Team Chat

Real-Time Messaging Inside ClinicOS

Written By Brendan Baker

Last updated About 10 hours ago

Team Chat is the system-wide communication panel built directly into ClinicOS. It gives your team a fast, reliable way to coordinate without leaving the workflow.
It lives in the bottom-left corner of every page and can stay collapsed, pinned open, popped out as an overlay depending on how you work.

What Team Chat Does

Team Chat replaces:

  • Sticky notes

  • “Did you see my message?” hallway yelling

  • Slack/Teams context switching

  • Lost handoffs

It keeps conversations tied to the flow of the day — not another app window.

Where to Find It

You’ll always find Team Chat in the bottom-left corner of ClinicOS.

You can:

  • Click to open

  • Collapse to hide

  • Overlay mode - leaves it open on your page.

(Screenshot Placeholder: Team Chat icon in bottom-left UI)

Key Features

1. @Mentions

Use @name to immediately notify a specific teammate.

Mentions trigger:

  • In-app notification

  • Badge indicator on the Chat icon

  • Highlighted message in the conversation

Mentions work in:

  • Channels

  • Direct messages

  • Multi-person threads

Example of message marked URGENT and tagged:

[ 🔔‼️ @Sammy - Can you please put Jesse into room 3? ]

2. Direct Messages (Private Chat)

Every team member can start private, 1:1 conversations.

Includes:

  • Message history

  • Emojis

  • GIFs

  • Read indicators

3. Channels

Team Chat supports channels for different workflows, such as:

These are NOT created standard, and are free to be created by you.

Examples of possible use:

  • Front Desk

  • Treatment Rooms

  • Surgery

  • Techs

  • Admin

  • CSR

  • “Today’s Queue”

Each channel can be:

  • Muted

  • Favorited

  • Searched

  • Filtered

4. Search

The search bar inside Chat lets you instantly find:

  • Messages

  • Mentions

  • Files (if applicable)

  • Users

Search supports:

  • Partial words

  • Filters

  • Date constraints

This is how you avoid scrolling through 500 “Where is Fluffy?” messages.

5. Filters

You can filter by:

  • Channel

  • User

  • Mentions

  • Unread

  • Date

Filtering keeps high volume clinics from drowning in chatter.

6. Emojis & Giphy Integration

Team Chat supports:

  • Emoji picker

  • Giphy search for GIFs

Lightweight, but helps keep morale up in the chaos.

These are located on the left of the type bar in the chat widget.

7. Overlay Mode

When opened in overlay mode:

  • The chat window floats above your current page

  • It remains active even during medical records or invoicing

8. Collapsed Mode

Click the icon to collapse.
You’ll still see:

  • Unread badge

  • Mention count

Collapsed mode keeps the UI clean without losing situational awareness.

How to Use Team Chat Step-by-Step

Open Chat

  1. Click the chat icon in the bottom-left corner.

  2. Choose Channels or Direct Messages.

Send a Message

  1. Type in the message box.

  2. Use the GIPHY button for GIFs (if enabled).

  3. Press Enter to send.

Mention a Teammate

  1. Type @

  2. Select the user from the autocomplete list

  3. Send

Start a Direct Message

  1. Click “Direct Messages” button in the top right bar

  2. Select a teammate

  3. Start the conversation

Search Messages

  1. Click "search" in the top right bar

  2. Enter your keyword

  3. Filter as needed

Pin or Collapse Chat

  • Click the pin icon to dock

  • Click the arrow to collapse

  • Click pop-out to switch to overlay

Common Use Cases

  • Front Desk → Tech handoffs

  • DVM → CSR updates during visits

  • Multi-room coordination

  • Quick “Is this med pulled?” checks

  • Lab alerts or callbacks

  • Large team broadcast messages

  • Quiet channels for surgery day

  • Private messages for sensitive items

Troubleshooting

Messages not sending

  • Check network stability

  • Refresh the page (Chat reconnects automatically)

Not receiving @mention alerts

  • Ensure browser notifications are allowed

  • Verify you’re logged into the correct user

Chat window not opening

  • Clear your browser cache

  • Ensure your permissions include internal communication

Giphy not loading

  • Clinic firewall or content filter may be blocking Giphy

Related Pages

  • Roles & Permissions

  • Alerts & Messaging

  • Workflow Overview

  • RoomOps

  • AI Assistants (Atlas, ChronicleAI, PulseCheck — once moved to Artificial Presence)

Status and uptime pages are available at status.pawthosx.com