Chat - Replying to a Message – Workvivo Help Center & Customer Support

Device(s): Mobile and Web

Roles / Permissions: Users

Availability:

1. Quoted Replies and Reply threads are available by default for all Chat users

2. Summarise Unread Chat Messages: Requires Workvivo AI to be enabled by either an Admin, AI Admin or AI Manager (Please reach out to your Workvivo point-of-contact to avail of the feature)

3 Compose in Chat: Requires Workvivo AI to be enabled by either an Admin, AI Admin or AI Manager (Please reach out to your Workvivo point-of-contact to avail of the feature)

Quoted Replies
Adding quoted or inline replies to Workvivo Chat makes conversations clearer, more organised, and easier to follow.

Employees can respond directly to specific messages, keeping context front and centre - even in busy group chats.

This feature helps teams stay aligned, reduces miscommunication, and brings more structure to fast-moving discussions. It’s a simple yet powerful way to make collaboration feel more natural, focused, and connected.

Simply select Quote Reply or Swipe right on a specific message and you can respond directly in the main chat channel.

Action Available on both web and mobile that says "Quote Reply"
This shows a preview of the message you are replying to if its an image, or file or media - it indicates the type of attachment
Users can only quote reply to one message at time
Users can to reply to a reply, the newest message sent becomes the quoted one
Users can pin, forward, react to a quoted reply
Quote Reply is now prioritised reply option on the selective actions, swiping on the message will also force the quote replies, threads will be secondary.

Threads

Message threads are fantastic way to keep conversations going on specific topics but not to overwhelm the whole channel. There are a couple of things to know.

Replying in Threads

Users have the ability to reply to a specific message in threads. On mobile long press on the message to see the option to reply or slide to the right (iOS only) to start a thread

On desktop you will need to right click and choose to reply in thread which opens a new side panel.

Thread Notifications

When you receive a message in a thread you will get a notification of a new message. The thread with a new message will be highlighted with a red dot and made visible to you. Opening a channel with threads does mark all messages in a thread as read.

Unread Messages

Setting messages to Unread gives Workvivo Chat users the ability to manually mark individual messages or entire channels as unread, helping them flag items for later follow-up and maintain focus in busy conversations . The feature is available by default on both Web and Mobile, with full cross-platform synchronization

Mark Message as Unread: Hover (Web) or long-press (Mobile) another user’s message → select Mark as Unread → channel shows unread badge .

Mark Channel as Unread: From channel list quick actions → select Mark as Unread → badge count of 1 appears

Summarise Unread Messages

Summarise Unread Messages lets users generate an AI-powered summary of unread messages directly from the channel list, without needing to open the channel. This is especially useful for busy or frontline employees returning to high-volume channels, or for users coming back from annual leave who need to catch up quickly.

It requires AI to be enabled for Chat and Summarise Conversations specifically at the organisation level via AI Admin Settings.

Web

Open the 3-dot menu on a channel with unread messages → select Summarise Unread

Mobile

Long-press a channel with unread messages from the channel list → select Summarise Unread

Dismiss by tapping outside, swiping down, or (Android) using the back button. Channel remains unread until opened normally

The summary streams in real time and is structured into the following sections:

Headline — a short title capturing the key topic of the unread messages
Summary — an overview of what was discussed
Decisions / Open Items / Action Items — included where applicable; omitted when not relevant

Note:

Summarises up to a maximum of 100 unread messages per channel
Works across 1:1, group, and pinned channels, including channels with unread thread replies
It can detect media, GIFs, attachments, and voice notes

Compose in Chat

AI Compose in Chat helps users draft and refine messages directly in the chat input, removing the blank-page problem and making it easier to communicate clearly and quickly. It is consistent with the AI Compose experience available elsewhere in Workvivo.

It requires AI to be enabled for Chat and Compose & Refine Message Text specifically at the organisation level via AI Admin Settings.

Web

When enabled, a sparkle icon appears in the chat input toolbar, positioned between the poll and emoji icons. Clicking it opens a modal with two modes depending on the state of the input:

Compose mode (empty input) — prompts the user with "What do you want to say?" and drafts a message from scratch. Tone (casual/formal) and length (short, medium, or long) can be specified directly in the prompt.
Refine mode (input has text) — opens with quick-action options: Improve writing, Make shorter, Make longer, Change tone → Casual, Change tone → Formal, plus a free-text custom instruction field. If you have text selected, only that portion is refined and replaced; if nothing is selected, the whole input is refined.