Setting up IM on your account

The app has two kinds of text messaging: IM (instant messages, sent through your provider’s chat server) and SMS (regular text messages sent through your SIP phone number). They live on separate filters under Messages and have separate settings. This article covers IM only.

Before you begin

IM is gated by a switch in the SessionCloud portal — Provisioning → Advanced → XMPP → IM & Presence. If your provider hasn’t turned it on, the XMPP Accounts section may not be reachable in the softphone. If you’re the provider setting this up, see XMPP & Messaging for the portal side. If you’re an end user, ask your provider to enable it first.

Setting up your IM account

When you sign in with your provider ID, the softphone is configured for your provider’s chat server in the background. But there’s no IM account entry yet — you have to add one with your identity: an account name, your IM username, and your IM password.

Your provider gives you the IM username and password separately from your provider ID login. If you don’t have them, ask your provider.

To set up your IM account:

1. Click the gear (Settings) icon at the bottom of the left rail.
2. Click Accounts.
3. Scroll to the XMPP Accounts section.
4. Click the + button next to the section header.
5. A form opens with four things on it: an Active Account toggle at the top (leave it on), and three text fields. Fill the three fields in:
   • Account Name — any label you like (e.g. “Work chat”).
   • Username — your IM address, e.g. alice@chat.example.com.
   • Password — your IM password.
6. Click the checkmark button in the top-right of the form to save.

The new entry appears in the XMPP Accounts list and starts connecting straight away.

Checking IM is on

To see whether IM is up:

1. Click the Messages icon (chat bubble) in the left rail on the side of the window.
2. At the top of the messages list, click the IM pill. (The filter row shows All, IM, SMS, and Rooms — the same list is scoped to just IM when IM is selected.)

If IM is connected this is where your one-to-one IM conversations will appear. On a fresh install with no messages yet the list will be empty — that’s normal. Once you exchange a message with someone, they’ll show up here. See Sending IM messages for how.

Editing your IM account later

The same XMPP Accounts entry is where you go later if you need to change your password or turn IM off temporarily. Open it the same way — Settings → Accounts → XMPP Accounts, click the entry — and you’ll see the same four things:

• Active Account — turn IM on or off for this account.
• Account Name — the label you chose.
• Username — your IM identity.
• Password — your IM password.

You can turn Active Account off if you want to sign out of IM without signing out of the app; turn it back on when you want IM again.

When IM won’t connect

If the IM filter under Messages stays empty for more than a minute after you save: