Zenchat: One Platform for Messaging, Collaboration, and Smart Sharing
Overview
Zenchat is Zenoti's built-in messaging tool that enables internal communication between staff across your organization. It supports one-to-one chats, group chats, and broadcast messages, all accessible directly from the Zenoti home screen or the appointment book. Staff can share Zenoti records such as appointments, invoices, and guest profiles as interactive in-chat cards using Smart share, keeping conversations connected to the work happening on the floor.
Note
If your organization operates across multiple centers, cross-center messaging can be enabled as an additional permission.
Before You Begin:
ZenChat is available in multiple tiers. Confirm which tier your business is subscribed to before setting up communication channels as features and user limits vary.
Zenchat is accessible on the Zenoti web platform and on MyZen (the provider app). Ensure the myZen app is installed and that push notifications are enabled in the app settings.
Zenchat is not currently available on ZMA.
Visibility of appointments and invoices shared in chat is controlled by security roles. Staff can only view records they have been granted access to.
Cross-center messaging requires the message_across_centers permission to be enabled at the employee level by your organization administrator.
Note
Contact your Zenoti account manager for information on upgraded tier features and pricing.
Key Concepts
Tiers: Zen Chat is offered in multiple pricing tiers. The features available to your business depend on which tier your organization is subscribed to.
Direct messaging - A one-to-one private conversation between two employees.
Group chat: A conversation thread involving multiple employees simultaneously.
Broadcast message: A one-way message sent to a list of recipients. Recipients receive the message individually and can only reply one-to-one, they cannot engage in a shared thread.
Smart share: The ability to attach Zenoti records such as appointments, invoices, and guest profiles, directly into a chat message as interactive cards.
Message retention: For organizations on the free tier, Zenchat automatically removes individual messages after a configured duration from the time the message was sent. The conversation or room is not deleted; only the messages within it are removed.
Zenchat Tiers
Zenchat is offered in three tiers. The features available depend on which tier your organization is subscribed to.
Note
Contact your Zenoti account manager to review tier options and upgrade your subscription.
How to Access Zenchat
Log in to Zenoti on the web.
Click the Zenchat icon from the Zenoti home screen, or from within the appointment book.
A notification bubble on the icon indicates unread messages.
Click the icon to open the Zenchat panel, where you can view all chats and broadcast messages and take action.
Note
On MyZen, service providers can access Zenchat directly from the app. Zenchat is not currently available on ZMA.
How to Send a One-to-One Message
Open Zenchat from the home screen or appointment book.
Select or search for the staff member you want to message.
Note
If cross-center messaging is enabled for your account, you can search for employees in other centers. The recipient's center is displayed in the search results and in the conversation header.
Type your message in the message field and send.
To attach a Zenoti record, use smart share to select an appointment, invoice, or profile, these appear as interactive cards in the chat.
To attach a local file or image, use documents or gallery (available on paid tiers). The file size limit is 10 MB.
Note
Chat history is available within Zenchat for 30 days. Or files beyond this window contact your Zenoti account team for an offline retrieval request. Users cannot search for documents directly within Zenchat at this time.
How to Create a Group Chat
Open Zenchat and select the option to start a new group chat.
Use the filters at the top to narrow down the employee list. For example, filter by role or location such as all receptionists across locations.
Note
If cross-center messaging is enabled for your account, you can add members from other centers using the same filters.
Select the participants you want to include and click Continue.
Enter a name for the group chat.
Click Create group chat. The group is created with all selected members.
Type your message and send. All members receive it and can respond within the shared thread.
Note
All attachment and Smart share capabilities available in one-to-one messaging are also available in group chats.
Important
Service providers can only view appointments they have been granted access to. If another staff member shares an appointment a service provider does not have permission to see, they will be redirected to that appointment's page and shown an access-restricted message. Access is controlled by security roles configured at the org level.
How to Send a Broadcast Message
Use broadcasts when you need to communicate with multiple employees but do not want them to reply as a group. For example, notifying all front-desk staff of a store closure or task reminder.
Open Zenchat and go to the Broadcast tab.
Use the filters to narrow your recipient list, or manually select the employees you want to include.
Note
If cross-center messaging is enabled for your account, you can target recipients across one center, multiple centers, or your entire organization. You can view the included centers in the Broadcast tab.
Enter a broadcast name (For example, Receptionist of SPA).
Create the broadcast list.
Type your message and send.
Each recipient receives the broadcast as an individual message. They can reply only one-to-one, they cannot see or respond to the shared broadcast thread.
The broadcast list is saved in the Broadcast tab and can be reused for future messages.
Note
Broadcasts also support smart share and attachments, so you can include appointments, invoices, profiles, documents, or images as part of your broadcast message.
Cross-Center Messaging
Multi-location organizations can extend Zenchat to support communication across centers using the message_across_centers permission. This permission is configured at the employee level by your organization administrator and expands the scope of existing messaging features without changing how they work.
Note
Note: Cross-center messaging is disabled by default.
How Cross-Center Messaging Works
Direct messages: With the permission, you can search for and initiate chats with employees in other centers. The recipient's center is displayed in the search results and in the conversation header.
Group chats: Group creators with the permission can add members from multiple centers. Without the permission, users can still participate in a multi-center group if they are added by someone else, but they cannot add members from other centers themselves.
Broadcasts: With the permission, broadcasters can target one center, multiple centers, or the entire organization. The Broadcast tab clearly shows which centers are included in each broadcast. Broadcasts remain read-only for recipients.
Message Retention for Free Tier Accounts
On the free tier, Zenchat automatically removes messages after a configured retention period. This applies to all message types: one-to-one chats, group chats, and broadcasts.
Each message is deleted individually based on the exact time it was sent, not when the conversation started.
The conversation or room itself is never deleted. Only the messages within it are removed.
For example: Center A is on the free tier. A one-to-one conversation is created on 10 March 2026.
User A's sends a message at 10:00 AM, 10 April
User B's sends a message at 10:30 AM, 10 April
If the configuration is set to 24 hours: Once the current time crosses 11th March 2026, 10:00 AM, the message from User A is removed. Once the current time crosses 11th March 2026, 10:30 AM, the message from User B is removed.
Note
The retention duration is set by your organization's configuration. Contact your Zenoti account manager if you need to review or change the configured duration for your tier.
How to Attach Files in Zenchat
Zenchat supports attaching files from your local computer directly within a chat message. This is available in one-to-one chats, group chats, and broadcast messages.
Supported file types
Images (including JPEG)
PDF
Word documents
Excel spreadsheets
The maximum file size per attachment is 10 MB.
How to attach a file
Open a chat in Zenchat: one-to-one, group, or broadcast.
In the message field, select the attachment option (documents or gallery).
Browse your local computer and select the file you want to share.
Send the message. The file appears in the chat for all recipients.
Recipients can choose to download the file their local device or preview the file directly within Zenchat without downloading.
Note
Visibility of shared files is subject to the same security role controls that apply to other shared records in Zenchat.