Operations is where the platform is configured rather than used. Sales works deals, Finance works invoices; Operations decides how work moves between them automatically, what shape your data takes, and which channels are connected.
Fifteen surfaces in four sections, from the Operations entry in the sidebar.
Workflows
| Surface | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automations | Build workflows that run when something happens |
| Automation Health | See whether what you built is actually running |
| SOPs | Written procedures your team follows |
Data
| Surface | What it does |
|---|---|
| Apps and Import | Connect other tools, import spreadsheets, export data |
| Data Management | Find and fix broken records |
| Marketing Lists | Audiences for campaigns |
| Custom Fields | Add your own fields to any record type |
| Custom Boards | Build a board for work that has no home |
Setup
Email and Domains, Phone Setup, Web Chat, Chat Intents, Booking Engine, Meeting Types, Communication Templates. Provisioning surfaces - connect a channel once and the teams who use it daily work somewhere else. Comms is the daily driver for messages; this is where the numbers and addresses behind it are set up.
Insights
Reports and Analytics for the Operations area.
Who Can Reach It
Operations is permission-gated rather than weight-gated, which makes it different from Settings. Different surfaces need different capabilities:
- Automations, Automation Health, Communication Templates need the automation capability.
- SOPs need the SOP capability.
- Apps and Import, Data Management, Marketing Lists, Custom Fields, Custom Boards, Email and Domains, Phone Setup need the internal operations capability.
- Web Chat and Chat Intents need the website capability.
- Booking Engine and Meeting Types need the settings capability.
Some surfaces are additionally gated by feature flags on your plan, so a workspace on a smaller plan may not see automations at all.
Tip
If a colleague cannot see a surface you can, it is almost always the capability rather than their role weight. See Permissions in the Settings section.
Where To Start
- Custom Fields first. Everything downstream reads them - automations can set them, boards can display them, imports can map to them. Adding a field after you have imported ten thousand rows means going back.
- Then Apps and Import. Get your existing data in, and connect the tools you already run.
- Then Data Management. Imported data is never clean. Work the queues before you build anything on top of it.
- Then Communication Templates. Automations that send anything need a template to send.
- Then Automations. Start with one template, watch it run, and only then build your own.
- Check Automation Health after anything you build.
Keep in mind
The order matters more here than anywhere else in the platform. An automation built on a field that does not exist yet, sending a template nobody wrote, to contacts imported with broken emails, fails in three places at once and tells you about none of them clearly.
What Moved Out
Three things people look for in Operations and will not find:
- Compliance and System Health are now operator surfaces run by NearSync. They are no longer part of the tenant Operations area.
- Custom Fields used to live in System settings. Any old link redirects here.
- Phone Setup moved here from Comms, and Booking Engine from System. Old links redirect.
Common Questions
Is this where I read my email or answer chats? No. Operations sets the channels up; Comms is where you work them.
What is the difference between Automations and SOPs? An automation is executed by the platform. An SOP is a written procedure executed by a person. Use SOPs for judgement work that cannot be automated, and automations for the mechanical steps around it.
Do I need Operations access to connect my own mailbox? No. Your own Google or Microsoft account connects from your account settings, under Connections. See Your Account in the Settings section.
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