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Team management: invite teammates and set roles with permissions

Get your team on board fast, then control who can see, edit, and delete what without slowing anyone down.

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TL;DR

  • Invite teammates. Settings → Team Management → Invite Teammate.
  • Accept invite. Teammate creates an account with the same email from the invite.
  • Access. Use Roles (Admin/Manager/Operator/Custom) + feature permissions.
  • Permission levels. Owner (view/edit/delete), Editor (view/edit), Viewer (view), No Access (blocked).
  • Deleting messages from a thread. Only users with Owner permission on a phone number’s Inbox Access can delete messages. By default, only Admins have Owner access to every phone line.
Team Management

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How to invite and manage teammates

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Invite teammates

  1. Go to Settings, then click your profile image (top right).
  2. Open Team Management under Workspace Settings.
    Don’t see Team Management? Ask your workspace admin. Your role may not include access.
  3. Click Invite Teammate, enter one or more email addresses, select a Role, then click Send.
Inviting teammates increases your seat count and updates your subscription automatically. Learn more: Billing and Subscription.
Invite Teammates

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Accept an invitation

  • The invite email links to inbox.messagedesk.com/#/create-account.
  • The teammate must sign up with the same email that received the invite.
  • After signup, they’re automatically added to your workspace and any assigned inboxes.

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Update a user’s role or details

  1. Team Management, then select the user.
  2. Click Edit Details or Change User Role.
  3. Choose a new Role from the dropdown.
  4. Changes save automatically and apply immediately (a refresh may be required).

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Remove a user from your workspace

  1. Team Management, then select the user.
  2. Click Remove Member, then Confirm.
  3. Access is revoked immediately.

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Manage invitations

After sending invites, you’ll see each user’s status:
  • ❌ Pending: User hasn’t created an account yet.
  • ✅ Joined: User created an account and joined your workspace.
To resend an invite: Team Management → ⋯ (More) → Resend Invitation.

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User roles and permissions

Roles are a collection of Permissions (access levels for features/settings).
Trying to decide between per-user permissions in one workspace and a separate workspace? Most teams should start here with roles and permissions. Only spin up a new workspace when distinct teams manage separate contact lists independently. See Workspace vs. UAC for the full decision guide.
Roles Permissions

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Default user roles (×3)

1) Admin: full access
  • All features and resources (including account/billing): Owner
  • Can’t be removed by Managers/Operators
  • Not editable or deletable (copy to customize)
2) Manager: lead access
  • Most features: Editor.
  • Billing, Workspace Profile, Workspace Settings: Viewer.
  • Team Management, Phone Numbers: Editor.
  • Relay Management, Developer: No Access.
3) Operator: frontline access
  • Contacts, Contact Properties, Custom Fields, Labels, Message Templates: Editor (Custom Fields: Viewer).
  • Relay Management, Developer: No Access.
  • Everything else: Viewer.

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Default roles and permissions assignments

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Default role/permission feature assignment/access

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What each permission level grants access to

Permissions let a user create, read, update, and delete information in MessageDesk. MessageDesk offers four permission levels: Owner, Editor, Viewer, and No Access.
Who can delete messages from a conversation thread?Only users with Owner permission on a phone number’s Inbox Access can delete individual messages from a conversation thread. Editors, Viewers, and users with No Access can’t delete messages.By default, only Admin users have Owner access to all phone lines connected to your MessageDesk workspace. Managers and Operators receive Editor access to phone number inboxes by default and can’t delete messages.If you don’t want a user to be able to delete messages from a conversation thread, make sure that user doesn’t have Owner permission on the phone line. Adjust their role or use a custom role to grant Editor, Viewer, or No Access on the relevant Phone number inboxes.

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Custom roles and permissions

Create custom roles for users in your workspace.

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Create a custom role

You can rename, edit, or delete a custom role at any time. Before deleting, reassign any teammates associated with the role.
  1. Account → Settings → Team Management.
  2. Click Create new role, name it. (Optional.)
Use Copy permissions from an existing role as a starting point.
  1. Set per-feature access (Owner / Editor / Viewer / No Access).
  2. Adjust feature access for specific Phone Lines, Labels, Teammate Inboxes, and other Workspace Settings.
Uncheck Select all to grant/remove access on specific phone lines, labels, or teammate inboxes.
  1. Save changes and apply your new role to teammates.
Create Role

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Edit, delete, or rename a custom role

  1. Account → Settings → Team Management.
  2. Click Edit on the custom role you want to edit.
  3. Click Delete on the custom role you want to delete.
  4. Update the role name or adjust permissions as needed.
  5. Save changes to update and apply immediately (users may need to refresh).
Roles Permissions Delete Edit
Reassign users associated with a custom role before you can fully delete the role.
Roles Permissions Reassign

