Scale B.O.S.S. Settings Guide
Notifications & Messaging — General
Manage real-time presence, AI messaging features, collaboration permissions, and message retention at the organization level.
Path: Settings > Notifications & Messaging > General

What this page controls
Organization-wide messaging behavior, AI message tools, collaboration permissions, and retention limits.

Why it matters
These settings shape how people communicate, what they can share, and how long message data is retained.

Best use
Configure defaults once, review them deliberately, and revisit whenever governance, compliance, or collaboration needs change.

The General page in Notifications & Messaging defines the operating rules for communication across the organization. It does not manage individual alert types or personal notification preferences. Instead, it controls the communication environment itself: who can create conversations and channels, whether presence and typing are visible, which AI messaging tools are available, and how message content is retained and shared.

When configured well, messaging feels consistent, safe, and productive. When configured poorly, collaboration can become noisy, overexposed, difficult to govern, or unnecessarily restrictive.

What this page controls

Section	What it controls
Presence & Typing	Whether team members can see who is online, who is typing, and when someone is considered idle.
AI Features	Which AI-assisted messaging capabilities are available inside conversations and announcements.
Permissions	Who can create group conversations and department channels.
Retention & Limits	How long messages are kept, which file types can be attached, maximum attachment size, and maximum message length.

Notifications & Messaging — General workspace

Why this page is strategically important
This page sets the communication baseline for the entire organization. It affects privacy, responsiveness, data retention, attachment governance, and the day-to-day experience of messaging — influencing not just what people can say, but how safely and efficiently they can collaborate.

How the General page works

• Organization-wide scope. Changes here affect default messaging behavior for the entire organization, not individual users.

• Policy-oriented by design. Most settings are intended for deliberate review, not casual day-to-day adjustment.

• Distinct from the Notifications tab. General manages the messaging environment; the Notifications tab manages notification events and delivery behavior.

• Settings interact with each other. For example, presence indicators can be enabled organization-wide while still allowing individuals to hide their own status.

Presence & Typing

The Presence & Typing section governs real-time visibility within the messaging experience. It determines whether users can see who is online, who is typing, whether individuals can hide that information, and how many minutes of inactivity trigger an idle status.

Presence & Typing

• Enable presence indicators. Shows online or offline status for team members.

• Allow users to control their own presence. Lets individual users hide their online status even when presence is enabled organization-wide.

• Enable typing indicators. Shows when a team member is actively typing in a message thread.

• Allow users to control typing indicators. Lets individual users hide their typing status when the organization wants to offer that flexibility.

• Default idle timeout. Defines how many minutes pass before a user appears idle. The valid range is 1–60 minutes.

What to look for
Presence and typing settings should reflect the culture you want to support. Where fast collaboration matters, visible presence and typing reduce friction. Where privacy or focus is a priority, consider tighter controls or giving users the ability to manage their own visibility.

• Good sign: Users can quickly gauge availability without creating a sense of surveillance.

• Potential issue: Presence is enabled but users cannot manage their own visibility in a culture that values deep, uninterrupted work.

• Potential issue: Typing indicators are enabled in a high-noise environment where they add distraction without meaningful value.

AI Features

The AI Features section controls messaging-specific AI tools available to the organization. These are not platform-wide AI settings — they are messaging capabilities that help users write, summarize, and communicate more efficiently.

AI-powered messaging features

• Message refinement. Provides AI-powered suggestions to improve message clarity and tone.

• Smart reply suggestions. Suggests quick responses based on conversation context.

• Thread summarization. Condenses longer conversations into key points so users can catch up quickly.

• Announcement drafting. Supports AI-assisted drafting for broadcast announcements.

Why this matters
These controls determine whether messaging remains purely manual or becomes AI-assisted. For many organizations, these features improve speed and clarity. For those with stricter policies around drafting, disclosures, or sensitive communications, each toggle warrants careful review.

• Use message refinement when you want cleaner, more professional internal communication with fewer unclear or rushed messages.

