The Communications page
The Communications page brings every communication in your firm into one place: the emails, calls, texts, and chats logged on every matter, lead, and contact, the text conversations on your phone line, and the calls made and taken on it. It works the way Documents and Tasks do: each matter keeps its own Communications tab, and this page shows them all together.
Before you begin
- Where to find it. In the sidebar, expand Manage (under Products) and click Communications. The page opens at
/communications. - Who sees it. The sidebar item and the page appear for members whose role has View access for communications. Owners always see it. See Roles and permissions.
- What each member sees. Logs on a restricted matter you are not on show Restricted matter in place of the matter's name, as they do everywhere else in Esqase.
- Calling and texting. The Text message and Calls tabs fill up once your firm has a phone line. See Your firm's phone line.
📷 Screenshot: The Communications page on the Logs tab, with the New button in the header, the Logs, Text message, and Calls tabs, the toolbar (search, date range, Types, Direction, Status, Member), and a full table showing the Record and Member columns.
The tabs
The page has three tabs: Logs, Text message, and Calls. The tab you pick is kept in the page address (for example /communications?tab=texts), so a refresh or a link you share lands on the same tab.
Start something new
Members with Create access for communications see New at the top right of the page. It offers:
- Send email, Send text message (the speech bubble with dots), and Call, which send a real email, a real text, or place a real call. See Sending email, Texting clients, and Calling clients.
- Log email, Log call, and Log text message (the speech bubble with lines), which record something that happened outside Esqase. See Logging communications.
Because this page is not a matter or a lead, the dialogs ask which matter or lead the email or log belongs to. A text or a call started here can be filed later from its conversation or call view.
Logs
The Logs tab lists every communication log in your firm, using the same table as a matter's Communications tab, with two more columns:
- Record: the matter (its number and title) or the lead (its number and the contact's name) the log is filed on, as a link. A log on a restricted matter you are not on shows Restricted matter without a link, and a log on no record shows a dash.
- Member: who logged or sent it.
Use the toolbar to narrow the list:
- Type in Search communications to search subjects, bodies, and parties.
- Use the date range filter to limit the list to a span of dates.
- Use Types to pick Email, Phone, Text message, Website chat, or Client chat.
- Use Direction to pick Inbound or Outbound.
- Use Status to show Active, Draft, or Archived logs. Only Active logs show by default.
- Use Member to show the logs one member logged or sent. This filter needs permission to view members.
- Click Clear filters to go back to the default view.
As you scroll down the list, the search box, the filters and the column headings stay at the top of the page, while the page heading and the tabs scroll away with the list.
The Types, Direction, Member, and date filters are kept in the page address, so a refresh or a shared link keeps them.
Everything you can do with a log on a matter works here too: View, Edit, Add note, Mark as active, Archive, Restore, Delete, and Record time, with the same permissions. See Logging communications.
Text messages
The Text message tab lists your firm's text conversations on the phone line, with the filters All, Unread, Unfiled, and Mine, and Search texts. Conversations from numbers Esqase does not know wait here, unfiled, until someone files them to a matter or lead. Click a row to open the conversation, reply, file it, or archive it.
Until your firm has texted anyone, the tab reads "No texts yet" with a short explanation and Learn more. See Texting clients.
Calls
The Calls tab lists the calls made and taken on your phone line, with the filters All, Mine, Missed, and Voicemail, and Search calls. Each row shows the client, the matter or lead, whether the call was recorded, its length and status, and the member. Click a row to open the call, play the recording, read the transcript and summary, add notes, file it, or put it on legal hold.
Until your firm has made or taken a call, the tab reads "No calls yet" with a short explanation and Learn more. See Calling clients.
📷 Screenshot: The Communications page on the Calls tab, with the All, Mine, Missed, and Voicemail filters, the Search calls box, and a list of incoming, outgoing, missed, and voicemail calls with their status badges, lengths, and members.
Open a log from a link
A link to the page that names a log opens that log straight away: a log Esqase recorded opens for reading, and a log you can edit opens in its edit dialog. Notifications about texts and calls open the conversation or the call the same way.
Common questions
- I don't see Communications in the sidebar. It sits inside the Manage group under Products, so expand Manage first. If it is not there either, your role does not include View access for communications. Ask a firm owner or administrator. See Roles and permissions.
- Why is the Member filter missing? It needs permission to view your firm's members.
- Why do I see Send text message and Call but cannot use them? Your firm has no phone line yet, or its texting registration is not approved. The dialog explains which. When calling and texting are not available to your firm at all, the two entries do not appear.
- Is a log here the same as the one on the matter? Yes. It is one log, shown in both places. Changing it here changes it on the matter.