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One CRM Inbox for Email and Social Conversations

Work with Gmail, Outlook, IMAP, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram threads in one list, then connect participants to CRM contact context. Cloud Pro and above.

Start the Pro trialRead the inbox guide

Cloud only • Pro, Business and Enterprise

The Customermates unified CRM inbox brings supported email and social conversations into one list. Team members can read and reply to threads, triage their state, keep a draft on an existing thread and associate participants with CRM contacts.

It is a managed-cloud feature from Pro upward. Starter and self-hosted Customermates do not include messaging accounts or the unified inbox.

At a glance

Outcome

Work through supported customer conversations in one list while keeping the participant's CRM contact context close.

Available on

Customermates Cloud from Pro, with account allowances and sharing capabilities that vary by plan.

Core actions

Read and reply, triage thread state, keep a draft, work with supported attachments and associate participants with contacts.

Important boundary

The contact relationship bridges conversation and pipeline context. Messages have no direct deal relation.

Email

Gmail, Outlook and IMAP

Professional

LinkedIn variants

Messaging

WhatsApp and Telegram

Social

Instagram

CRM context

Participant-to-contact matching
Explore the productPublic, seeded product demo. It uses synthetic sample data; no customer account or customer data is shown. When Mate is enabled for this demo environment, it starts closed so the CRM workflow stays unobstructed.Try these three things1Open a seeded conversation2Check its participant context3Compare the connected channels
demo.customermates.com · liveOpen

Follow one conversation into the CRM context

  1. Open the incoming thread

    Start from the combined conversation list instead of switching between provider tabs.

  2. Check the participant

    Match the person in the thread to a CRM contact so the relationship context is available.

  3. Review and respond

    Read the history, keep a persistent draft on the existing thread and send through the connected channel when ready.

  4. Triage the conversation

    Mark the thread unread, open, closed or spam so the inbox reflects its current state.

Supported channels

Channel familySupported connections
EmailGmail/Google, Outlook/Microsoft and IMAP
Professional networksLinkedIn Classic, Sales Navigator and Recruiter variants
Messaging and socialWhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram

The supported set does not include SMS or telephony. Provider behavior and attachment support can differ by connection type.

What you can do in the inbox

  • view connected-account conversations in one list;
  • open a thread and reply in its channel;
  • mark threads unread, open, closed or spam;
  • match conversation participants to CRM contacts;
  • keep a persistent draft on an existing thread; and
  • work with supported attachments where the provider connection allows them.

Conversation context can surface through its contact relationship. Messages do not have a direct deal relation, so the contact and its connected CRM records remain the bridge to pipeline context.

Personal and shared account access

Cloud planIncluded connected accountsShared accounts
Starter0No
Pro1 per userNo
Business3 per userYes
EnterpriseUnlimited under fair-use termsYes

Pro users can share individual threads with CRM teammates. Sharing an entire connected account is available on Business and Enterprise. Permissions still govern which CRM resources and actions a user can access.

Inbox, MCP and approval boundaries

The Customermates MCP server includes tools for supported messaging work, including reading threads and activities, managing drafts, triaging conversations and sending replies. Its instructions tell compatible clients to request explicit confirmation before a send, but the MCP endpoint does not add a second approval gate after the client calls the tool. Verify the client-side review step before granting messaging access.

Every cloud plan includes a Mate entitlement and a monthly hosted-AI credit allowance per active user. When Mate is enabled in the hosted environment, it can work with eligible inbox tools under the current user's permissions and its own confirmation controls. External MCP clients instead use the customer's model provider and do not consume the hosted allowance.

Calendar boundary

Supported connected accounts can expose a read-only calendar view on entitled cloud plans. Customermates does not create, update or book provider calendar events.

Cloud and self-hosted editions

The unified inbox is available only in Customermates Cloud from Pro upward. The self-hosted CRM uses Starter entitlements: zero connected messaging accounts, no shared accounts, no unified inbox and no hosted Mate or credits. External AI clients can still use MCP with the self-hosted core CRM.

For channel setup context, read about email integration or follow the exact product workflow in the inbox guide.

Frequently asked questions

Which plans include the unified CRM inbox?

Pro, Business and Enterprise in Customermates Cloud. Pro includes one connected account per user; Business includes three and shared accounts; Enterprise includes unlimited connected accounts under fair-use terms and supports shared accounts.

Does the inbox work when self-hosting?

No. Self-hosted deployments use Starter entitlements, which include zero messaging accounts and no unified inbox. MCP remains available for external AI clients working with the core CRM.

Does Customermates support SMS or phone calls in this inbox?

No. The supported set covers Gmail/Google, Outlook/Microsoft, IMAP email, LinkedIn variants, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, not SMS or telephony.

Are messages linked directly to deals?

No. Participants can be associated with CRM contacts, and contact relationships provide the bridge to relevant CRM context. There is no direct message-to-deal relation.

Can an AI client send messages through the inbox?

Yes, on entitled cloud accounts. The MCP instructions tell compatible clients to request confirmation before sending, but the server executes a permitted send tool once the client calls it. Verify the client's confirmation behavior and user permissions before enabling messaging tools.

Related pages

Documentation

Customermates CRM Inbox: Threads and Replies

The Customermates Inbox puts email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram threads in one list, with stable anchor ids for UI-driving agents.

Documentation

CRM MCP Server Reference: Endpoint and Tools

Customermates exposes a native MCP endpoint at /api/v1/mcp so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other agent clients can read and write your CRM directly.

Blog

Agentic & AI-Native CRM: MCP, Mate and Safe Actions

Agentic and AI-native CRM explained: hosted Mate with environment-dependent availability, MCP for external AI clients, and explicit controls.

Industries

Agencies

Keep agency contacts, client organizations, new-business deals, services and follow-up tasks connected. Hosted Pro adds supported inbox channels.

Customermates

Bring supported conversations into the CRM

Start a Pro trial, connect one supported account and evaluate the inbox with your own workflow.

Start the Pro trialRead the inbox guide

No unified inbox is included in Starter or self-hosted deployments.