Communication Types determine the type of message being sent out to your community. Types determine the channel that is used for the communication (either SMS, email, push notification, or a combination of the any of the three) and link it to a communication template. Examples of some types could be Emergency Alert (Fire, Flood etc), Unknown Absences, General Message, Teacher Message, Admin Message etc. There are no limitations to the number of types you can create. All communication types must be linked to a template.
There is separate help documentation for the Configuration of Templates (see Templates).
To add a new communication type
Go to Menu > Communications > Configuration.
A new screen will appear.
Select the Types card.
Click Actions > New Communication Type.
A new screen will appear.
Enter data into fields. Below is a description of each field:
Field
Description
Name
Give the Type a name. E.g. Emergency Communication, Unknown Absence, Transport Message, Teacher Email etc.
System Category
There are three system categories to select from.
School Communication - Will send communications directly to the community member/members selected
Unknown Absence - Allows communications regarding unknown absences to be sent from the Unknown Absence screen. It is imperative that the Unknown Absence Type is given the "Unknown Absence" system category. If this is not selected then unknown absence communications will not be able to be sent
Guardian - Will send communications to the Guardians of the community member (generally a student) that has been selected.
Description
Give the Type a description.
Activating Email, SMS and Push channels
This allows recipients to:
Receive this message via a chosen channel I.e. email, SMS or Push notification
Select chosen channel as a preference
This allows you to:
Make it the default channel. This means that you will set the email as the recipient's preferred channel (if the recipient has not chosen any preferences). Only one channel can be chosen as the default.
To activate Email, SMS and Push Channels:
Click Available.
A new screen will appear.
Select template from the drop-down.
If you have not created a template to suit this type, click on the + button to add a new template.
Enter Default Subject and Default message.
If needed, these can be altered when you actually send the message.
In the body of the message, you can enter "merge fields". This is where the system will replace the merge field with the correct information. In the sample below, the parts in brackets will be replaced with the actual student's preferred name and surname.By using merge fields you can personalise messages by adding details of the recipient, and as shown in the example you can even add details of the recipient's student.
Push notification communications require the recipient to be using the Android or iOS mobile app.
4. Click Save. Below is an example of a new Unknown Absence Type:
