• Overview
• Prerequisites
• Opening the chat window
• Starting a chat
• Starting a group chat
• Starting a public topic
• Chat Permissions
• Chat Logs
• Chat Moderation

Overview

Merchant Central Chat allows your team to exchange messages, images, and files directly within the CRM. It also supports group chats and public discussion topics.

With chat built into the CRM, your team no longer needs third-party messaging tools. All conversations remain visible, searchable, and centralized in one place.

Prerequisites

To use the chat feature, enable the "Internal Chat" user class permission for the appropriate user classes.

You may also add rules to enable or restrict chat between specific users, user classes, or groups. For more details, see the Chat Permissions section below.

Enabling Desktop Notifications

CRM Chat can show desktop notifications even when Merchant Central is not the active browser tab.

To enable notifications in Chrome:

1. Click the Site Information icon in the address bar.
2. Enable Notifications.

Reload the page for changes to take effect.

Notifications will now appear in the lower-right corner of your screen.

Opening the chat window

To open the chat window:

1. Click the Chat icon near the top of the screen.

2. The chat window will appear on the right side of the screen.

   

Use the shortcuts at the top of the chat window to:

• Edit your chat settings (nickname, status, desktop notifications)
• Search across all topics
• Create a new group
• Create a public topic (visible to all Merchant Central users)

• Enable or disable sound notifications

  

Starting a chat

To start a chat with a Merchant Central user:

1. Open the chat window.
2. Click the user’s name in the user list.

ℹ️ Online users are shown with a green dot.

💡 To find a user quickly, type their name in the search box.

When you click a user’s name, a dedicated chat window opens and you can begin messaging.

In the top-left corner of the chat window you can:

• Search chat messages

• Add additional users to the chat

  

The buttons in the lower-right let you:

• Insert an emoticon
• Insert a link to the page you are currently on

• Upload a file

  

Starting a group chat

To start a new group chat:

1. Click the Create New Group icon.
2. Enter the group name.
3. Select the group members.

4. Click Create.

   

💡 If the user list is long, use the Search box to quickly find users.

The new group will appear in your chat list. Click the group name to open it.

Group chat options

Within a group chat you can:

• Edit group settings (name and description)
• Search messages
• Add or remove users
• Leave the group chat
• Delete the group chat

• Start a call with all members (Dialer required)

  

Starting a public topic

Public topics allow all ISOs using the CRM to participate in shared discussions. To create one:

1. Click the Create Public Topic icon.
2. Enter the topic name and description.

3. Click Add.

   

The topic will appear in your chat list. Public topics are labeled with a # symbol.

Public topic options

Inside a public topic you can:

• Update the topic name and description
• Search messages
• View members
• View banned users
• Leave the topic

• Delete the topic

  

Posting to a public topic from a private chat

You can post to a public topic directly from a private chat:

1. Type # in your message.
2. Begin typing the public topic name.
3. Select the topic from the suggestions.

The message will appear in both the private chat and the public topic.

Chat Permissions

Chat permissions control who can communicate with whom inside the system. These rules determine whether users, user groups, or user classes can initiate chats with one another.

To manage permissions, navigate to Manage → Chat → Chat Permissions and open the Permissions tab.

Creating a New Permission

To create a permission:

1. Select a Scope (User, Group, or Class) and then a specific item in the From section.
2. Repeat the same for the To section.
3. Toggle Access to allow (green) or block (gray) communication.
4. Click Add Rule.

The newly created permission will appear in the Chat Permissions table. Example: blocking users in the Chicago group from chatting with users in the Denver group.

ℹ️ User-level permissions override group or class permissions.

Editing or Removing Permissions

• To modify a rule, toggle its Access switch.
• To delete a rule, click Delete.

Chat Logs

Administrators can view and manage all internal chat logs.

To view internal chat logs, go to Manage → Chat → Chat Logs, select a chat room and time range, then click Search.

💡 Type a user or topic name into the Chat Room field to quickly filter results.

Deleting and Restoring Messages

To delete a message, click the Delete icon next to it.

Deleted messages are removed from the chat room immediately.

To restore a deleted message, return to the Chat Log and click Restore.

Chat Moderation

If a user violates chat policy in a public topic, administrators may ban them from that room.

To ban a user, open a public topic, click the Banned Users icon, select the user, and click Save.

ℹ️ Users with no posted messages cannot be banned.

Once banned, the topic disappears from the user’s chat window.

To restore access, return to the banned user list, uncheck the user, and click Save.