Guides for The-Y CRM

Create an account & sign in

You start The-Y CRM right in the browser — no installation.

1. Go to crm.the-y.at/register and create a free account (company name, your name, email, password). Your workspace gets a first brand named after your company right away — you can add channels immediately.
2. Tick the Alpha terms and confirm — you’re signed in immediately afterwards.
3. Later you sign in at crm.the-y.at/login with your email — sign-in finds your workspace. If your email belongs to several companies, you “Choose a workspace” afterwards.
4. Forgot your password? The “Forgot password?” link sends a reset link to every account with this email; several workspaces are listed together in one email, each with its own link.

• Your sign-in address (crm.the-y.at/t/…) is in the welcome email, under Settings → Account and in the menu at your name — with a copy button, e.g. for your team.
• Several workspaces: via your name at the top right you switch between the workspaces you’re signed in to in this browser without entering your password again, or sign in to another one. The CRM remembers the one you used last. Signing out signs you out of all workspaces in this browser.
• If you’re signed in and open crm.the-y.at, you land directly in your workspace. The demo only starts via “Try the demo”.

The dashboard & the setup tutorial

After signing in you land on the dashboard. At the top, a setup checklist (“Getting started”) walks you through the 6 key steps: invite your team, connect a channel, create your first contact/deal, write a knowledge article. The progress bar shows what’s already done; you can hide the checklist once you’re finished.

Below it you see key figures (open tickets, your tasks, sales pipeline & weighted forecast) and upcoming appointments.

Questions and notices — such as “Really delete?” — appear as a window in the CRM’s own design, even when the CRM is opened inside another app. On phones they slide up from the bottom; on the keyboard, Esc = cancel, Enter = confirm.

Invite your team & assign roles

Under Settings → Team you invite colleagues and control who can do what.

1. “＋ Invite”: choose email, name and role — the person receives an invitation link and sets their own password.
2. Roles: Admin (everything), Supervisor (CRM + reporting, whole team), Agent (their own contacts/deals). Permissions can be fine-tuned per person on top (allow/deny per permission).
3. Via Workspaces (brands) you assign staff to individual brands — one invoice, several brands.

Demo: your own test environment

Try it without signing up: at crm.the-y.at/demo your own test environment with sample data starts right away — conversations from all channels, deals, invoices, appointments, posts, comments and WhatsApp templates.

• You are the admin and may create, change and delete anything — contacts, invoices, campaigns, automations, settings.
• Nothing goes out: emails, WhatsApp, SMS, calls, posts and webhooks are only simulated, with a notice in each place.
• If a test environment is already running, the same link takes you straight back in. Old links to crm.the-y.at/try lead there too.

As an app on your phone

You can add The-Y CRM to the home screen on Android (Chrome: menu ⋮ → “Install app”) and iPhone (Safari: Share → “Add to Home Screen”) — with its own icon, no browser bar. On the phone you get a bottom bar (inbox, contacts, phone, tasks, more), conversations like in a chat app, cards instead of tables and a softphone with a dial pad. Only program files are stored, never customer data.

→ Detailed step-by-step guide (Android, iPhone, what you get on the phone, offline)

Tickets, status & priorities

The inbox bundles all channels (email, web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Facebook and Instagram comments, SMS, calls) into one list. Every conversation is a Ticket #N.

• Status: open · snoozed (with presets 1 h / tomorrow / until reply) · closed. When the customer replies, the ticket reopens automatically.
• Views: My open · Unassigned · All open · Waiting · Closed — each with a counter.
• Priority (urgent/high/normal/low) and open tickets as a tab bar for quick switching. Use j/k to move through the list.

Replies, internal notes & assignment

1. Open a ticket, write your reply at the bottom, hit “Send” — the reply goes out over the original channel. For Messenger and Instagram through the connected Facebook Page.
2. Internal note (yellow): visible to your team only, never delivered to the customer.
3. Assign: pick an agent in the header. On the right you see the customer panel with the 360° history, deals, invoices and consent.

Write on another channel from a ticket

In the ticket’s customer panel, “💬 Other channel” opens a new conversation with the same customer already selected — one click to reach them on WhatsApp, SMS or email. The available channels are filtered by consent and reachability (only channels the customer allows and has an address for).

Templates & macros

Recurring replies live under Templates (sidebar).

• Canned responses with placeholders ({{contact.firstName}} and more) — insert them in the composer via the templates icon.
• Macros (⚡): one click sets status, priority, assignment, labels, an internal note and a reply template all at once.
• 📖 Knowledge articles inserted straight into your reply (from the knowledge base).

