Overview
The Sentir platform can store a wealth of client history, but retrieving that information when you need it could mean manually searching through multiple records. With Chat, you can ask a question about a client in conversational language and get an answer that draws on everything the system knows about that relationship, brought together into a response you can act on immediately.
Chat works alongside Dispatches and the Noticeboard to give you a complete picture of each client. Rather than looking up a single data point, you can ask Chat to prepare you for an upcoming meeting, explore a client's financial situation, or connect threads across a relationship's history, service records, and recent interactions. The assistant remembers what you've discussed within a conversation, so you can start broad, narrow in, and ask follow-up questions without re-explaining the context each time.
This article explains where to find Chat, how to start and manage conversations, and how to get the most useful responses from the assistant.
- Where to Find Chat
- Starting a Conversation
- Having a Conversation
- Managing Conversations
- What the Assistant Can Access
- Getting the Best Results
- Things to Know
Where to Find Chat
On the Home Page
Chat appears in the right sidebar of the Home page, in the same position it occupies on Entity records. The one difference is the addition of a Search Entities field below the text input. Because the Home page isn't scoped to a single client, you select the entity first, then submit your prompt.
On Record Pages
Chat appears in the right sidebar on Client and Prospect record pages in Sentir. Open any Client or Prospect record, and you'll find the Chat panel on the right side of the screen, above the Servicing Team section. The input reads How can I help you today? and a set of quick prompts appears below it. You can also jump back into previous conversations by clicking one of the pills under the Pick up where you left off heading.
When you start a conversation from an Entity record, Chat is already scoped to the right client or prospect, meaning you don't need to specify it in your question.
On the Chat Page
Click the Navigation menu and select Chat to see all your conversations across every relationship in one place. The Chat page shows a My Conversations header with a count of your conversations, a search bar, and a sidebar listing your pinned and recent conversations. Each conversation card displays the entity name so you can see at a glance which client or prospect it relates to.
Starting a Conversation
From the Home Page
In the Chat panel on the Home page, search for the client you want to ask about in the Search Entities field and select them from the suggestions. Their name appears below the text input after you select them. You can select a prompt template or type your own question to begin.
From a Record Page
When you access Chat from a record page, you can start a conversation in two ways:
- Type your question in the text input and click the paper plane icon or press <ENTER>. The assistant opens the conversation and begins responding.
- Click one of the prompt templates below the input to start a conversation with a pre-written question. The available prompt templates are Call Prep, Catch Me Up, and Market Context. You can also click More to view additional prompts.
Because the assistant already knows which record you're looking at, you don't need to specify the client or prospect in your question.
From the Chat Page
On the Chat page, type your message in the composer (or select a prompt template) and use the Search Entities field below the input to specify which client or prospect you want to ask about. Both the message and the entity are required to send.
Alternatively, click the New button in the top right corner of the Chat page to open the Select an Entity window. From here, you can search for and select the client or prospect you want to begin a new conversation.
From a Dispatch
In the Dispatches component, click the caret and select Discuss in Chat from the actions menu at the top of any Dispatch to open a Chat conversation already scoped to what you were just reading. Chat already knows the content of the Dispatch, so you don't need to re-explain it.
You can also trigger Discuss in Chat on an individual section of a Dispatch rather than the full report. This scopes the conversation to that section, which is useful when one part of a Dispatch needs more attention than the rest. Hover over the section heading and select the Chat icon.
To learn more, see our article on Working with Dispatches in Sentir.
From a Noticeboard Post
Click the Chat icon on a Noticeboard post on the Home page or on an Entity record to open a Chat conversation already scoped to that post's content. For example, if a post flags that a client's beneficiary forms are overdue, clicking the Chat icon opens Chat in a new workspace tab with that context already loaded. You can ask follow-up questions, explore next steps, or think through how to handle it without switching pages or restarting the conversation.
For more information about this feature, see Staying Up to Date with the Noticeboard in Sentir.
In the Meeting Prep Workspace
When you open the Meeting Prep workspace before a client meeting, Chat is already open on the left side of the workspace, scoped to the client and ready to answer your questions.
Use Chat during prep to explore anything the pre-drafted prep Note doesn't cover: a specific holding, a recent conversation, or a question a client raised last time. The conversation persists, so you can return to it as you refine your preparation in the days leading up to the meeting.
Having a Conversation
Once a conversation is underway, you can send follow-up messages to continue the discussion. The assistant remembers everything discussed earlier in the conversation and can build on previous answers, so there's no need to re-establish context as you go. While the assistant is generating a response, a loading indicator appears. Once the full response is ready, it's displayed in the conversation thread.
