Finalsite Chat master guide

This article gives an overview of Finalsite Chat, including what users can do with chat rooms and direct messages and what admins can configure and moderate in the Chat module tabs.

Bring everyone closer and build a stronger, more connected school community with Finalsite Chat—a secure, unified hub for conversations between families, students, and school staff. With dynamic translation, administrator oversight, and flexible chat environments, every message is tailored to its audience. New features like custom notification settings, an Ask AI integration, and message read receipts make communication more intuitive, inclusive, and responsive than ever.

Complete your initial implementation

Your Project Management team will walk through the implementation of the Chat feature on your Mobile App, connecting your people, creating rooms and configuring your global settings. Contact your Client Success Manager for more information, or email clientsuccess@finalsite.com and we will be happy to get you started! 

How Finalsite Chat works

With Finalsite Chat, it is easier than ever to connect, share, and stay informed. Whether replying to a thread, sharing media, or reacting with emojis, every interaction is designed to be simple and meaningful.

What your Chat users can do

• Start a new chat or reply within a thread in the following areas:
  • Chat Room: Rooms that display are ones the user has been invited to participate in.
  • Direct Message: a more private conversations between teachers and parents, initiated by either party, including two or more selected parties.

• Users without a mobile device can access chat directly in a browser using a secure URL.
• Share files, images, and other media.
• React with emojis or pin key messages for easy reference.
• Chat managers can view read receipts to track message engagement.
• Set custom notifications such as quiet hours to pause notifications during off-hours.
• Use Ask AI for instant answers and in-chat support.
  • Ask AI clients have the option of configuring their chatbot on the new mobile app. Reach out to your Client Success Manager or email clientsuccess@finalsite.com to learn more!

What you as Admins can manage 

Maintain a safe, well-organized chat environment with built-in controls:

• Manage chat communication within the CMS module. 
• Monitor and manage flagged content and review moderation logs.
• Manage and adjust membership by assigning chat roles and creating chat rooms by role, grade level, or group.
• Identify recipient relationships during message setup to support accurate communication and role-based targeting.
• Track engagement and metrics on the Overview Dashboard. 
• Configure settings and permissions for posting, reacting, and file sharing.
• Access audit trails for transparency and accountability.
• Customize notification settings and language preferences so that you can guide your community.

Overview tab: View reporting and metrics

View important data on your Overview tab to gain insight into your users' experience.

See also: 

Chat for school leaders: Manage your Chat feature in the module
Overview tab

Message moderation tab: Moderate the entire chat environment

There are multiple levels of moderation in place to provide for a safe and supportive environment in your chat feature. Navigate to the Message moderation tab to try it out!

• District oversight and monitoring capabilities 
• Moderate your chat groups in the following ways: 
  • Access a dedicated moderation panel to view reported content and manage user bans.
  • Flag spam, personal information sharing, and inappropriate language.
  • Use toxic filters to block harmful content.
  • Monitor chat usage with reports and analytics. 

See also: 

Chat for school leaders: Moderate your chat feature
Moderation tab

Chats explorer tab: View and monitor communication

Chats explorer is a central location where you can browse and manage all communication within chat rooms and direct messages taking place within your district or school.

See also: 

Chat for school leaders: Manage your Chat feature in the module
Chats explorer tab

Members tab: Manage membership and roles

Finalsite Chat allows for communication between families, teachers, and school staff. Create roles and organize by chat rooms by class or extracurricular grouping. When selecting recipients for a message or creating a chat room, admins and teachers can now view how each user is connected: by role, relationship, or group. This helps streamline communication and reduce misdirected messages.

• Create rooms from SIS rosters and/or manual addition.
• Customize the levels of restriction for students to participate in the chat feature. 
• Set up / adjust room membership with the help of relationship hierarchy to ensure that messages are sent to the right audience with full context. 
• Ability to connect district roles to the roles of chat for optimized functionality.
• One-way chatroom: announcements with ability to allow or disallow parent messaging.
• Two-way chat between parent and teacher.
• Group chat with multiple selected people.
• Monitoring and moderation by admins including profanity filtering.

See also: 

Chat for school leaders: Moderate your chat feature
Members tab
Chat for school leaders: Assign chat roles, create rooms, and manage members

Settings tab: Configure your chat environment

The Settings tab provides controls that allow you to define the structure and boundaries of your chat environment to fit your school's specific needs. 

Here, you can manage the core functionality of your chat rooms in the following ways:

• Identify and group: Configure chat room names and determine if rooms should be created based on specific participant roles.
• Set boundaries: Define granular posting permissions to decide who can send messages and who is restricted to a "view-only" experience.
• Manage visibility: Control contact visibility across different campuses to ensure users only see and message the relevant people in their district.

You can also customize the direct messaging experience and media sharing:

• Enable direct messaging: Set specific rules for 1:1 conversations, such as allowing or restricting teacher-to-parent messaging.
• Control media sharing: Toggle the ability for users to send attachments, ensuring that photos and fliers are shared according to your security policies.
• Model scenarios: Review real-world messaging scenarios to see how your configuration choices will impact daily communication for families and staff.

See also: 

Chat for school leaders: Configure your chat environment settings