Skip to main content

What is the Multi-Channel Inbox?

One Place for Every Conversation

Philippe Drolet avatar
Written by Philippe Drolet
Updated over a week ago

What is the Multi-Channel Inbox?

The Multi-Channel Inbox (MCI) is a unified communication hub that brings all your customer, prospect, and team conversations into one centralized interface.

Instead of switching between multiple apps and platforms, MCI lets you manage everything from a single place—turning every interaction into an opportunity to deliver better service and close more sales.

The interface of the Multi Channel Inbox

Why use the Multi-Channel Inbox?

Modern service businesses communicate across many channels. MCI helps you stay organized, responsive, and proactive, no matter where conversations start or continue.

Below are the key ways MCI supports your daily operations.

1. Centralized Communication Management

MCI consolidates messages from multiple channels into one inbox, including:

  • Facebook

  • Instagram

  • Gmail

  • Outlook / Microsoft 365

  • SMS

  • Website chat

  • Internal team chat

Outcome:
You never miss a message, response times improve, and your communication stays consistent—without juggling multiple tools.

2. Communication Without Switching Channels

With MCI, conversations don’t end when customers switch platforms.

Example:
A customer starts chatting on your website, leaves the page, and later responds via SMS. The entire conversation continues smoothly in the same thread.

Outcome:

  • No broken conversations

  • Better customer experience

  • Continuous engagement across channels

3. Marketing Campaigns

MCI isn’t just for support—it’s a powerful sales and marketing tool.

You can send:

  • Direct booking links

  • Interactive quotes

  • Coupon codes

  • Review requests

  • Promotional messages

Furthermore, you can tailor your messages to specific customer segments using Active or Static Lists.

Smart Customer Lists

  • Active Lists (auto-generated)

    • Example: Customers who haven’t booked in the last 14 days

    • Perfect for re-engagement campaigns

  • Static Lists (manually created)

    • Ideal for VIP customers or specific prospects

Learn More About List

💡The system dynamically generates Active Lists based on predetermined criteria. An Active List, for instance, can include “customers who haven’t booked in the last two weeks.”

Active Lists are great for re-engaging customers who may need a reminder or incentive to return.

On the flip side, you have to create Static Lists manually. These stay the same unless you decide to edit them.

Static Lists are perfect for targeting specific customers or prospects, such as regular or high-value clients you want to be included in your campaigns.

Macros for Speed & Consistency

Macros help your team respond faster while keeping messages professional.

  • Text Macros

    • Plain text

    • Work across all channels

  • Email Macros

    • Rich text formatting

    • Links, lists, colors, attachments

Outcome:
Faster replies, consistent messaging, and personalized communication at scale.

Learn More about Macros

Macros are preset messages to help you save time and keep your communication consistent across all channels.

There is 2 types of Macros, Text Macro and Email Macro.

Text macros can be used with every connected channel in your Multi-Channel Inbox. They only allow for plain text without any styling.

Email macros can be used with any connected email channel. They allow for rich text, special formatting, lists, links, color, text indent, attachments and much more.

You can personalize these messages with tokens, like 'Customer First Name', 'Customer Last Name', 'Sender's Name' or 'Company Name' to add a personal touch to each interaction. You can also create your own macros!

4. Customer Support with Full Context

Every conversation in MCI is tied to rich customer data, including:

  • Contact details

  • Booking history

  • Payments

  • Ratings and feedback

You and your team can view everything needed without leaving the inbox.

Sales Actions (Built into Conversations)

From a single thread, you can:

  • Send Live Pricing & Real-Time Booking Page links

  • Share Interactive Quoting Pages

  • Send Customer Portal links

  • Request 1-on-1 reviews

  • Share landing pages with all booking options

Outcome:
Fewer back-and-forth messages and faster deal closures.

Click on the arrow to learn about each sales action

The sales actions include:

Live Pricing & Real-time Booking Page Link : Send booking page link directly to your customers or prospects. MioCommerce’s Real-Time Pricing & Booking Pages help you save time with customizable sections, and dynamic pricing/availabilities.

Interactive Quoting Page Link : Send interactive quoting page link directly to your customers or prospects. IQ Pages are super flexible and powerful and can be embedded in your website to collect job related information and requirements from your customers in a single click, thus avoiding multiple back and forth loops!

Coupon Codes: Coupons are special codes that your customer can apply to the coupon section of any Live Pricing & Real-Time Booking Page to receive a special promotional rate upon purchase. (Coming Soon!)

Landing Page Link (URL Link to all Booking Pages): Your customers can see a list of all your booking pages in a single view. We call it the Landing Page/ Hosted page. The landing page is available as part of the Live Pricing Buy Button App. For more information on the Live Pricing Buy Button App, click here or navigate to your App Market now!

1-on-1 Reviews Request: With 1-on-1 Reviews you can request unlimited reviews through the Multi-Channel Inbox. Post positive reviews, filter negative comments and manage them separately, and reply quickly to customers!

Customer Portal Link: The Customer Portal gives your customers access to view all their upcoming appointments/quotes and their details like service location, service type, payment information, recent charges, who will be visiting, etc.

5. Team Collaboration

The Team Chat feature—available on the mobile app—keeps everyone connected.

Teams can:

  • Communicate in real time

  • Receive booking updates

  • Share service feedback and tips

Outcome:
Better coordination between admins and service providers in the field.

6. Advanced Filtering & Search

MCI includes powerful filtering tools that let you:

  • Find messages quickly

  • Filter by contact, channel, or status

  • View all conversations in chronological customer threads

Outcome:
Clear visibility into every customer interaction, past and present.

Key Benefits of the Multi-Channel Inbox

Some of the benefits you’ll enjoy by having the MCI as part of your business tools include:

  • Enhanced Productivity: By consolidating all communication channels into one platform, MCI significantly reduces the time spent switching between different applications.

  • Increased Sales Opportunities: With features like sending booking page links, interactive quotes, coupons and offering live pricing and real-time availability, MCI turns customer interactions into sales opportunities. The proactive approach to communication can increase conversion rates and revenue growth.

  • Improved Customer Experience: Providing personalized and efficient customer support increases customer satisfaction and loyalty. The comprehensive customer information and quick action buttons enable support teams to resolve issues promptly and effectively.

  • Better Team Collaboration: The Team Chat feature ensures that all team members are on the same page, improving coordination and productivity. Real-time updates and easy access to service provider information facilitate better management and communication within the team.

  • Effective Marketing: MCI's marketing features allow you to engage with your customers in a targeted and personalized manner.

In addition, businesses can maintain consistent and professional communication across all channels by sending customized messages and using predefined templates.

In Summary

The Multi-Channel Inbox is more than a messaging tool—it’s a central command center for communication, sales, support, and team collaboration.

By unifying all channels into one intelligent inbox, MCI helps you:

  • Respond faster

  • Sell smarter

  • Support better

  • Work as one team

Ultimately, it helps you grow revenue while delivering a seamless customer experience.

Most businesses start using the Multi-Channel Inbox

  1. Connect free channels first
    Start by enabling Facebook Messenger, Email (Microsoft 365 and Outlook) and Website Chat Box and Team Chat to understand how conversations appear and flow inside the inbox.

  2. Get your team comfortable with messaging
    Begin sending internal messages to your team to coordinate bookings, share updates, and get used to communicating from a single hub. Team Chat

  3. Add customer channels and start engaging
    Once your team is comfortable, connect customer-facing channels like SMS or social media and start replying, sending booking links, and managing customer conversations directly from the inbox. (Note you would need Plus plan to send SMS and use Macros, list and more advance features)

Did this answer your question?