EXPLAINER: What's a chatterbox, why do I care, and why are you building it?

What’s a Chatterbox?
Chatterboxes are in-platform real-time messages that are optimized for today’s users - people who do most of their communication via a smartphone. It also works on a desktop computer for those of us who still use those wonderful machines.

Here’s how it looks when you are composing a message on your phone:

When you hit send, mobile and desktop users who have opted into notifications will get one, like this:

Yes, that lovely lady is with me. :slight_smile:

If you touch the notification it will open the TroopTrack mobile app and go directly to the new message.

You can create chatterboxes for patrols, for leadership positions, and for specific people.

Why do I care?
My sixteen year old son goes weeks without checking his email. He rarely answers his phone unless he recognizes the number. His communication model is real-time messaging platforms like text groups, slack, etc, and most of it happens on his phone. The best way to communicate with a group these days is not email. Sending text messages is expensive and limited. In-platform push notifications are cheap and powerful, including rich-text formatting, file uploads, and photos.

Why are we building it?
Many of our customers are getting third-party solutions for real-time messaging, but those solutions don’t integrate with TroopTrack and have to be set up separately. We think an in-platform messaging solution will help troops keep in touch without needing yet another tool.

Want in the BETA group?
Send an email to support@trooptrack.com. Please include your troop number. This email needs to come from an adult in your unit with the manage settings privilege.

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