Consent, STOP & opt-out

In the customer panel and on the contact page you see, per channel (email/SMS/WhatsApp/call), what the customer wants to receive — on the contact page with the date and source of the consent (by hand, import, via message, unsubscribe link). “New chat” and marketing respect this automatically.

• WhatsApp and SMS campaigns only go to contacts with explicit consent. The editor and the list show how many contacts are excluded because of this. Email keeps the unsubscribe link in every marketing email.
• STOP and START: if a contact writes “STOP”, “STOPP”, “ABMELDEN” or “UNSUBSCRIBE” via WhatsApp or SMS, they are unsubscribed — with a note in the conversation and, on WhatsApp, a short confirmation. “START” or “ANMELDEN” subscribes them again.
• SMS replies: under Settings → Channels → SMS, “Incoming SMS & STOP” creates a receiving address you enter at your SMS provider as the webhook for incoming messages — then replies land in the inbox and STOP works for SMS too.
• CSV import: consent per channel as a column; a “yes” never overrides an opt-out.

Connect an email mailbox (IMAP/SMTP)

Under Settings → Channels you add one or more mailboxes per brand.

1. “＋ Add” → Email → the setup panel opens automatically.
2. Enter IMAP (receiving) and SMTP (sending). Passwords are stored encrypted.
3. “Test connection” checks the credentials live. On import, choose “New mail only” or “Full history”.
4. Optional: an HTML signature per mailbox (filled in per agent).

Embed web chat on your website

1. Settings → Channels → enable web chat.
2. Copy the embed code (a <script> snippet) and paste it before </body> on your website — the chat bubble is live.

WhatsApp, Messenger & Instagram

The-Y connects the whole Meta family through a guided setup.

1. Settings → Channels → “Set up” the channel you want.
2. For Facebook/Instagram the “Connect” button walks you through page selection. Afterwards you get the Facebook Page and the linked Instagram account as separate channels — for messages, comments and posts (existing connections: connect once more). Replies on Instagram go through the linked Page. For WhatsApp you click “Connect WhatsApp”: Meta walks you through it and creates anything missing (Meta business, WhatsApp account) for you. → Step-by-step guide WhatsApp
3. Outside the 24-hour window, WhatsApp requires an approved template — you build those in the template builder (see below).

→ Connect WhatsApp (one click) · Advanced: your own Meta app (manual setup, Facebook Page and Instagram, 24-hour window, troubleshooting)

Meta hub: manage WhatsApp, Facebook & Instagram in the CRM

Settings → Channels → card “Meta hub”: tiles with a traffic light per WhatsApp number, Facebook Page and Instagram account. Whatever Meta allows through its API, you do right in the CRM — no more trips to business.facebook.com.

• WhatsApp: business profile with live preview, welcome message + up to 4 conversation starters + “/” commands, QR codes and short links (PNG/SVG), request a display name and re-register, two-step PIN (never stored), block contacts (also right in the inbox), costs according to Meta next to our estimate, add another number entirely in the CRM — including the verification call through your phone system (“Put the code call straight through to me”).
• Facebook Page: Messenger “Get started” with an automatic reply, conversation starters and menu; Page info such as description, phone, opening hours and legal notice.
• Instagram: conversation starters for Instagram Direct and an overview of your profile.

→ Detailed step-by-step guide (all areas, direct links, limits, FAQ)

Build WhatsApp templates

Under Templates → WhatsApp templates you build templates in a builder with a live preview in WhatsApp style, or take one from the gallery of 14 ready-made templates (appointment confirmation, reminder, job done, invoice, payment reminder, review request …) in English, German and Turkish.

• Header with text, image, video or PDF, variables at a click, footer and buttons (quick reply, website link, call, copy code) — Meta's limits are counted visibly.
• Before you submit, the CRM checks the most common rejection reasons and warns if a utility template sounds like advertising.
• Status in plain language and in real time: approved, in review, rejected (with the translated reason and “How to fix it”), paused. “Fix and resubmit”, “Duplicate” and “Add language” are one click each.
• In the inbox: “Send template” with search, the matching language and pre-filled values such as the first name.

→ Detailed step-by-step guide (choose a category, gallery, builder, fix rejections, send a template)

WhatsApp status: is anything wrong with my number?

Settings → Channels → card “WhatsApp status”: a traffic light per number with quality, messaging limit, display name, connection, payment method, account review, receiving, access and send errors of the last 7 days — in everyday language, with the next step and a direct link to WhatsApp Manager. The dashboard shows “WhatsApp: all good” or “1 notice”.

→ Every value explained

Business hours & auto-reply

Under Settings → Business hours you define, per channel, opening times and an auto-reply both inside and outside business hours (only to the first customer message).

