Starting a Conversation

From the panel that displays the list of conversations, you can start a new conversation.

  1. In the panel that displays the list of conversations, click the New icon.
  2. From the pop-up menu that appears, select New Chat.

    The Start a Chat panel appears.

    This screen displays a link to your department and links to any favorites that you have specified. If your department is not visible, your administrator has configured your system to not display your department on this screen.

    Note: In this panel, if you type a context in the Add Context field or click Patient to specify a patient context, you create a group chat, not a 1-on-1 conversation with another person. See Starting a Group Chat for details on how to create a group chat.
  3. In the Start a Chat panel, do one of the following to select the person with which you want to have a conversation.

    In the Search field, type text consisting of some or all of the person's name. All matches of this search text are displayed. Click the entry for the person with which you want to start a conversation.

    Click a group name to display the members of the group, then click the member to start the conversation. If the group contains subgroups, click a subgroup name to display its members.

    If the person is defined as a favorite, click that person's name to start the conversation. (See About Favorites for more information on Favorites.)

    The presence icon at the top right of the profile picture or initials indicates availability:

    See The Presence Indicator for more information on presence and availability.

  4. When you have selected a message participant, the chat screen appears.

    In the Chat screen, you can start the conversation. See Adding a Message for information on how to do this.

If you have previously started a 1-on-1 conversation with this person, the existing conversation is rejoined. Conversations that are between more than two people or contain a patient reference are always new conversations.