Using the Mass Notifications Feature
The Mass Notifications feature uses the Communicator system to provide bulk notifications to contacts selected by your agency. By default, you can use the Mass Notifications feature to send emails. If your agency has purchased the ability, then you can also send SMS texts and Voice notifications.
Sending a mass notification
To send a mass notification:
- From the menu bar, click the Gear icon, and select Send Notification. The Send Notification screen opens.
- In the Label field, give the notification a label to identify it.
- In the Format field, select the formats for the notification.
- In the Message area, enter the subject and compose the message. The Message area also displays how many characters the message is, and how many parts most carriers will split the SMS text message into.
- In the Recipients area, click Add. You can add multiple sets of recipients. If a contact is in multiple sets, they still receive only one notification (for each format).
- In the Module field, select the type of records to use.
- In the Search Criteria field, select the saved search to use for creating the list of recipients. For more information, see the article "Saving Searches."
- To test your notification, click Test. The Send Test Notification window opens. Enter a name for the test, as well as the contact information you are using for the test. Click Send Test. The message is sent to the specified contact. To return to the Send Notification screen without sending the test, click Edit Details.
After you finish the test, to activate and send your notification to all recipients, click Send Notification. To change the details of the notification, click Edit Details. When you click Send Notification, a confirmation prompt opens. Click Confirm to send the notification.
- To activate your notification, click Activate. A confirmation prompt opens. Click Confirm to send the notification.
- Note that up to 9,999 recipients can be notified in a single activation. The software will alert you if the selected recipients set contains more than 9,999 recipients.
Viewing activation history
You must be an administrator to view the activation history.
To view the activation history:
- From any admin page, select Utilities > Activation History. A list of activated mass notifications appears.
- If needed, filter the list using the fields in the Filters area.
- To view details about the activation, select it from the list.
- To view the full report, click Click here for report. The report is downloaded. If you open the report, then you can view details about the recipients, the duration of the activation, and the status of the notification.