Set up a line (provider / SIP trunk)

The-Y ships with its own phone system. First you connect a line.

1. Open Telephony → Lines. If you don’t have one yet, a guided helper shows suitable providers (depending on your country, e.g. Zadarma, sipgate, Twilio) with an explanation and a direct link.
2. Get a number + SIP credentials from the provider and enter them under “Lines” (server, user, password, country code).
3. Activate — outgoing and incoming calls then run through your system.

→ Detailed step-by-step guide (SIP line, extensions/softphone, numbers, call flow/IVR/queues/voicemail, greeting while it rings, wallboard, troubleshooting)

Extensions & softphone

1. Telephony → Extensions: one extension per employee (or “create for everyone”). Can be assigned to a user.
2. The softphone in the bottom right automatically registers your own extension — so you make calls right in the browser (answer, dial, hold, transfer, park).
3. Clicking a phone number in the CRM starts the call. On incoming calls the contact card pops up (screen pop).

Menus (IVR), queues & call flow

Under Telephony → Call flow you build call routing as a visual flow (connecting nodes) — no technical knowledge needed.

• Greetings & menus (IVR): greeting + keys → destinations (extension, queue, forward, voicemail). Greetings via text-to-speech, recording or upload.
• Queues & ring groups: several agents ring, with an overflow destination and hold music.
• Greeting while it rings: in a ring group the caller hears your greeting right away while the team’s phones are already ringing; then a ringing tone or hold music. The ring time is fixed or “as long as the greeting”; after that the call moves on, e.g. to your mobile. Queues have a “Greeting on entry”. How it works
• Time conditions: route differently inside/outside business hours.

Phone numbers & changes to the phone system

• Telephony → Numbers: decide per number where a call goes first. With Zadarma the phone system recognises which of your numbers was dialled; if a line doesn’t pass that on, the destination of the topmost number (⭐) applies.
• Changes take effect right away: the phone system picks up greetings, menus, extensions and destinations on its own within a few seconds. If that ever fails, the telephony pages show admins a notice.

→ Numbers and destinations · Changes take effect right away

Contacts, companies, deals & pipeline

• Contacts/companies: create, link, merge (duplicates). Every contact page shows a 360° history across all channels.
• Deals: with value, stage and a link to a contact/company. The pipeline is a Kanban board with drag & drop — a stage change derives the status.
• Custom fields & collections for your own data structures (e.g. policies, trips).

Finance: issue invoices

Under Finance → Invoices you create invoices, quotes and credit notes. A draft has no number yet; “Issue” checks your country's mandatory details, assigns the next number (consecutive, without gaps) and stores the PDF unchanged with a checksum. After that the invoice is locked — corrections go via credit note.

• Tax rate per line item, service date or period, the customer's VAT ID with a check, notes for small businesses, reverse charge, intra-EU supply and export added automatically.
• Issuer details and layout per brand; XRechnung (e.g. with Leitweg-ID) and the Swiss QR-bill in the PDF.
• Country, tax rates, number ranges, dunning levels and accounts under Finance → Settings — detailed for Austria, Germany and Switzerland, plus all EU countries.

→ Detailed step-by-step guide

Payments, open items & dunning

• Payments: record partial payments; the status changes automatically. A credit note is offset against the open invoice.
• Open items with days overdue and dunning level; payment reminders in several levels at the push of a button or automatically, sent from your own mailbox with the invoice PDF.
• Bank statement: upload camt.053 or CSV under Finance → Bank — The-Y suggests the matching invoice, you confirm. Duplicates are detected. No direct bank connection.

Receipts, journal & VAT preview

• Receipts: upload (PDF, photo, XML) or forward to your receipts mailbox. E-invoices (ZUGFeRD, Factur-X, XRechnung) are read automatically; with your own AI key, photos and PDFs too.
• Journal (income & expenses) by payment date, mapped to the tax form codes (Austria Beilage E 1a, Germany Anlage EÜR).
• VAT overview per month, quarter or year — a preview for checking, nothing is submitted to the tax office.

VAT basis (accrual/cash) & supplements

Under Finance → Settings → “VAT basis and return period” you choose accrual or cash basis and your VAT return period (monthly, quarterly, yearly — Austria without yearly). Every option is explained with the rules for Austria, Germany and Switzerland; the VAT overview then puts every tax in the right month, and the journal shows the VAT period per entry.

• “Supplement to MM/YYYY”: if a tax belongs to a month you have already closed, that month stays unchanged; the tax appears in the current period as a supplement — with a note on which return it concerns.
• “Received on”: you book supplier invoices that arrived late with their date of receipt; input VAT counts in the month of receipt.
• Figures at closing: the month-end close saves the VAT overview figures; if the preview changes later, you see both side by side.

