Admin Guide
Getting Started
This guide walks an organisation administrator through the complete setup process from receiving access to a provisioned SemaFore organisation to having the first team member exchange encrypted messages.
Screenshot pending — see prompt sync-sf-portal-screenshot-capture.md.
Before you begin
You will need:
- A mobile phone number capable of receiving SMS
- A modern browser
- At least one colleague to invite for the test
SemaFore is a business messaging platform. Organisation administrators manage the team from the web portal, while end users communicate via the iOS or Android app.
Step 1 — Request an evaluation and receive administrator access
Apply through the SemaFore evaluation programme. SemaFore does not offer self-service organisation creation.
After the evaluation is approved, SemaFore provisions the organisation and sends the nominated administrator access instructions.
Use those instructions to sign in to the administrator portal. If you have not received them, contact the person coordinating your evaluation rather than trying to create another organisation.
Step 2 — Understand the portal
After sign-in you land on the portal dashboard. The main admin areas are:
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| Members | Invite members, approve or deny devices, change roles, remove members |
| Groups | Create, rename, archive, and manage group membership |
| Broadcasts | Send one-way announcements to all approved members |
| Audit Log | Review organisation activity events |
| Billing | Manage free-tier limits, trial status, and paid-plan billing |
| Settings | Configure organisation-level options such as retention |
Step 3 — Create an invitation link
Go to Members and click Invite member.
Enter the person’s phone number. The portal creates an invitation link using the universal-link format https://app.semafore.io/join/{token}.
Share that link with the invited person. If they already have the SemaFore app installed, opening the link takes them straight into the invitation flow. If they are signed out, the invitation is preserved through sign-in and resumed after OTP verification.
Step 4 — Wait for device registration
When the invited member signs in on the mobile app, their device registers automatically. You will see them appear in the Members list with status Registered or Pending approval.
At this point they still cannot send or receive messages.
Step 5 — Approve or deny the device
Review the registration and confirm with the person directly that they initiated it.
- Click Approve to activate the device.
- Click Deny if the registration is unexpected or should not proceed.
Step 6 — Exchange a first message
Once the member is approved, they can sign into the mobile app under the active organisation and start:
- one-to-one conversations
- group conversations
- broadcast reads if you send organisation-wide announcements
The portal does not expose private or group message content. Mobile messages are encrypted on-device before transmission. When an administrator sends a broadcast, the administrator’s browser creates an independently encrypted envelope for each recipient device. The portal server rejects plaintext message fields and sends only ciphertext envelopes to the core messaging server, which stores and routes ciphertext only.
What comes next
- Organisations — active-organisation context and multi-organisation membership
- User Management — invite, approve, deny, revoke, and role management
- Groups — create, rename, archive, and manage members
- Message retention policy — live retention controls
- Billing — free tier, trial, and paid plan details