In-App Messaging is staff-to-staff messaging built directly into ALIS. Before staff can send messages, the ALIS team must enable the feature for the company and assign the right permissions to security roles. Community administrators can determine how long conversations remain visible.
This guide is for administrators. For how to use the messaging feature, see How to Use In-App Messaging.
In-App Messaging is a paid subscription feature currently in Limited Release only.
Contact your Account Manager for enablement.
Setup Prerequisites
Confirm the following before setting up In-App Messaging:
- The subscription is in place. In-App Messaging is a paid entitlement enabled per company.
- You know which roles need which access. Decide in advance which security roles should be able to send messages, which need oversight, and which only need to see their own conversations.
Enable In-App Messaging for your company
In-App Messaging is gated behind a subscription-based entitlement, enabled per company only after payment is confirmed.
Once your Account Manager enables the entitlement, the Messages icon appears in the global header for staff whose permissions allow access.
Assign messaging permissions
Within a community, access to In-App Messaging is controlled by four permission levels applied through security roles. Plan which staff levels of access based on what each role needs to do.
| Permission | Grants | Typical roles |
|---|---|---|
| View own | See and participate in your own conversations | Direct-care staff, nurses |
| View all | See active conversations in your communities, even when not a participant | Community leadership |
| Manage | Create conversations, send messages, and add or remove participants | Staff who actively message |
| Administrate | Administrative oversight of the feature, including configuring company-wide message expiration. | Administrators |
To configure staff messaging permissions, contact your Account Manager.
Configure message expiration
Message expiration controls how long conversations remain visible in the messaging interface. It's configured per company directly within the feature it is, and only available to users with the Administrate role permission.
- Go to the Messages page.
- Click the Configure button.
- Enter the number of days a conversation should remain visible.
- To keep conversations from expiring, leave the window blank.
- Click Save.
Choose a window that matches your community's workflow and any internal recordkeeping expectations.
Message Expiration vs. Retention
It's important to understand what expiration does and does not do.
- Expiration controls only how long a conversation stays visible in the messaging interface.
- Retention is separate: message records are always retained server-side for compliance and audit.
Expiring a conversation hides it from view. It does not delete the underlying record.
What to expect after setup
Once the feature is enabled and permissions are assigned:
- Staff with access will see the Messages icon in the global header.
- Staff can start direct and role-group conversations within the communities they have access to.
- The unread-count badge and read receipts are active immediately; no additional configuration is required.
- If you access more than one community, the Messages landing page shows conversations across all of them, each labeled by community.
If staff report they can't see Messages or can't send, check that the feature is enabled for the company and that their security role has the right permissions.