→ VAT basis & supplements in detail

Export for your tax advisor & month-end close

Under Finance → Export you download a monthly package as a ZIP: journal, VAT overview, all invoice PDFs, receipts and bank statements, plus a DATEV posting batch and BMD import. You close finished months — afterwards payments and booked receipts stay unchanged; corrections are made in the open month via credit note or “Correct (reversal)”.

Import & export data

1. Import: contacts via CSV — under Contacts → “⤓ Import”, with automatic column mapping and conflict resolution.
2. Export: under Settings → Backup → “Export by area (CSV)” you download contacts, companies, deals, tasks or conversations as CSV.

Marketing campaigns Free in the Alpha

Under Marketing you send campaigns over email, SMS or WhatsApp.

• Segments (all / per brand), placeholders like {firstName}. WhatsApp and SMS only to contacts with consent, email with an unsubscribe link — see Consent & STOP.
• Birthday automation: sends automatically on the birthday (with a yearly guard against double sends).
• WhatsApp campaigns use approved templates; images, documents and offer codes from the template are sent along automatically.
• Honest numbers: “Sent” only counts what really went out; plus “Failed” and, for WhatsApp, “delivered” and “read” as reported by Meta.

Posts & comments (Facebook, Instagram)

Under Publish you write one post for Facebook and Instagram at once — with a live preview for feed, story and reel, a format check before posting, your own text per platform if you like, and a content calendar (month/week, drag to reschedule). Templates for recurring posts save time.

Under Comments you see all Facebook and Instagram comments by post: reply publicly or privately, like (Facebook), hide, delete and mark as done. The CRM also fetches new comments itself (last 7 days, 10 most recent posts) — every 5 minutes, or right away with “Fetch now”.

→ Detailed step-by-step guide (post, format check, calendar, status, comments)

Knowledge base & help portal Free

Under Knowledge you maintain articles (WYSIWYG editor).

• Published articles appear in your brand’s public, branded help portal at crm.the-y.at/help/<your-brand>.
• Articles are full-text searchable and double as the knowledge base for the AI assist and for inserting directly into ticket replies.

Automation & chatbot

• Settings → Automation: rules “IF channel/subject/text → THEN assign/label/priority/status/internal note”. Triggers for a new conversation or every customer message.
• Settings → Chatbot: rule-based keyword replies in web chat.

AI assist & bring your own provider

The-Y lets you choose your AI provider — with no AI surcharge; you pay your provider directly (BYO).

1. Open Settings → AI and choose your provider (Anthropic, OpenAI or Google).
2. A guided walkthrough per provider links straight to key creation. Paste the key, tick “AI active”, test the connection.
3. The inbox then offers “💡 Suggestion” (from the history, grounded in your knowledge base) and “📝 Summary”; translations get better too.

Attendance, shift plan & leave

Under Team → Workforce you handle the working-time topics.

• Time clock (🟢 in / 🟡 break / 🔴 out) with an automatic flexitime account (actual vs. target). Can be turned off per person (normal mode).
• Shift plan derived from target working hours, with exceptions; week/day view and an understaffing warning.
• Leave & absence request/approve, leave account with remaining days; sick leave with a doctor’s-note upload.

Branding & notifications

• Settings → Design: app name, accent color and short code per brand — applied in the app, on the login and on the public pages (web chat, help portal, booking).
• Settings → Notifications: in-app bell, browser notifications (while the CRM is open in a tab), email and SLA escalation; notification email templates are editable.

Backup & export

Under Settings → Backup:

• Snapshot export/import per tenant (settings, CRM, messages) as a single file — also for migrations (Free→Paid, hosted→self-host).
• CSV export by area (contacts, companies, deals, tasks, conversations).

System requirements & server size

The CRM already runs on a small 4 GB server. What drives demand is concurrent calls + recording and large marketing sends — not the number of contacts.

• Small (2 vCPU / 4 GB / 40 GB SSD): single office, CRM + email + web chat, 1–2 concurrent calls.
• Medium (4 vCPU / 8 GB / 80–160 GB SSD): our standard recommendation — a growing team, marketing, 5–10 concurrent calls with recording.
• Large (8+ vCPU / 16–32 GB / NVMe): call center, 20+ concurrent calls; split telephony and database later.

Installation & license

Self-hosting is available right away — free with a free key (with the Free limits) or Paid without limits. You install The-Y via Docker Compose on your own server (app, worker, PostgreSQL, Redis, MinIO, optionally the phone system), with automatic HTTPS (Caddy) and optional auto-updates (Watchtower). Guide · server requirements.

The feature set is identical to the hosted version; it’s unlocked via a server-validated license key.