HiveChat - your team's chat, next to the work.
Direct messages, channels and a chat on every job, for your office and your crew. Share photos, videos and voice notes, flag what's urgent and see who has read it - inside HiveSuite, not a personal WhatsApp group.
30-day free trialEvery feature, every planFrom £34.99/mo inc VAT
the highlights
getting started
Already switched on
HiveChat is on for every team to start with. It's in the header chat bubble, the menu, HiveCrew's Chat tab and the HivePlanner job panel.
- 1
Add your team
Everyone who signs in to HiveSuite can use HiveChat: Administrators, Staff and Crew. There's nothing else to install.
- 2
Start a channel
Set up channels for your teams, or switch on a Company notices channel everyone joins automatically.
- 3
Chat on a job
Open Job Chat on any job and the people working on it are already there.
messages and channels
Talk to one person or the whole team
Direct messages
One conversation for each pair of people. Anyone can message anyone, or set Crew to message the office only.
Channels
Named group conversations. Administrators and Staff create them, rename them and add or remove people.
Announcements
Make a channel announcement-only so only the office posts, and everyone else reads and reacts.
Reply, react and pin
Reply to a particular message, react with a thumbs up or a tick, and pin the gate code to the top.
Mentions
Type @ to mention someone. The office can use @here, @channel and @everyone when everyone needs to know.
Search and Seen
Search old messages, see Seen in a direct message or Seen by in a group, and who has been active recently.
a chat on every job
Talk about the job, on the job
Every job has its own chat for the people working on it. Open it from the Job Chat section in HivePlanner, from the job in HiveCrew, or in HiveChat itself.
- Everyone who can see the job can read its chat
- Take someone off the job and its chat goes from their list
- The office is notified when Crew write in any job chat, so a call for help from site comes through
- Photos, videos and voice notes from site, next to the job they're about
- Internal notes stay separate for what belongs on the job's record
- Administrators can switch job chats off for the whole team
Up to 6 at a time, straight from the phone's camera. Photos and PDFs up to 15 MB, videos up to 100 MB, made smaller so they play quickly on any phone.
When the message box is empty, the send button becomes a microphone. Record up to 5 minutes with your hands full.
The office can mark a message Urgent or ask everyone to confirm they've read it, then see who has and who hasn't.
notifications your way
Hear about what matters, when it matters
Messages normally appear straight away, with notifications in the HiveSuite app and in browsers on phones and computers.
Your choice
Each person chooses which messages notify them, and mutes busy conversations.
Quiet hours
Set your own quiet hours. Messages still arrive and are waiting when you open HiveChat.
Team working hours
An Administrator can set working hours for Crew or everyone, so nobody is buzzed at 10pm by default.
Urgent gets through
Urgent messages notify people even during quiet hours, for things that really can't wait.
Private lock screens
Hide message text in notifications, so lock screens just say "Sent a message".
App and browser
Notifications in the HiveSuite app and in browsers. On iPhone, browser notifications need HiveSuite on the Home Screen (iOS 16.4 or later).
you set the rules
Settings, privacy and keeping messages
Administrators choose how HiveChat works for the whole team from HiveChat Settings and HiveChat Data & audit.
Who can do what
Who can create channels, who Crew can message, and whether people added to a channel see earlier messages.
Features on or off
Job chats, voice notes, Seen, typing, online status and GIF search (off to start with).
Private means private
Direct messages and channels can only be read by the people in them. Administrators can't read conversations they're not in.
How long messages are kept
Nothing is deleted automatically to start with. Choose from 6 months to 7 years, with job chats kept longer if you need them.
Pause deleting
If a dispute or claim needs messages kept, turn on Pause deleting and say why. Nothing is deleted until it's off.
No bulk downloads
Nobody can download your team's messages. Legal requests go through the account owner and every copy is logged.
HiveChat is for your own team. Customers message you through the Customer Portal, and you can text them with HiveSuite SMS. HiveChat needs a connection: a message sent with no signal waits in the conversation and can be resent when you're back online.
works with
HiveChat is part of HiveSuite
Still running the team over WhatsApp? See how HiveSuite replaces job messaging on WhatsApp.
common questions
HiveChat questions
Is HiveChat included in my HiveSuite plan?
Yes. HiveChat is included on every plan at no extra cost, from Solo at £34.99/month inc. VAT, and it's switched on to start with. An Administrator can turn it off from the Modules page; messages are kept and come back if it's switched on again.
Who can use HiveChat?
Everyone on your team who signs in to HiveSuite: Administrators, Staff and Crew. Crew can message anyone on the team unless an Administrator sets them to message the office only. Crew can't create channels, add people to them, send Urgent messages or ask people to confirm.
Can customers use HiveChat?
No. HiveChat is for your own team. Customers can message you through the Customer Portal, and you can text them with HiveSuite SMS.
What is a job chat?
Every job has its own chat for the people working on it, opened from the job in HivePlanner or HiveCrew. Everyone who can see the job can read it. The chat starts with the first message, and Administrators can switch job chats off for the whole team.
What can I send in HiveChat?
Text, photos, videos, PDFs and voice notes of up to 5 minutes. You can send up to 6 files at a time, with photos and PDFs up to 15 MB and videos up to 100 MB. GIF search is available once an Administrator switches it on.
Can Administrators read private messages?
No. Direct messages and channels can only be read by the people in them, Administrators included. Nobody can download your team's messages from HiveChat. If the law requires a copy of someone's messages, such as for a subject access request, the account owner can ask HiveSuite and every copy is logged.
How long are HiveChat messages kept?
To start with, nothing is deleted automatically. On HiveChat Data & audit, an Administrator can choose to delete older messages after anything from 6 months to 7 years, keep job chats for longer, and pause deleting if a dispute or claim needs them.
Does HiveChat work on phones and without signal?
HiveChat works in the HiveSuite app, in HiveCrew's Chat tab and in phone browsers, with notifications. On iPhone, browser notifications need HiveSuite added to the Home Screen (iOS 16.4 or later). HiveChat needs a connection: a message sent with no signal waits in the conversation and can be resent when you're back online.