One-to-one messages between residents, office and guards
Residents message a neighbour, the society office or a guard without sharing a phone number. Anyone can block a person or report a message, and the office warns or pauses someone's chat. A resident can turn off messages from neighbours.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- To ask the guard whether the plumber has left, you have to give your mobile number to a guard you have never met.
- A neighbour you argued with in the parking keeps messaging you on your personal number.
- Complaints about abusive messages reach the committee as screenshots, with no record of what was decided.
How it works
- On the resident portal or the Resident app, open Chat and press New. Search by name or flat number and pick the person: a resident, the office or a guard.
- Residents are shown with their flat (A-1204); staff are shown as Office or Guard. The chat shows no phone numbers.
- Guards answer on the Messages page of the guard screen or the Guard app. Office staff answer from Chat in the back office's main menu.
- If you do not want neighbours to start chats with you, switch off Let Neighbours Message Me on My profile. The office and the guards can still reach you.
- Block a person from the chat's menu: no messages either way, and they no longer find you. Report a single message or a person, with a reason.
- The report reaches Visitors > Residents > Community > Chat Reports with the message and the five before it. The office presses Warn, Pause Their Chat or Dismiss, and the person who reported is told.
Everything it does
Who can message whom
- Residents with a login, the society office and the guards of the same society
- A resident can message a neighbour only if that neighbour lets neighbours message them (on to start with)
- Office staff and guards can message any resident of their society
- Nobody can message a person who blocked them, or whom they blocked
- A person who left the society can no longer be messaged
Privacy
- A one-to-one chat is between the two people only; it is not listed with the office's chat groups
- The office sees a one-to-one message only when it is reported
- Blocking does not touch society groups: both people still see each other's group messages
- Unblock from the same menu; blocks are kept on record and nothing is deleted
Reports
- Reasons: Spam or selling, Abusive or offensive, Harassment, Shares private details, Something else
- Report a message (from groups or one-to-one) or a person, with what happened
- The office sees the reported message as it was, the messages just before it, and how many reports there are about the person
- The first office manager gets a to-do to review it
Warning and pausing
- Warn: the person gets a warning, with the office's note if written
- Pause Their Chat: 7 days (the default), 30 days, or until the office lifts it
- A paused person cannot send in groups or one-to-one; they still read
- Visitors > Residents > Community > Paused Chats lists who is paused and until when; Lift the Pause ends it early
- Every decision keeps who decided and when
Who uses it
ResidentMessages neighbours, the office and guards, turns neighbour messages off, blocks and reports.
GuardAnswers residents from Messages on the guard screen or the Guard app, without using a personal phone.
Society officeMessages any flat, reviews reports, warns or pauses someone's chat and lifts pauses.
Where you use it
- Resident portal: Chat, and Let Neighbours Message Me on My profile
- The SmartMy Society Resident app: Community > Chat (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- The guard page and the SmartMy Society Guard app: Messages (the app is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Web (office): Chat in the back office's main menu; Visitors > Residents > Community > Chat Reports and Paused Chats
- Not voice or video calls, and not an intercom: chat is text, photos and videos
What you control
Settings
- Let Neighbours Message Me: per resident, on to start with
- Pause For: per report, 7 days to start with (or 30 days, or until lifted)
Notifications
- Chat Message: to the other person, by app push (or the browser, where notifications are on), else in-app. It can be switched off, and it does not wait for quiet hours
- Chat Report to Review: to the office's managers; app push, email and in-app
- Chat Report Answered: to the person who reported, with what the office decided; app push, email and in-app
- Chat Warning, Chat Paused and Chat Back On: to the person reported; app push, email and in-app
- Each person can switch off a channel, such as email, for themselves; in-app notices always arrive
Questions
Can my neighbours see my phone number?
No. Residents are shown by name and flat, and staff as Office or Guard. The chat never shows phone numbers. The office keeps the numbers on the residents list, as before.Can I stop neighbours messaging me?
Yes. Switch off Let Neighbours Message Me on My profile. The office and the guards can still message you. You can also block one person.Can the office read our private messages?
The office's list does not show one-to-one chats. The office sees a message only when one of the two people reports it, with the five messages before it.What happens when someone is reported?
The office reads the report and warns the person, pauses their chat for 7 days, 30 days or until lifted, or dismisses it. The person who reported is told the outcome.Can a guard message a resident?
Yes. Guards use Messages on the guard screen or the Guard app, and residents see them as Guard. The chat shows no phone numbers on either side.Related features
COMMUNITYSociety groups and announcementsOne group for the whole society, kept up to date as families move in and out. The office makes groups for a tower or the committee, and residents make their own. Any group can be set so only its admins post, for announcements.APPROVAL CHAINS AND CHATStaff chat for the office and guardsThe society office, the facility manager and the guards message each other inside SmartMy, one to one or in groups. The chat opens from Chat in the back office and shows only the conversations you are in.GATE, GUARDS AND KIOSKGuard app and guard web pageOne screen shows the guard who is expected, waiting for a flat's answer, inside or pre-approved, and which children wait for a parent. It runs in any browser at /guard and as the SmartMy Society Guard app.FLATS AND RESIDENTSResident app and resident web portalResidents answer the gate, invite guests, follow daily help and parcels and read alerts in the SmartMy Society Resident app or in a browser. Both show the same flat and do the same things.VISITORS AT THE GATEIntercom answers and a timed walk to the flatMany residents still answer the gate on the intercom. The guard records what the flat said on the same visit, with their own name, so the record is complete. When the flat asks for security to bring the visitor up, the guard starts and ends the escort on the card. Both times are kept.
See it set up for your own society.
Tell us how many towers, flats and gates you have. We will show you and your committee the resident app, the guard app and the office screens, set up that way.