The Communication Automations tab in Appointment Configuration allows you to schedule SMS and Email Communications to learners and applicants linked to an Appointment. Any automations you set up here will run at 5am on every day that they are valid. The process will only message each learner/applicant linked to the appointment once, even if the appointment is found by the process on multiple occasions.

For each automation, the Name and Type are shown.

Open

Filtering the Automation List

The following searching and filtering options are available by default above the list. Once you have entered the necessary details, press Enter or select the Search icon to run the search and apply your filters.

• Name

• Number of Records Displayed

Exporting the Automation List

Selecting More shows an option to Export to Excel. Selecting this will generate an Excel Spreadsheet containing the details currently displayed in the list.

Creating a New Automation

To set up a new communication automation, select Create. This will open a window where you can specify whether you want to send an Email or SMS.

Open

Once you have made your choice, select Save. The next window is made up of the following sections:

Message

In this section, you can enter the Title for the automation (which will not be shown to the learner or applicant) as well as the contents of the message that will be sent.

You can add merge fields to the message body to personalise the text. To do this, type {{ and search the drop-down menu for the appropriate field. Unless otherwise specified, the name fields will show the learner or applicant name from the Attendees field of the appointment.

Additional options for emails only

• CC Officer Attendees. If selected, any officer records (with an email address) in the Appointment Attendee field will be CC'd in the email being sent to each learner/applicant.
  Note also that if Respect Contact Methods option (below) is selected, then Email must be an allowed contact method for the officer record.

• Send iCalendar Attachment. This will attach an ical file to any emails sent, which the receipient can open and save to their own calendar.

Filtering

This section allows you to filter your appointments to specify which ones will have the communication sent out.

The following options are available:

• Respect Contact Methods – If this is ticked, messages will only be sent if the relevant contact type (email or SMS/text is included in the officer, learner or applicant’s Allowed Contact Methods field.

Below this, the following filters are available:

• Due Between. Identify how many days in advance the process should look to find appointments. 0 will include the day the automation runs. Examples:

  • An automation running on 1st July with ‘Due Between’ 0 and 7 days would find appointments with a date on and between 1st - 8th July. When it runs the following day the dates ‘slide’ so it would find appointments with a date on and between 2nd - 9th July and so on.

  • An automation running on 1st July with ‘Due Between’ 1 and 3 days would find appointments with a date on and between 2nd - 4th July.

• Status – Here you can restrict the automation to appointments with specific statuses, for example only appointments that are ‘Pending’. Choosing a status from the drop-down menu will add it to the field. You can add multiple statuses to the field and remove any added ones by selecting the X icon.

• Classes – Here you can restrict the automation to appointments with specific classes. Choosing a class from the drop-down menu will add it to the field. You can add multiple classes to the field and remove any added ones by selecting the X icon.

• Types – Here you can restrict the automation to appointments with specific types. Choosing a type from the drop-down menu will add it to the field. You can add multiple types to the field and remove any added ones by selecting the X icon.

(Note that Classes and Types are related values but the selection fields here do not relate, i.e. it is possible to select values that conflict and would prevent appointments being found by the process. If unsure how to use these options please check with the support team.)

• Tags – Here you can restrict the automation to appointments with specific Tags. Choosing a tag from the drop-down menu will add it to the field. You can add multiple tags to the field and remove any added ones by selecting the X icon. The following tag options are available:

  • Any – This will restrict the automation to appointments that have at least one of the specified tags.

  • All – This will restrict the automation to appointments that have every specified tag.

  • None – This will restrict the automation to appointments that do not have any of the specified tags.

Once you have set up your filters, select Save to add the automation. It will then begin to run at 5am on the next valid date.

Automation Actions

Selecting … by an automation will show the following options:

• Edit – This will open the window explained above for you to edit any message and filter details.

• Delete – You will be prompted to confirm before the automation is deleted.