How to Send a New Message

Use either the Secure Texts page or the Home page to send a new message to any contact or group. If you already have a thread with the recipients, the new message is automatically appended to that thread.

To send a new secure text message:

  1. From either the Secure Texts page or the Home page, tap the Compose icon (  ).

    The New Secure Text page appears.

  2. In the To field, enter the first recipient of the message in either of the following ways:
    • Begin typing any part of the name and choose the recipient from the filtered list that appears.
    • Tap the Contacts icon (  ) and choose the recipient from the scrolling list of contacts that appears.

    You may add up to 20 recipients (VST contacts, groups, or organizations) in this manner.

    Note: If the total number of individual users (the number of members in any groups plus the number of individual recipients) exceeds 50 individuals, the message is terminated; that is, recipients will receive the message, but they will be unable to respond.
  3. In the Subject field, optionally provide a brief subject. You can enter up to 500 characters.

    The client uses a message subject to sort messages to and from the same recipient into different conversations. For example, suppose you need to exchange messages with the same person while coordinating the discharge of two different patients. A subject keeps the messages sorted into different conversations, so you do not mix up the discharge discussions.

    If you do not specify a subject, all messages to and from the same recipient appear in a single conversation.

  4. Optionally tap the More icon (  ) to specify options (Add an attachment, set a priority, schedule a delivery, or choose a Quick Message).
  5. In the field at the bottom of the screen, type the message you want to send. You can enter up to 3000 characters.

    Common emoticons are supported. If the recipient's device does not recognize an emoticon, it is displayed as a question mark (?).

  6. Tap Send to send the message.
Note: You can also send a message to a contact or staff member from within that person's contact information. See About Secure Texts for details.