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Messages
Messages
Messages

Messages

Private one-to-one and small-group mail, asynchronous like email — each new message is announced in the recipient's Notifications and read in Messages. Governed on its own track.

Overview

Messages is the async, on-the-record counterpart to OneMango Chat: private one-to-one and small-group messages that behave like email rather than real-time chat. Each new message is announced in Notifications alongside every other notification, task, and approval, so nothing waits in an app nobody checks. Start a private conversation with a teammate, manager, or a group of up to ten people from Messages, the user directory, the org chart, a profile, or an employee's self-assessment.

Because it's governed separately from OneMango Chat's real-time channels, an admin can turn Messages off, restrict who's allowed to start a thread, or set its own retention window without touching Chat at all. Voice notes are transcribed automatically while your organization has AI credits, so a reply can be skimmed as text instead of played back.

Private one-to-one and small-group messaging governed on its own track — rich text, @mentions, attachments, and voice notes transcribed automatically while your organization has AI credits, each new message announced in Notifications.

Highlights

Message a teammate, manager, or small group privately from Messages, the user directory, the org chart, a profile, or a self-assessment.
Send rich text with @mentions, Drive-backed file attachments, voice notes (transcribed automatically while your organization has AI credits), and emoji reactions in every thread.
Receive messages live, with each person's own read state driving their unread counts.
Run group threads — rename them, add people, leave one you no longer need, mute noisy conversations, or archive to hide from your list.
Govern private messaging on its own track — disable it, restrict who can start a thread, or set a retention window, all without touching channels.
Give admins a usage dashboard — message volume, active conversations, reactions, and a 30-day activity trend.

