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Spruce Conversation Filters: Custom Inbox Views and Per-Filter Notifications

All Spruce conversations are stored in Conversation Filters that show conversations matching specific criteria, helping users organize and manage work efficiently. Default filters include All (unassigned and unarchived conversations visible to the whole team) and Assigned to Me (unarchived conversations assigned to you). Users can create, edit, delete, and share custom Conversation Filters with teammates. Notifications can be controlled per filter so users only get alerted on the conversations that matter. Spruce Administrators can edit teammates' filters from Settings > Teammates.

Please watch our comprehensive video on Conversation and Contact Filters Here.

IN THIS ARTICLE:

Introduction to Conversation Filters

There are 2 types of Conversation Filters on Spruce: Inbox Filters and Team Chat Filters. Both allow you to create a filter to view specific conversations that meet your criteria. Team Chat Filters help you organize your internal team communication, whereas Inbox Filters help you organize all other communication (phone, fax, secure message, email, and notes). Filters can be reordered by clicking and dragging on web or tapping the three-dot menu on mobile. 

When a new filter is created, it is only shown to the creator by default. However, any filter can be shared with teammates via filter links, and administrators can always see all filters created by any teammate. Administrators can also add or remove filters for teammates. 

You can also create Contact Filters to view a subset of contacts. Learn more about Contact Filters.

Default Inbox Filters 

All 

The All filter contains all unassigned and unarchived conversations. The conversations in the All Filter are shared and visible to everyone on your team who has access to this filter. They will remain in this Filter until they are either archived or assigned to someone on your team. We can also configure your account to not show this by default if you are a part of a group practice; just message us to let us know. This filter may appear labelled as Inbox or All depending on when you started using Spruce.

Assigned to Me* 

The Assigned to Me (formerly known as Mine folder) filter contains all unarchived conversations that have been assigned to you. This filter is unique to each person (what you see in your Assigned to Me filter is different than what a colleague sees in theirs). When a conversation is assigned, it will automatically be removed from the All filter and appear in your Assigned to Me filter and any other filter that is configured to show conversations assigned to you. 

When you archive a conversation, it will automatically be unassigned so that any future replies will appear in the All and can be managed by anyone on your team unless you have a workflow set to auto-assign to you based on your settings for your number or Spruce link. 

Conversations can be manually "assigned," or they can be automatically assigned based on phone number, Spruce link, or even a branch on your Call Flow!

*Please note: The "Assigned to Me" Filter only appears after you have invited a teammate to join your practice. If you are a solo user, you will not see this filter.

Starred 

The Starred filter contains all conversations you have starred for reference or follow-up. The Starred Filter is personal – it only shows the conversations you have starred, not conversations starred by teammates. Starring a conversation does not remove it from the All filter. Learn how to Star a conversation. 

Notes

This filter may be used to compile your reminders, session notes, and more. Notes are internal-facing, meaning your patients won’t have access to them. To create a new note, just tap the + (on mobile) or the "New" button (on web/desktop).

Support

This is your main conversation to reach Spruce Support. We also use this to send you helpful onboarding messages. To message support, just tap the “Message us” button at the top of your screen. The Spruce Support thread gives you access to live support; our business hours are 8am – 8pm, Monday – Friday (Eastern Time), and you can alert us to an urgent matter at any time by selecting the Urgent button. Learn more about Spruce Support.

Archived 

The Archived Filter shows all conversations that have been archived. Note that when any team member archives a conversation, it is archived for the entire team. We recommend archiving conversations as a common practice to keep your conversations organized. Learn more about archiving conversations.

Default Team Chat Filters 

All 

The All filter contains all unassigned and unarchived team chats. The team chats in the All Filter are shared and visible to everyone on your team who has access to this filter. They will remain in this Filter until they are either archived or assigned to someone on your team. We can also configure your account to not show this by default if you are a part of a group practice; just message us to let us know. This filter may appear labelled as Inbox or All depending on when you started using Spruce.

