Conversations is one of the newest tools within Procore. This tool allows members of your project to start a discussion about a topic and respond to it. I would like to equate the Conversation tool like a text messaging on a phone, as it does not offer all the features of Procore’s email tool or emailing using a client such as Outlook. The Conversations tool is designed to keep all correspondence within Procore. The conversation tool is included with all packages of Procore as well.
First, we must enable the Conversations tool. This option is available within your Company’s Admin page under Company Settings. Click Turn on Conversations and we would recommend you change it to All Current & Future Projects. However, you can also turn it on a project-by-project basis.
Under the Features tab, you can change some of the global settings that affect all projects. I would recommend leaving these as the defaults until you utilize the tool a bit more.
Once we have the Conversations tool enabled and the Features we want, you can access Conversations by clicking on the Conversations button in the top right corner of Procore (web). This lists all of the conversations you are engaged with. You can create Groups and send Direct Messages to other users as well.
However, you can also start a new Conversation from any tool within Procore. For example, if you wanted to start a Conversation regarding an RFI, you can go to that RFI and on the right side (web), you will see a new panel for Conversations. Click on it to expand.
Pros
- No more having several email chains regarding separate topics. All of this is managed within Procore & organized by Project and Topic.
- You can export all Conversation Data and save on your server, Sharepoint, etc. This is doable within email clients such as Outlook as well but much harder.
- Conversations still allow you to add files, photos, link other project items, and more.
- An email and push notification (mobile) will be sent.
- This works easily on both web and mobile.
- Automatically adds everyone as part of an item to a Conversation.
Cons
- Getting the entire project team on Procore and utilizing can be a challenge.
- Sending an email or a text message involves the same effort as utilizing the Conversation tool, however many people are used to communicating using their appropriate email or text app.
- The text formatting is a bit limiting compared to an email client such as Outlook.
As you can see, there are plenty of benefits of utilizing the Conversations tool within Procore. The main benefits being its ease of use and automatic organization. The automatic organization is one of the best features as it saves a lot of time creating and managing folders within Outlook or other email services. The Conversations tool has been a game changer for project correspondence and your company should look into implementing it into their daily workflows.
