message types on and off (Call, Email, Text, and Thumbtack messages where that integration is on), choose Message Direction (incoming, outgoing or both), and narrow by Sales Cycle, Action Plan, Lead Source, Assigned User and State.
The gear icon opens Page Settings, which shape what the list shows in the first place:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Date Sort Order | ASC or DESC — oldest or newest first. |
| Max History Days | How far back the inbox reaches: 1 to 5 days, then 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30. |
| Message View | Condensed View shows one line per row; Expanded View shows more of each message. |
| Contact Query Option | Last Message of Last Message Type shows one row per contact (their single most recent message); Last Message of Each Message Type shows up to one row per type per contact, so a contact who both texted and emailed appears twice. |
These are saved to your user, so the inbox opens the same way every time.
Keep the window short
Most teams run the UMC on 3–5 days of history with Last Message of Last Message Type. It stays fast and shows only conversations that are actually alive; the full record is always one click away in the History tab.
6Unread markers and the flame
Two visual cues help you triage. A highlighted row means the message hasn’t been opened yet. The flame icon next to the contact’s name is a priority marker you set yourself: click it to cycle through four states — off, outlined green, filled green, and filled orange — and click again after orange to clear it. Use it however your team agrees (for example, green for “I’m on it”, orange for “needs a manager”).
7Troubleshooting
A conversation I know happened isn’t listed
Check Max History Days first — older messages fall outside the window. Then check the Advanced Filter: a message type or direction may be switched off, or the list may be filtered to one contact type or scope.
I see two rows for the same contact
Contact Query Option is set to Last Message of Each Message Type. Switch it to Last Message of Last Message Type for one row per contact.
There’s no Message Center in my menu
The UMC is enabled per account. Ask your account admin to turn it on.
8Related pages
- Contact Profile — the full view of one contact.
- Templates — the text and email templates available in the composers.
- Notifications — how you’re alerted when a message arrives.