In this guide, we will cover how to create and manage Scheduled Messages or Scheduled Emails.
Scheduled Messages or Emails can be used for purposes such as outlining Policies or Term Dates that a school may wish to share with Students/Contacts, either as a one off or on a regular basis in the future.
This guide includes information on the following steps;
See also:
- How to set up SMTP to send Emails from Bromcom
- How to send an SMS or Email
- How to create a Message Template.
Access: The minimum permissions required to carry out these tasks are found in the Framework Module of Config>Setup>Roles & Permissions.
Creating a Message/Email
Navigate to Students to open the Students List page.
From here, click the Student/Students so that they are highlighted blue, then click Actions>Send SMS/Email.
Then in the Send SMS and Emails pop up create the Message or Email. In this example, an Email is being created.
The key fields to note are Recipients (Student or Contact), Subject and Message. These fields determine who the Email is sending to and what information it contains.
For information on the From email address see How to Configure SMTP to Send Emails
Once the above is populated, there are additional fields further down such Contact Priorities and Dynamic Fields. These options are for fine tuning the Message/Email and allows the user to Filter it to only Contacts with Parental Responsibility for example.
When sending a Message/Email straight away, the normal practice is to press Recipients, ensure that all Recipients have a destination Email Address/Phone Number and then Send the Message/Email once you are happy.
For Scheduling a Message/Email, you would need to press Schedule instead.
Scheduling a Message/Email
After clicking Schedule, the Create New Schedule pops up
Note: The At field defaults to at least ten minutes ahead because a Schedule must be in the future.
You can make the Time later for the current day you are on, or make the Time earlier for a future day depending on the Schedule option you select.
The Schedule field provides you with the following options;
- Once – The Email will be sent once on a chosen day/time in the future.
- Daily – The Email will be sent once a day at a chosen time, until cancelled.
- Weekly – The Email will be sent once a week on a chosen day/time until cancelled.
- Monthly – The Email will be sent once a month on a chosen day/time until cancelled.
- Termly – The Email will be sent once a Term on a chosen day/time until cancelled.
- Yearly – The Email will be sent once a Year on a chosen day/time until cancelled.
Below is an example of an Email which has been Scheduled to send at 8:00am every day that Students are in School for just under two weeks. This means Inset days are skipped.
Once you have set the Schedule to your preferences, press Save.
The Email has now been Scheduled and can be amended or deleted by following the steps in the next section.
Amending and Deleting a Scheduled Message/Email
Once a Message or Email has been Scheduled, you would need to go to the Students List page to amend or delete it.
On the Students List page, select any Student and press Actions>Send SMS/Email.
Now, instead of creating or sending an Email as shown in the previous section, you just need to press Tasks which is at the bottom of the screen.
If the Tasks button is not visible this related to permissions for Manage Scheduled Tasks within the Communication Module, please contact the person who is responsible for Roles and Permissions at the School/Trust
The Tasks area will provide you with all of the active Messages or Emails which are currently Scheduled.
Left clicking on the Task will allow you to amend the details of it, such as the *Recipients, Subject or Dynamic Fields as shown below;
*Recipients when amending a task;
- The Recipients field only allows users to switch between Student and Contact recipients.
- It does not allow users to view, add, remove, or amend the selected students once the scheduled message has been created.
- If the recipient list needs to be changed, the scheduled message must be deleted and recreated with the correct student selection.
- When adding new recipients this creates a new version of the message, but doesn’t affect the current version, they appear as multiple tasks
If you wish to delete/cancel the Task, a Red No Entry Sign can be found on the far left of the Tasks area.
Press this to delete the Task and then press Proceed when prompted to confirm the deletion and complete the process.
Note: The Task cannot be retrieved once it is deleted, so please make sure you definitely want to delete it.
See also: How to Schedule a Report via Email