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LegalBook

Text messages and the shared inbox

Text threads per firm line, consent and opt-out, approved templates, and the shared email inbox.

For: OwnerStaff

Not available yet

This page describes capabilities that are not available yet: Live phone and SMS service and Shared email mailboxes. They are not offered today.

On this page

Text messages and email are handled like calls: they arrive on the firm's lines and mailboxes, are routed to people who may handle them, and land on the same communication timeline as the person's calls and matters.

Live text messaging is not available yet, because it travels through the carrier service, which is not certified yet. Shared email mailboxes are not available yet either, pending provider setup. The screens below are built and work with test providers.

Text messages

Open Messages in the Reception workspace.

  • There is one thread per firm line and contact. A thread can be assigned to a person, resolved and reopened.
  • Choose a thread to read it, press r to reply, and e to resolve.
  • Press / in the composer to insert an approved template.
  • Internal notes on a thread are visible to staff only.
  • Pictures and files sent by text can be filed into a matter by someone who may add documents to it.

LegalBook keeps a consent record for each address and channel. The newest record is the one that counts, and the history is never edited.

  • When a person opts out, the thread has no composer. Only an opt-in from that person reopens messaging.
  • A receptionist may record a verbal consent or a withdrawal. Other consent changes need a staff role with more authority.
  • During quiet hours (by default 21:00 to 08:00 local time), a message that is not a notification needs a reason before it is sent.
  • Text messaging is off for a firm until its sender registration with the carrier is in place.

Templates

Templates live in Configuration → Templates. A template version goes through submission and approval before anyone can use it, and an approved version cannot be changed: you create a new version instead. By default, client-facing templates need an attorney's approval, and the person who wrote a version cannot approve it.

The shared inbox

Not available yet. Firms will connect shared mailboxes (such as intake@ and notices@) from Gmail, Microsoft 365 or any IMAP server in Configuration → Mailboxes. Mail that arrives is read, classified and matched to matters, and correspondence handlers work it from Shared inbox in the Production workspace: match, unmatch, classify, file an attachment into a matter, mark handled or ignore.

How it will work, as built:

  • Mailbox credentials are sealed with encryption and never shown again.
  • Nothing is sent from a mailbox that is not connected and verified.
  • Attachments arrive as documents and go through the same scanning as any upload.
  • Mail is never confirmed as correspondence automatically; a person decides.
  • A reply is only possible to an email you are allowed to read.