Starred 

The Starred filter contains all conversations you have starred for reference or follow-up. The Starred Filter is personal – it only shows the conversations you have starred, not conversations starred by teammates. Starring a conversation does not remove it from the All filter. Learn how to Star a conversation. 

Archived 

The Archived Filter shows all conversations that have been archived. Note that when any team member archives a conversation, it is archived for the entire team. We highly recommend archiving conversations as a common practice to keep your conversations organized. Learn more about archiving conversations.

Creating Custom Conversation Filters

In addition to the default filters provided, you also have the option to create custom Inbox Filters and Team Chat Filters. 

How to Create a Tag-Based Inbox Filter

Tag-based filters are useful if you are using conversation or contact tags to organize your patients and/or communication. For example, if you are one of multiple providers/teammates on your Spruce account and you each tag your own patients with your name, you could create a filter that will show you all patients tagged with your name. 

  1. On web, scroll to the bottom of the default Inbox section and select + Create Inbox Filter. On mobile, select the Inbox tab, select the arrow at the top next to your inbox name, then scroll to the bottom and select + New Filter. 
  2. Enter the name of your Filter under Filter Name.
  3. If you'd like to see conversations with a specific tag in this filter, select that tag under Conversation must be tagged with. You can read more about tagging here.
  4. If you'd like to see conversations that belong to a contact with a specific tag in this filter, select that tag under  Contact must be tagged with.
  5. If you'd like to see both conversations with a specific tag and conversations that belong to a contact that same tag, select that tag under Conversation or contact must be tagged with. This will include any contact or conversation that has that tag. 
  6. Select Save. Optional: you can click and drag on web or tap the three-dot menu on mobile to reorder your new filter. 
This video walks you through the different possibilities for tag-based filters:

How to Create an Assignment-Based Inbox Filter 

Your "Assigned to Me" filter is a standard part of the inbox for users who are part of a team. This filter shows conversations assigned to you. You can create additional assignment-based inbox filters to see conversations assigned to other teammates or teams. For example, if you are covering for a teammate, you can create a filter showing conversations assigned to them. 

  1. On web, scroll to the bottom of the default Inbox section and select + Create Inbox Filter. On mobile, select the Inbox tab, select the arrow at the top next to your inbox name, then scroll to the bottom and select + New Filter. 
  2. Enter the name of your Filter under Filter Name.
  3. Scroll to "Assignment" and select "Assigned to..."
  4. Choose the teammate or team whose conversations you want to view.
  5. Select Save. Optional: you can click and drag on web or tap the three-dot menu on mobile to reorder your new filter. 

Setting up Teams can be useful in helping route conversations to the correct group of people. For example, if you want conversations involving scheduling to only appear in an "Assigned to Scheduling" folder, instead of showing in the All Inbox, you can go to Settings > Teams > create a team called "Scheduling" and add the relevant team members. Spruce will then automatically add an "Assigned to Scheduling" inbox for all team members in that Team. 

When conversations are assigned, they move out of the All inbox filter and into any inbox filter set up to show conversations assigned to that teammate or team. Learn more about assignment.

This video shows how to set up assignment-based filters:

How to Create Channel-Based Inbox Filters

If you wish to view only conversations sent to a certain communication channel (e.g., Calls and SMS, Fax, Email, etc.) or a specific phone number, fax number, or secure message link. For example, if you have a private phone number on Spruce, you can create an inbox filter to see all calls and SMS messages with that phone number. 

