The inbox how messages flow.

How a widget submission becomes an SMS, becomes a thread in your inbox, and becomes a reply on the customer's phone.

The full round trip in plain English

1. A visitor opens your widget on your website and types a message. They optionally enter their name and mobile.
2. TapText creates a conversation in your inbox.
3. If they entered a mobile, the auto-reply (set in Settings, Auto-replies) goes out as an SMS to their phone.
4. You get an SMS on your business phone, from your TapText AU number, containing the visitor's message.
5. You reply to that SMS as you would to anyone else. Your phone sends to the TapText number.
6. TapText forwards your reply on to the visitor's mobile via SMS, and shows it in the widget thread on your website.
7. The conversation lives in your TapText inbox forever (or until you delete it, or until the 5-year retention period closes after cancellation).

The inbox at a glance

Go to Dashboard, Inbox. You'll see:

• A list of conversations on the left, newest first
• The conversation thread on the right when you click one
• A reply box at the bottom for sending from desktop

Conversations have a status:

• Open. Active, awaiting a reply or follow-up
• Replied. You've responded, the ball is back in their court
• Closed. Done, archived

Replying from desktop or phone

Reply from whichever is faster:

• Desktop: open the conversation in the TapText inbox, type, send. Same outcome.
• Phone: reply to the SMS thread your TapText number sent you. The reply lands the same place.

Don't worry about which device "owns" a conversation. Both reply paths sync to the same thread.

What if the visitor didn't give a mobile

If they only typed a message but didn't enter a mobile, you can still see and reply to the conversation in the inbox. The widget on your website will show your reply if they're still on the page. But there's no SMS path to follow up later (no number to text). Reply quickly while they're still on the site, or get an alternative contact in your reply.

Searching the inbox

Use the search bar at the top of the inbox to find conversations by:

• Visitor name or mobile
• Message content (any word in any message)
• Date range
• Tag (see Tagging conversations)

Conversation history

Every message ever sent or received is visible in the thread, with timestamps and delivery status. Conversation history survives plan changes, restarts, and the 30-day read-only post-cancellation period (then it's retained for the legal retention period of 5 years before deletion).