Order Messages & Notifications
What this does
Every inventory order and shipping order in Teamship has its own message thread. Warehouse users, administrators and customers who can open the order can post messages and attachments there, so questions, instructions and exceptions stay with the order they relate to.
Teamship also shows in-app indicators when an order has a new message, so the people picking and packing it notice before they finish the order.
Messages are kept as part of the order record.
ℹ️ This page covers messages inside Teamship. For emails sent when orders change or messages are posted, see Email Notifications.
When to use
- A customer needs to give special instructions for an order (for example, packing or labelling requests)
- The warehouse needs to ask the customer a question about an order before shipping or receiving it
- You want to record an exception, such as damaged stock on arrival or a shortage at picking, with a photo
- You need to share a supporting document (packing instructions, a label, a bill of lading) with everyone working on the order
Where messages are available
The message thread is on the detail page of:
| Order type | Orders |
|---|---|
| Inventory orders | Regular, blind and transfer inventory orders |
| Shipping orders | Bulk, ecommerce, pick, pack, ship by LPN and transfer orders |
Inventory orders and bulk shipping orders use the same message layout as the pack order detail page.
On ecommerce orders, the thread is also available while picking and packing, on web and on mobile or scan gun. On the batch pack screen and pack-by-order pack screen it opens from the order's side panel.
During receiving on the scan gun, the Locations/LPNs section lets you send and read messages, add attachments and take a photo with the device camera.
Reading and posting messages
Messages are shown as a conversation:
- Your own messages appear on one side and messages from other users on the other side
- Each message shows the sender's profile icon and a date and time stamp
- Timestamps are shown in EST, marked next to the time
To post a message:
- Open the order and go to its message section.
- Type your message.
- Optionally add one or more attachments. You can attach images or documents, and you can send an image without typing any text.
- Send the message.
On a scan gun or mobile device you can use open camera to take a photo and attach it. If the device camera can't be opened, Teamship shows Unable to open camera.
Attachments
- Several files can be attached to one message
- Images can be posted on their own, without text
- Warehouse roles can print any document attached to a message using its print icon. See Printing & Scanning.
New message indicators
When an order has a message you haven't read, Teamship shows a pulsing message icon.
The indicator appears on:
- Batch pack screens (single-item, multi-item and custom batches), on the order and on the link that opens the order's side panel. The message icon in the side panel pulses too.
- The pack-by-order pack screen
- Bulk ship
How the indicator behaves:
- The icon shows the number of unread messages, not the total number of messages on the order
- Once the messages have been read, the indicator disappears
💡 Check the side panel before generating a label or closing an order that shows a pulsing icon. The message may change how the order should be packed or shipped.
Comment notifications setting
Each user's profile has a Comment notifications setting that controls whether they are notified when comments are added to orders. It is off by default for new users.
→ See: Profile Information
Who sees what
| Role | Access |
|---|---|
| Warehouse users | Read and post messages on every order they can open, on web and on mobile or scan gun |
| Administrators | Read and post messages on every order they can open |
| Customers | Read and post messages on their own orders only |
Customers are never shown, or notified about, messages on another customer's orders, even when they share a warehouse.
Customers don't see batches. They see messages from the order's own detail page.
Common issues
| Issue | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| The pulsing icon stays after I looked at the order | The messages were not opened. Open the order's side panel and view the message section. |
| The count on the icon is lower than the number of messages | The count shows unread messages only |
| A customer says they didn't see a message | Comment notifications are off by default. The customer can still read the message on the order page. |
| Unable to open camera on the scan gun | The device camera couldn't be opened. Attach a saved image instead. |
| The time on a message looks wrong | Timestamps are shown in EST, not your local time |