Response Content
Responses can include several elements depending on the nature of your question. Output text may include formatting such as headings, lists, tables, bold text, and clickable links. Links to Sentir records open in new workspace tabs or subtabs within the application. External links open in new browser tabs.
Where the assistant draws on specific sources, citations appear as numbered superscripts within the response text. A full list of sources appears below the response, with each citation including the source name and a link to the original record or document. Click the Sources heading to expand the list.
Below each response, you'll find a Copy icon to copy the output to your clipboard and a Retry icon to regenerate the response if needed.
For entities that don't have much information to draw upon, you might see a response indicating that further data is needed for more detailed summaries.
Context Window
A context usage indicator in the input area shows approximately how much of the conversation's memory has been used.
As conversations grow longer, the assistant may summarize earlier messages to make room for new ones. When this happens, a notice appears in the conversation thread. Your earlier messages remain visible when you scroll up, but the assistant may not recall their details precisely.
If you're moving to a new topic, starting a fresh conversation is a good habit. It keeps context clean and responses more focused.
Managing Conversations
Finding Conversations
On a Client or Prospect record page, you'll see pinned and recent conversations for that entity under the Pick up where you left off heading. Click the View All icon in the upper right of the Chat section to open a full searchable list in a new subtab.
On the Chat subtab, conversations for that entity appear in the sidebar grouped by Pinned and Recent.
This is the same way conversations are grouped on the Chat app page. In the top right of the Chat page, you can click the Hide sidebar icon to collapse the list. The search bar lets you filter conversations by title, content, and entity name.
Pinning
You can pin a conversation to keep it easily accessible. Pinned conversations appear in a separate group above your recent conversations on both Entity record pages and the Chat page.
There are three ways to pin or unpin a conversation:
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Click the pin icon in the conversation header when viewing a conversation.
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In the Chat component on an Entity record, hover over a conversation, click the caret, and select Pin.
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On the Chat page, hover over a conversation in the list, click the caret, and select Pin.
Renaming
The assistant generates a title automatically based on your first message, but you can change it at any time. Click the Rename button in the conversation header.
Enter a new name in the title field, then press <ENTER>.
Exporting
To save a copy of a conversation, click the caret in the conversation header and select Export. This downloads a plain text file containing all messages from both you and the assistant.
Deleting
To delete a conversation, click the Delete button in the conversation header.
You'll be asked to confirm the action. Deleting a conversation removes it and all its messages permanently. Click Delete to proceed.
What the Assistant Can Access
When you ask a question, the assistant draws on several sources to build its response. It can access structured CRM data about the entity in question, including record fields and related information. Your firm's administrator can also give the assistant access to unstructured data from Notes, Feed posts, and email messages.
The data available to the assistant is filtered by your permissions, meaning it can only surface fields and records that you already have access to in Sentir, the same as anywhere else on the platform.
External sources such as financial and industry news may also be available, depending on how your administrator has configured them. When your question spans multiple areas, the assistant synthesizes information from all available sources into a single response.
Getting the Best Results
The assistant is designed to match the depth of its response to the complexity of your question. A simple factual question gets a concise answer; a broader question gets a thorough synthesis across everything the assistant knows about the relationship. A few practices will help you consistently get more useful responses.
Ask the way you would ask a colleague. You don't need special syntax or keywords. "Summarize the last three interactions with this household" works just as well as "Give me a quick overview of what's been happening with the Feldmans recently." The assistant understands natural language and interprets your intent.
Be specific about what you need the information for. Asking "What should I know before my annual review with this client?" gives the assistant the context to prioritize relevant details, surface recent activity, and flag things worth discussing. Asking "Tell me about this client" gives it less to work with, and the response will be more general.
Ask follow-up questions. The assistant remembers everything discussed in the current conversation. If a response mentions something you want to explore further, just ask. "Tell me more about that portfolio change" or "What was the context for that meeting?" are natural follow-ups that build on what came before.
Use Chat for synthesis, not just retrieval. The assistant's strongest capability is connecting information across multiple sources. Rather than asking for a single data point you could look up yourself, ask questions that require piecing things together: "Are there any open action items from recent meetings I should follow up on?" or "How has this client's situation changed since their last annual review?"
Start a new conversation when you change topics. Each conversation is tied to a single entity. If you need to ask about a different relationship, start a new conversation from that record page or use the Chat page.
Things to Know
- Each conversation belongs to a single Entity record. To ask about a different relationship, start a new conversation related to that entity.
- Conversations are saved automatically. There is no manual save step.
- You cannot edit or delete individual messages after sending them.
- The assistant generates responses based on available data. Always verify important details, particularly for compliance-sensitive decisions.
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