Chat v.4.10.2023

Communication Tools

April 10, 2023

Chat

The Chat tool allows users to quickly exchange information with other Chat Room members.  Organization Administrators can create Chat Rooms and manage the members that have access to each Chat Room. Users will only see the Chat Rooms that they are permitted to use.

Navigation

Launch the Chat tool by accessing it from the Menu list (Menu > Communication > Chat).  

  

Selecting Chat Rooms  

The first time the chat tool is opened in an incident, the user must select which Chat Rooms they will use. Click on the Select Rooms text box and a dropdown list of all permitted Chat Rooms will populate.  

• Once rooms are selected, the “Show Only Last 24-Hours” checkbox is selected by default, limiting the display of entries to only those made in the preceding day. This helps with information overload for first-time users as Chat Rooms may have been active prior to the user joining the incident. Unchecking the box will show all entries.
• If a Chat Room was added by mistake, the user can click the “X” icon next to the Chat Room name in the dropdown box. This will remove that room from view.  
• Refreshing the browser will remove all Chat Rooms from view. The user must then re-select the rooms to be displayed.

Posting Chat Text

After adding the desired chatrooms, enter in chat text by:

• Typing in the text box. 
• Hit the Enter button on the keyboard or click on the Send Message icon.
• This will post the text chronologically in the Chat Room with the user’s icon and date/time.

Managing Chat Content (Org Admins only)

• Users with Administrator permissions will see additional options in the Gear Options icon.
• The red trash can icon in each post allows the Administrator to remove the post from the Chat Room, regardless of the user level that authored the text.
• Additionally, the Administrator can select the Purge button to remove all posts within a Chat Room. This action is not reversible and should be used with caution.

Export Option

The “Export” button will generate a CSV file format that can be downloaded and viewed in a  spreadsheet program. The column headings are: “Incident Name,” “Chat Room Name,” “Date Created,”  “Username,” and “Description.”