• Use smart replies when your team handles repetitive coordination and benefits from faster response workflows.

• Use thread summarization when teams work in long conversations and need a quicker way to re-enter context.

• Use announcement drafting when leaders regularly send organization-wide messages and want consistent, clearly drafted communications.

Permissions

The Permissions section controls who can create collaborative spaces. In practice, it determines whether ad hoc collaboration is open to all users or managed by leadership roles.

Permissions — group creation

Permissions — channel creation

• Group creation permission. Controls who can create group conversations. Options include Everyone, Leaders only, and Strategy Team only.

• Channel creation permission. Controls who can create department channels. Options include Leaders only and Strategy Team only.

Practical interpretation
Groups function as flexible collaboration spaces. Channels are more structural and typically carry longer-term organizational significance. For this reason, most organizations benefit from more restrictive channel creation rules than group creation rules.

• Choose Everyone for group creation when you want collaboration to be easy and decentralized.

• Choose Leaders only or Strategy Team only for group creation when you need tighter control over message sprawl or want leadership to define communication structure.

• Keep channel creation restricted when channels represent official team or department spaces that should be managed deliberately.

Retention & Limits

The Retention & Limits section governs how long messages are kept and what content can be shared through messaging. This is one of the most consequential governance areas on the page, as it affects storage, compliance, security, and usability simultaneously.

Retention & Limits

• Message retention. Defines how many days messages are kept. A value of 0 means messages are kept indefinitely.

• Max attachment size. Sets the maximum upload size in megabytes for message attachments.

• Allowed file types. Specifies which attachment formats users can send in messages.

• Max message length. Sets the maximum character count allowed per message.

Allowed file types shown in the interface

Images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, SVG)
Text files (.txt)
Word (.docx)
Excel (.xlsx)
PowerPoint (.pptx)
ZIP archives
Audio (MP3, WAV, OGG)
PDF documents
CSV spreadsheets
Word legacy (.doc)
Excel legacy (.xls)
PowerPoint legacy (.ppt)
Videos (MP4, WebM, MOV)

What to look for
Retention and file settings should reflect your organization's actual workflows. If your team relies on PDFs, screenshots, and spreadsheets, enable those formats deliberately. If compliance requirements are stricter, choose retention periods and supported file types conservatively rather than leaving them open by default.

• Good sign: Enabled attachment types match real workflows and exclude unnecessary formats.

• Good sign: Retention aligns with company policy rather than an accidental default.

• Potential issue: Large file sizes or broad file-type support are enabled without considering storage, security, or review standards.

• Potential issue: Message retention is set to keep forever without a documented governance reason.

How to review this page effectively

A complete configuration is not the same as enabling everything. The right setup supports how your organization actually communicates. Use these four questions to guide your review:

• Do these settings match our culture? Fast-moving teams often benefit from presence visibility and AI features. More sensitive environments may require tighter controls.

• Do these settings meet our governance needs? Retention, attachment types, and channel permissions should align with internal policy and legal requirements.

• Do these settings reduce friction? The page should make communication easier, not introduce unnecessary confusion or clutter.

• Do these settings scale? What works for a small team may become noisy or risky as headcount grows. Configure for the organization you are building, not just the one you have today.

Recommended monthly or quarterly audit

Confirm that presence and typing behavior still fits the organization's working style.
Review whether AI messaging features are improving communication quality or raising concerns.
Check whether group and channel permissions are producing the right level of structure.
Review message retention and attachment rules against current security or compliance expectations.
Verify that the General page and the Notifications tab continue to work together without overlap or gaps.

Bottom line
The Notifications & Messaging — General page defines the communication standard for the organization. Configured well, it creates a messaging environment that is fast, well-governed, and aligned with how the business operates. Configured poorly, it can produce noise, overexposure, weak governance, or unnecessary restriction. The page is compact, but its impact on day-to-day collaboration is significant.

Managing Notifications And Messaging General Settings