Chat

FanDesk Chat is your team's real-time communication hub. All messaging — channels, direct messages, group conversations, and video calls via Pulse — lives in one place. No Slack, no separate video app, no context switching.

Channel Types

Public Channels

Open to everyone in the workspace. Any team member can browse and join public channels without an invitation.

• Ideal for company-wide announcements, team-specific discussions, and topic-based conversations
• Appear in the Browse Channels list
• Anyone can read and participate

Private Channels

Invitation-only channels for sensitive or focused discussions.

• Only visible to members
• Members must be explicitly added by an existing channel member
• Ideal for leadership discussions, confidential projects, or client-specific work

Direct Messages (DMs)

One-on-one private conversations with any team member.

• Click any person's name or avatar to open a DM
• Full messaging features: rich text, file sharing, reactions, threads, Pulse calls
• DMs are only visible to the two participants

Group DMs

Multi-person conversations without creating a full channel.

• Click + New Message and add multiple people
• Great for ad-hoc conversations that don't need a permanent channel
• Can be upgraded to a private channel if the discussion becomes ongoing

Creating a Channel

1. Click + next to Channels in the sidebar
2. Choose Public or Private
3. Enter a channel name (lowercase, hyphens for spaces — e.g., engineering-backend)
4. Add a description so teammates know what it's for
5. Invite initial members (you can skip this and add later)
6. Click Create

Naming Conventions

• Lowercase only: #engineering, not #Engineering
• Hyphens for spaces: #product-launches, not #product launches
• Be descriptive: #customer-support-escalations beats #cs

Examples:

• #engineering — General engineering discussion
• #product-launches — Coordination for launches
• #random — Off-topic and team culture
• #client-acme — Client-specific channel

Managing Channels

Channel Settings

Access via the channel name in the header or channel settings icon.

Pinning Channels

Pin frequently used channels to the top of your sidebar:

1. Right-click any channel
2. Select Pin Channel
3. Pinned channels appear at the top of the list

Member Management

Adding Members

1. Open the channel
2. Click the member count in the channel header
3. Click Add Members
4. Search by name and select team members
5. Click Add

Removing Members

1. Click the member count in the channel header
2. Find the member to remove
3. Click the ... menu next to their name
4. Select Remove from Channel

Channel Admins

Channel creators are admins by default. Admins can:

• Add and remove members
• Update channel settings and description
• Delete the channel
• Promote other members to admin

Browsing and Joining Channels

1. Click Browse Channels in the sidebar (or press the search icon)
2. See all public channels with member counts and descriptions
3. Filter by name or search by keyword
4. Click Join to become a member
5. The channel immediately appears in your sidebar

Channel Groups

Organize your sidebar by grouping related channels:

1. Right-click any channel or click the Groups icon
2. Click + New Group (e.g., "Engineering", "Clients", "Company")
3. Drag channels into groups
4. Collapse or expand groups in the sidebar to reduce noise
5. Drag to reorder groups

Pulse: Video & Audio in Chat

Pulse calls (video and audio meetings) are embedded directly in Chat. Start a call from any channel or DM:

• Click the phone icon for audio
• Click the video icon for video
• All participants in the channel are notified and can join instantly

See Pulse for full meeting features including recording, transcription, and AI summaries.

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Next: Learn about messaging features in Messaging Features.