Odoo Discuss: Your Guide to Internal Communication

Table of Contents

• Why Internal Communication Matters in Your ERP
• Inbox and Navigation
• Channels: Organised Group Conversations
• Direct Messages
• Private Channels
• The Chatter: Communication on Records
• Canned Responses: Save Time on Repetitive Messages
• Slash Commands
• Portal User Subscriptions
• Getting Started
• References

Why Internal Communication Matters in Your ERP

Most teams drown in emails. CC chains get out of control, important messages get buried, and context lives outside the system where work actually happens.

Odoo Discuss solves this by embedding communication directly into your ERP. Every conversation, note, and follow-up lives alongside the records they relate to — sales orders, leads, invoices, and more.

This guide walks you through everything Discuss offers: channels, direct messages, canned responses, activity scheduling, and slash commands.

Inbox and Navigation

When you open Discuss, you land on your Inbox. The left panel organises your conversations into three categories:

• Channels — Group conversations organised by topic, team, or project
• Direct Messages — One-on-one conversations with colleagues
• Private Channels — Restricted group conversations with limited visibility

You also have a Starred Messages section for bookmarking important messages.

Channels: Organised Group Conversations

Channels let you group conversations by any criteria — location, project, department, or topic. Every database starts with a #general channel, but you can create as many as you need.

Creating and Configuring a Channel

1. Click the + button next to Channels
2. Name your channel
3. Click the settings icon to configure

Key configuration options:

• Email notifications — Choose whether messages are also sent by email to followers, or kept internal only
• Email alias — Create a dedicated email address (e.g., test@yourdomain.odoo.com) so external emails land in the channel
• Privacy settings — Control who can access the channel:
  • Everyone in the organisation
  • Invited people only
  • A specific user group (e.g., Administration/Access Rights)

When you restrict a channel to a user group, members of that group are automatically added.

Direct Messages

For one-on-one conversations, use Direct Messages:

1. Click + next to Direct Messages
2. Search for the colleague's name
3. Start typing

Direct messages persist even if you archive them. Clicking the X removes the conversation from your sidebar, but reopening it restores the full history.

Staying Connected Across Apps

When someone messages you while you are working in another Odoo app, the conversation pops up as a bottom panel on your screen. If the conversation is already open, it blinks to notify you. The panel stays open as you navigate between apps until you close it.

You can also access all open conversations from the conversations tab in the top navigation bar.

Private Channels

Private channels work like regular channels but with fewer configuration options. They are designed for conversations that should only be visible to specific people, without the option to make them public.

The Chatter: Communication on Records

One of Discuss's most powerful features is the chatter — the communication panel attached to every record (sales orders, invoices, contacts, etc.). You'll find it at the bottom of each record, or on the right side on larger screens.

Log Notes

Use Log Note to leave internal comments on a record. You can tag colleagues using @mention:

• The tagged person receives a notification
• They automatically become a follower of the record
• They can track the record's progress over time

Schedule Activities

From the chatter, you can schedule follow-up activities:

1. Click Schedule Activity
2. Choose the activity type (call, meeting, to-do, etc.)
3. Add a summary
4. Assign it to yourself or a colleague
5. Set a due date

Once scheduled, you can mark it as done, edit it, or cancel it directly from the record.

Canned Responses: Save Time on Repetitive Messages

Canned responses are pre-written message templates triggered by shortcuts. This feature requires the Live Chat module to be installed.

Setting Up Canned Responses

1. Go to Live Chat > Configuration > Canned Responses
2. A default "Hello" response is already available: typing the shortcut produces "Hello. How may I help you?"
3. Click Create to add your own shortcuts and substitutions

Using Canned Responses in Discuss

1. Type a colon (:) in the message field
2. Your available canned responses appear
3. Start typing to filter (e.g., :he matches "hello")
4. Click the response to insert it

This is especially useful for customer-facing teams who send similar greetings or instructions repeatedly.

Slash Commands

Type / in any Discuss message field to access quick commands:

Command	Action
/who	Shows current followers of the channel
/leave	Quickly leave the current channel
/lead	Create a new CRM lead directly from the conversation
/help	Display the helper message

Creating Leads from Conversations

The /lead command is particularly useful for sales teams. Type /lead, enter a title (e.g., "New Client"), and a lead is created in your CRM. A link appears in the chat so you can click through to edit the lead details — contact information, assigned salesperson, follow-up notes — and then navigate back to the conversation with one click.

Portal User Subscriptions

If you have the Website module installed, you can create a page where portal users (customers, vendors) can subscribe or unsubscribe from public channels on their own. This is a self-service feature that reduces administrative overhead.

Getting Started

Odoo Discuss works best when your team commits to using it instead of email for internal communication. Start with these steps:

1. Create channels for your main teams and projects
2. Set privacy levels appropriately for each channel
3. Use @mentions in record chatters to keep communication contextual
4. Set up canned responses for frequently used messages
5. Schedule activities on records instead of sending reminder emails

The result is fewer emails, better context, and a communication trail that lives where your work happens.

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References

• Odoo Discuss | Odoo Getting Started — Odoo