  1. On web, scroll to the bottom of the default Inbox section and select + Create Inbox Filter. On mobile, select the Inbox tab, select the arrow at the top next to your inbox name, then scroll to the bottom and select + New Filter. 
  2. Enter the name of your Filter under Filter Name.
  3. Under Channels, select the communication channel you want to include in your filter. If you select multiple channels, all communication from all the channels selected will show up in your filter.
  4. If you wish to specify a specific Spruce link, phone number, or fax number, select it from the dropdown/checkbox. Note: If you only have a single number or link for that channel, you will see a single checkbox with the number or link details. 
  5. Specify any additional conditions you wish to include (for example, tags). This is optional, but if added, only conversations in the selected communication channels AND that meet the additional conditions (for example, phone conversations also tagged "active") will appear in your filter. 
  6. Select Save. Optional: you can click and drag on web or tap the three-dot menu on mobile to reorder your new filter. 

How to Create a Team Chat Filter

You can create Team Chat filters if you want to create separate views for different Team Chats. 

  1. On web, scroll to the bottom of the default Team section on the left and select + Create Team Filter. On mobile, select the Team tab, select the arrow at the top next to your inbox name, then scroll to the bottom and select + New Filter. 
  2. Enter the name of your Filter under Filter Name.
  3. If you'd like to see Team Chat conversations with a specific tag in this filter, select that tag under Conversation must be tagged with. You can read more about tagging here.
  4. If you wish to only include Team Chats that are starred, you can select the starred option. Note: If you also have tags selected, only Team Chats that are starred AND meet the tag criteria you selected will show up in this filter.
  5. Select Save. Optional: You can click and drag on web or tap the three-dot menu on mobile to reorder your new filter. 

How to Edit and Delete Conversation Filters

To Edit a Conversation Filter:

  1. Select the three vertical dots icon next to the Inbox Filter or Team Chat Filter name. 
  2. Select Edit on the drop-down menu that appears. 
  3. Make your edits to the parameters of the existing filter, and select Save. 

To Delete a Conversation Filter:

  1. Select the three vertical dots icon next to the Inbox Filter or Team Chat Filter name. 
  2. Select Delete on the drop-down menu that appears. 
  3. This filter will no longer show up in your list. 

Share an existing Conversation Filter with a teammate

You can share any filter that you created with a teammate so that they don't have to manually re-create the filter on their own account. 

  1. Select the three vertical dots icon to the right of the filter name, then select Copy Filter Link.
  2. Navigate to Team tab, and either open an existing conversation with the teammate(s) you want to share this with, or select to create a new conversation with the teammate(s). Learn more about Team Chats.
  3. In the compose section of the Team Chat, click the link icon, then paste the link in. You can optionally add text to create a hyperlink. Alternatively, you can paste the link directly in the compose section.
  4. When your teammate selects the link, the filter you created will open for them, and they can elect to save it to their account.

For Administrators: Edit Teammates' Filters

Administrators can now edit their teammates' filters. This can be useful when setting up a new teammate or helping someone organize their inbox more successfully. This can be done using Spruce on a web browser or the desktop app. 

  1. Go to Settings > Teammates and select the teammate whose inbox you want to make changes to.
  2. Click on Conversation Filters under the "Manage" heading.
  3. At the top of the page, you will see an option to Copy From Another Teammate > select the teammate you wish to copy from > select the filters you wish to copy > select Save Conversation Filter(s). This is helpful if you want this teammate to have the same setup as someone else on your team.
  4. You can also select Create Inbox Filter. This allows you to create a new filter using the same steps above, except it will appear for your teammate instead of you.
  5. You can also remove filters that are listed or drag them into a different order.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Conversation Filters on Spruce?

Saved views that show all conversations matching specific criteria, with notifications that can be controlled per filter. 

What are the default Conversation Filters?

Defaults include All (unassigned, unarchived conversations visible to the team), Assigned to Me (conversations to you), Starred, Notes, Support, and Archived. 

How does an admin change which filters a teammate sees?

Spruce Administrators navigate to Settings > Teammates and select the teammate to edit which filters appear in that user's account. Note: You cannot remove certain default filters. 

If I create a conversation filter, can everyone at my organization access it?

No, when you create a conversation filter, it will only be added to your view by default. However, any filter can be shared with teammates via filter links, and administrators can always see all filters created by any teammate. 

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