# Start a Chat Session with Your Colleagues

When something can wait, a quick message is often better than a call. The Cloud Voice App lets you reach coworkers with instant messages, so you can pass along information without interrupting whatever they are doing. This page walks through both a private, one-on-one conversation and a chat that includes several people at once.

## Open the internal chat

1. Sign in to the Cloud Voice App.
2. In the left navigation bar, select **Chat**, then open the **Internal Chat** tab.

:::tip
Internal Chat is for reaching colleagues on your own organization's phone system. Reserve it for messages that can wait, and place a call for anything urgent.
:::

## Message a single colleague

1. Type into the search bar to look up the person you want to reach.

   :::note
   You can search by name, extension number, email address, or by text from an earlier conversation.
   :::
2. Select the colleague from the results to open the conversation.

![Cloud Voice, searching for a coworker to begin a private chat](/images/pbx/chat-with-a-colleague-web.png)

## Create a group chat

1. Select the add icon ![Add participants to a new group chat](/images/pbx/add-macbook.png) next to the search bar.

   
   ![Cloud Voice, starting a new group conversation](/images/pbx/start-group-chat-1.png)
2. In the dialog that appears, choose the coworkers you want to include, then select **Create**.

   :::caution
   A group chat is limited to 200 members. If you try to add more than that, the extra people will not be included, so split a very large audience across more than one chat.
   :::