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Custom role templates (examples you can copy)

Support Agent (Frontline)
  • Features: Contacts/Labels/Templates = Editor. Broadcasts = Viewer. Billing/Settings = Viewer.
  • Resource-level: Editor on Support line(s) and Support labels only.
Dispatcher (Operations/Logistics)
  • Features: Contacts/Labels/Templates = Editor. Phone Numbers = Viewer. Relays = Viewer.
  • Resource-level: Editor on Dispatch line, Region labels (West/East).
HR Coordinator (Internal Comms)
  • Features: Broadcasts = Editor. Contacts/Labels/Templates = Editor. Billing/Phone Numbers = Viewer.
  • Resource-level: Editor on HR labels (Benefits, New Hire), Viewer elsewhere.
View-Only Auditor (Read-Only)
  • Features: Everything = Viewer.
  • Resource-level: Viewer on All. No Access to Billing if needed.

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FAQ

I invited the wrong email. What now?
Remove the pending invite from Team Management and send a new invite to the correct email. Unlimited teammates and roles?
Yes. You can invite unlimited teammates and create unlimited custom roles. Each teammate counts as a seat. Role vs. Permission?
A Role is a collection of Permissions. A Permission is the access level for a specific feature or resource. Can I delete a custom role?
Yes. Go to Settings → Team Management, click Edit on the custom role, and select Delete. Reassign any teammates currently using the role before it can be fully deleted. Can Managers delete things?
No. Editors can’t delete. Only the Owner can delete. Who can delete messages from a conversation thread?
Only users with Owner permission on a phone number’s Inbox Access can delete individual messages from a conversation thread. By default, only Admin users have Owner access to all phone lines. To prevent a user from deleting messages, make sure their role does not have Owner permission on that phone line. Use Editor, Viewer, or No Access on Phone number inboxes instead. What happens when a message is deleted?
When an Owner deletes a message, it’s a soft delete. The message is removed from the front end, but MessageDesk retains the message history on the back end. This data is exportable for compliance and record-keeping purposes. Limit someone to one phone line?
Grant Editor on that Phone Number and set others to Viewer/No Access. Can I use phone line extension numbers with MessageDesk?
MessageDesk doesn’t directly integrate with or support texting for phone line extension numbers. You can configure user Roles and Permissions to limit access to certain phone lines. You can also use conversation assignment and Relays to automate who gets assigned to what conversation on any given phone line. See a conversation without line/label access?
Yes. Assignment to the conversation grants Editor on that thread. Restrict to certain labels (e.g., Support: Urgent)?
Grant Editor on that label and set others to Viewer/No Access. Do changes apply immediately?
Yes. Have users refresh to see the updated UI. Who can access Relays by default?
Only Admin users have access to Relays and Zapier by default. Admins can grant Relay Management or Developer permissions to other roles via custom role configuration to unlock those features. Learn more: Relays Overview. Who can build Zapier workflows?
Any user whose role grants Editor or Owner on the Developer feature. Admins have this by default. For other roles, grant Developer access via a custom role. Viewers can’t authenticate Zapier under their own account, so any Zap built or owned by a Viewer will fail to run. See Zapier.

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Troubleshooting

Invite not received
  • Check spam/junk and verify the email address.
  • Resend: Team Management → ⋯ → Resend Invitation.
  • Still missing? Ask IT to allowlist messagedesk.com and try again.
User can’t see Team Management
  • Their role likely has Viewer/No Access for Team Management. An Admin or Manager (Editor) must adjust.
User can’t see Relays
  • By default, only Admin users have access to Relays. An Admin must grant Relay Management permissions to the user’s role via custom role configuration.
Buttons are greyed out
  • The user is likely a Viewer on that feature, or the action requires Owner. Hover for the tooltip, then upgrade access if appropriate.
User sees conversations they shouldn’t
  • Check for assignment (assignment grants Editor).
  • Review resource-level permissions (wildcards * on Labels or Phone Numbers).
  • Remove any user override that elevates access.
Role changes didn’t “stick”
  • Ask them to refresh.
  • Confirm there isn’t a conflicting override or resource-level restriction.

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Team management best practices

  • Least privilege first. Start with Operator. Elevate only as needed.
  • Prefer roles over overrides. Keep exceptions rare and documented.
  • Mirror your routing. If you route by phone line or label, set permissions the same way.
  • Quarterly audits. Review who has Owner on Billing, Phone Numbers, and Team Management.
  • Onboarding checklist. Invite, assign role, confirm resource-level access, share key labels/lines, verify login.
  • Offboarding checklist. Remove member, reassign conversations, review resource permissions, audit roles.