Capabilities

Conversations & Threads
  • One-to-one messages Messaging someone you already have a conversation with reopens that conversation, history included.
  • Small-group messages Up to 10 people per conversation; an admin can turn group conversations off.
  • Archive a conversation Hides the conversation from your own list only; a new message from anyone brings it back. Nothing is deleted.
Messaging & Content
  • Rich text with @mentions @mention anyone in the conversation; they get a separate mention notice.
  • File attachments Files can be attached when you start a conversation or reply, and are stored in Drive; an admin can turn attachments off.
  • Voice notes with transcription Record a voice message on a computer; it is transcribed automatically (while your organization has AI credits) and the text shows under the audio.
  • Emoji reactions Your company's reaction set — the same in every app, chosen in Communications settings.
  • Edit and delete your messages Authors edit or delete their own messages; a deleted message disappears for everyone and can be restored from Trash for up to 30 days (less when the retention window is shorter). Edits show live, within a few seconds on the phone. An edit's earlier wording is kept for the organization's records (legal hold, privacy requests), never shown to others.
  • Per-thread saved drafts Unsent replies typed on a computer are saved per conversation and restored when you reopen it; the phone does not save drafts yet.
Inbox, Delivery & Discovery
  • Live delivery New, edited and deleted messages appear for everyone in the conversation without a refresh — at once on a computer, within a few seconds on the phone.
  • Per-participant read state Each person's unread count follows what they have opened. There are no read receipts — senders are not shown who has read a message.
  • Where people read it Messages opens from the profile menu (and the Communications sidebar); on a phone it is the Messages row at the top of Notifications. New messages are announced in Notifications.
  • Search across threads Search conversations by a person's name, the conversation's name or subject, or the message text.
  • New-message + mention notifications One unread notice per conversation at a time, plus a push for each message, and by email (a daily digest by default) for people with an address. Pushes and emails never carry the message text; an @mention's in-app notice shows its first line.
  • Cross-platform entry points A Message button on the user directory, org chart, profile panel and an employee's self-assessment — shown only to people allowed to start a conversation.
  • Mobile runtime A phone version of the list, the composer and the conversation; phones open it automatically.
Group Management
  • Rename a group conversation Group conversations only, up to 120 characters; a one-to-one is always named after the other person.
  • Add people to a group Add colleagues up to the 10-person cap (by people allowed to start a conversation); they can read the conversation's earlier messages.
  • Leave a group You lose access to the conversation and its history until someone adds you back; everyone else keeps it. A one-to-one can't be left — archive or mute it instead.
  • Mute / unmute a conversation Muted conversations send you no notifications or pushes; their new messages still count as unread.
Admin & Governance
  • Enable / disable messages org-wide Turning Messages off stops private mail for everyone while Chat keeps working. Chat's one-to-one chats have their own switch (Chat → Settings → One-to-one messages) — turn both off for a no-private-chats policy.
  • Restrict who can start a message Everyone, managers and above, app admins only, or named groups; Message buttons are hidden from everyone else. Replying is not limited by this setting. (A one-to-one between two people an information barrier keeps apart is read-only.)
  • Toggle group messages Off, no one can start a group or add people; existing group conversations stay open for replies, and one-to-one messages are unaffected.
  • Toggle attachments & voice notes Off, the attach and record controls are hidden and uploads are refused; files already sent stay available.
  • Retention window Messages older than the window are removed nightly, then destroyed permanently 30 days later (0 = keep forever). A legal hold keeps the messages it covers for your records (people no longer see them) until it is lifted. Set separately from Chat.
  • Usage analytics dashboard Message volume, conversations, active conversations, participants, reactions and a 30-day trend — for admins and anyone they name to see it.
  • Information barriers (who-can't-message-whom) A company admin sets barriers between two groups in Admin › Information Barriers, whether or not Chat is on (Chat settings shows the same list while Chat is on); they apply to Messages and Chat alike. People on opposite sides can't start a conversation, be added to one together, or send, edit or react in their one-to-one. Group conversations that already include both keep everyone.
  • Hard purge for compliance Two automatic stages: messages past the retention window are removed nightly (Trash does not offer them back), then destroyed for good with their voice notes 30 days later — a message lives at most the window plus 30 days. Attached files go with them. A legal hold keeps the messages it covers for your records (people no longer see them) until it is lifted: past the window they leave view like every other message, but neither they nor their files or earlier versions are destroyed while the hold lasts. A hold on a person (Admin → Retention & Legal Holds) covers every conversation they are in or wrote in. On-demand purge is not available.
Limits & Specs
  • Conversation types: One-to-one and small-group
  • Group size cap: 10 participants per thread
  • Delivery: Live, no refresh needed
  • Data isolation: Each organization's messages are stored separately from every other's
  • Reaction set: Your company's reaction set (same in every app)
  • Default retention: Forever; per-tenant retention window configurable
  • Surfaces: Everyone: Messages (profile menu; phone: top of Notifications). Admins: the Messages dashboard and settings.
  • Pricing: Included with OneMango

Use cases

Quick coordination
Employees message a teammate privately without leaving the platform — one click from Messages, the user directory, the org chart, or a profile card.
Small-group huddle
Spin up a private group thread (up to 10 people) for a specific task, name it, add members as the work grows, and keep searchable history.
Manager ↔ frontline check-in
Reach a frontline employee directly, on web or phone. A manager at a computer can send a voice note, and the employee plays it, or reads its transcript, on the phone.
Compliance-controlled messaging
Admins switch private mail off, restrict who can start a conversation, or set a retention window on messages alone — independently of Chat.
Admin usage oversight
IT and comms leads watch message volume, active conversations, participants, and a 30-day trend on the Messages dashboard.

FAQ

Messages is private one-to-one and small-group mail, asynchronous like email, announced in Notifications. Chat is real-time: one-to-one chats, group rooms and channels. They are governed separately — an admin can turn Messages off while Chat stays on, or the reverse. Information barriers, set by a company admin in Admin › Information Barriers, apply to both.

Yes. Disabling Messages turns it off for everyone without affecting Chat (Chat's one-to-one chats are switched off separately, under One-to-one messages). Admins can also restrict who may start a conversation, turn off group conversations or attachments, and set a retention window.

No. Messages is included with OneMango as a platform-included capability and is not sold as a standalone line. Sending and reading mail is not metered; transcribing a voice note and asking Ask AI about your mail draw your organization's AI credits, like every other AI feature.