Product Town Hall for Conversation and Chat (05/05/25)

AI Companion Summary

Quick recap

Susmitha discussed the upcoming releases for Conversations for the quarter, including the internal chat feature and the ability to tag users and send automated workflow messages. The team also discussed the plan for a Chrome extension for Gmail and Outlook, the usefulness of the Chrome extension for users managing email on their phones, and the development of a new contacts module and the integration of TikTok into the platform. Other topics included the use of dummy data in their system, the need for a preference management module for the email channel, and the development of a GHL conversation layer for personal mailboxes.

Next steps

Susmitha to schedule a call with Dutch to discuss automated welcome messages for new sub-accounts.

Susmitha to schedule a call with Dea to discuss email failure notifications.

Saurav to check with the LC team about the recent changes in default headers for email sending.

Saurav to discuss with the workflows team about adding a trigger for inbound emails based on the receiving email address.

Ryan to email Glenn the tutorial video for the new internal team mailbox feature.

Saurav to share Charles' suggestion for social media profile buttons on contact cards with Pallavi.

Ryan to follow up with Shabam and other teams regarding the issue of user permissions across multiple sub-accounts.

Conversations team to implement a toggle for dummy data in conversations before releasing the feature.

Susmitha to pass on feedback about adding audible alerts for internal notifications to the notifications and user management team.

Saurav to investigate the possibility of implementing a CRM inbox functionality similar to Hubspot and Salesforce.

Summary

Conversations Releases and Internal Chat Enhancements

In the meeting, Susmitha discussed the upcoming releases for Conversations for the quarter. She highlighted the recent release of the internal chat feature, which allows users to chat with sub-account users directly from the CRM. She also mentioned the upcoming enhancements to the internal chat feature, including the ability to tag users and send automated workflow messages. Additionally, she introduced a new feature that allows agencies to create internal chats with specific sub-accounts. Susmitha also addressed questions about the notification system, including the need for audible alerts for internal notifications.

Chrome Extension for Gmail and Outlook

Susmitha discussed the plan for a Chrome extension for Gmail and Outlook, which would allow users to create and update contacts directly from their email. She also mentioned an upcoming feature that would allow users to specify which sub-accounts their emails should connect to, addressing a concern raised by Michael about email correspondence visibility across sub-accounts. Jeff raised a related issue about user permissions across sub-accounts, which Charles confirmed was a known problem. Susmitha assured Jeff that the upcoming feature would address his concern.

Chrome Extension Branding and Features

Ryan and Waz discussed a plan to address a concern raised by Waz. Susmitha and Damian discussed the branding of a Chrome extension for email, with Susmitha suggesting a white label approach for the first phase. Damian proposed taking on the heavy lifting of branding and launching the extension on the Google store, which Susmitha agreed to discuss internally. Dan raised a question about the usefulness of the Chrome extension for users managing email on their phones, to which Susmitha confirmed it was only for desktop use. Susmitha then presented several new features for the system, including the ability to save filters as views, an inbox for mentions, and a new UI for conversations. Jeff suggested adding a feature to see all calls and texts without having to create filters, which Susmitha took note of.

New UI Features and Email Updates

Dea and Susmitha discussed the possibility of filtering emails based on the email ID they are coming from. Susmitha noted that this feature is not currently available with the new UI, but she will consider it for future development. Saurav then presented updates on the new UI, including the ability to modify email recipients and the upcoming feature of forwarding emails. He also mentioned the development of a new contacts module and the integration of TikTok into the platform. Saurav highlighted the need for a preference management module for the email channel, which is currently in the final stages of product requirements and design.

Dummy Data Management and Preference

Saurav and Charles discussed the use of dummy data in their system. Saurav confirmed that they would be using the same set of dummy contacts as the contacts team. Charles expressed concerns about the dummy data being loaded, especially when snapshots are being loaded, and suggested the need for a hierarchy and toggles to manage this. Saurav agreed to work on this issue. They also discussed the preference management for email, with Charles suggesting that the preference management page should be opened when someone clicks on the unsubscribe page. Saurav agreed to incorporate this point into their system.

Email Failures and Dummy Data Discussion

Saurav agreed to schedule a call with Dea and Abhishek Shekhar to discuss the issue of email failures and their impact on billing. Saurav also committed to ensuring that the conversation dummy data would not go live without a toggle. Dan expressed concern about the dummy data in conversations and the need for a toggle before its implementation. Saurav assured Dan that the dummy data would not be exposed at the sub-account level and that the concerned PM was already working on the issue. Tiyana's question was deferred until the rest of the slides were finished.

GHL Conversation Layer Development Discussed

Saurav discussed a long overdue project involving the development of a GHL conversation layer for personal mailboxes. He highlighted the ability to integrate personal mailboxes and expose certain inbounds to the team level. Saurav also mentioned a project with Meta, scheduled for the next day, and a new capability around recurring notifications. He noted that Meta has revamped this module and it is now monetized. Saurav also discussed minor module improvements, including the introduction of a conditional operator on the workflows module and the addition of support for snippets in live chats. He mentioned plans to expose profile URLs and data points at the sub-account level for marketing communications. Lastly, Saurav discussed the development of a native iMessage module and an official ABM module, with the aim of partnering directly with Apple as a messaging service partner.

Email Syncing and Default Headers

In the meeting, Tiyana discussed the need for a feature that allows syncing of emails to a business profile instead of the personal profile level. She suggested that this would be beneficial for company email addresses, as it would ensure all communication to and from that email address comes into the team inbox. Saurav clarified that the two-way sync currently operates at a similar level, but they are considering a phase three where multiple mail IDs can be integrated onto the conversations module. Tiyana also raised concerns about the default headers changing, which Saurav agreed to check with the LC team. Lastly, Tiyana asked about the possibility of triggers for inbound emails, which Saurav agreed to discuss with the workflows team.

Integrating CRM With Email Services

Glenn discussed the need for a CRM to function as a real inbox, replacing the traditional inbox, especially for business emails. He highlighted the challenges of integrating CRM with email services like Gmail or Outlook, particularly for bulk email marketing and transactional correspondence. Glenn emphasized the importance of having a setup that allows for different types of emails and structures how they come in and go out. He also mentioned the need for POP3 and SMTP functionality for the root side and routing emails through a dedicated subdomain. Glenn suggested that CRM should offer the option to use it as an inbox, similar to Hubspot and Salesforce. Saurav acknowledged Glenn's points and confirmed that they aspire to integrate multiple business emails into the CRM module.

Social Media Profile Access Discussion

Ryan and Glenn discussed the use of a male client, which Glenn confirmed. Saurav and Susmitha discussed the sharing of a video and the process of fetching data from social media profiles. Charles suggested the addition of buttons to easily access social media profiles from the contact card, which Saurav agreed to consider. Ryan clarified the process of using a predefined URL string to retrieve social media profiles. The team also discussed the user experience on the contacts page and the possibility of interactive CTAs for easy navigation to social media profiles.

AI-generated content may be inaccurate or misleading. Always check for accuracy.