Deputy Messaging is currently in early access with new features and updates coming soon.

This article is written for System Administrators. It provides extra guidance to go along with the setup guide for turning on Messaging and configuring user settings.

Default Messaging permissions

Permissions let you control how your team uses Deputy Messaging, allowing you to customize the experience to your team’s needs and structure.

There are four (4) key messaging permissions in Deputy:

1. Who can access Messaging?

This setting controls which roles in your business can see and use the Messaging feature.

If a role’s access is removed, they’ll lose access to direct messages and group chats, but any messages they previously sent will remain visible in the thread. When a new role is granted access, members in that role will be able to see the chat history in any channels they join.

Default: On for all standard roles - System Administrators, Location Managers, Employees, Supervisors and Advisors. Custom roles included by default

2. Who can start a conversation with team members outside of their location?

This setting controls whether team members can message people outside of their assigned location. You can use it to prevent cross-location conversations if you want to keep team communication within location boundaries.

This only prevents starting conversations. Roles or access levels which have cross-location messaging permissions may still be able to start conversations with other team members who don't have the same permissions.

Default: On for everyone

3. Who can create group chats?

This setting controls which roles can start new group chats.

Default: System Administrators

4. Who can manage group chats?

This setting defines who can add or remove team members from existing group chats, and act as a group moderator/admin.

Default: System Administrators

When can I adjust Messaging permissions

When you first turn on Messaging for your Deputy account, you’ll be prompted to configure the four (4) key permissions in Business Settings.

Business Settings.png
Once you’ve set these permissions and clicked Apply Changes, your Messaging environment becomes active.

You can return to Business Settings at any time to update these settings. Any permission changes will only apply to future activity, they won’t affect past messages or conversations.

Note: When updating Messaging permissions, it may take a couple of minutes for the changes to apply and take full effect.

Common permission scenarios

This section covers some common situations where permissions are involved and how to handle them.

I don’t want Advisors to access Messaging.

In Business Settings > Communications, under “Who can access Messaging?”, deselect the Advisor role.

No Advisor.png

I don’t want employees to message across locations.

In Business Settings > Communications, under “Who can start a conversation with team members outside of their locations?”, deselect the Employee role.
No Employee.png

Employees will only be able to message others in their assigned location.

I don’t want Supervisors to create group chats.

In Business Settings > Communications, under “Who can create group chats?”, deselect the Supervisor role.

They’ll still be able to participate in group chats created by others (if they have access), but not create new ones.

No supervisor.png

I only want System Admins to manage group chats.

In Business Settings > Communications, under “Who can manage group chats?”, deselect all roles except System Administrator.

Untick all.png

I have a custom role and want to control their Messaging access.

If you have a custom role created in Deputy, you can manually enable or disable Messaging for that role under “Who can access Messaging?” in the same Business Settings section.

FAQs

Can permissions be changed after onboarding?

Yes, you can update permissions anytime in Business Settings.

Changes to permissions will take effect from that point onward and will not impact historical messages or conversations.

If I remove a role from ‘Who can access Messaging?’, what happens?

Team members in that role will lose access to Messaging, and will no longer see the Messaging feature in the mobile app or the web app. Their messages will still exist in the messaging threads.

Will location-based channels still work if I limit cross-location messaging?

Yes. Location-based channels only include members assigned to that location. Disabling cross-location messaging only affects direct messages and manually created group chats.

In summary, Deputy Messaging permissions give you the flexibility to control who sees and uses Messaging, to keep communication location-specific or more open, and determine who can create and manage group chats.

This helps ensure Messaging aligns with your operational needs and data security requirements.