Automate Inbox Notifications
- 10 Nov 2023
- 7 minute read
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Automate Inbox Notifications
- Updated 10 Nov 2023
- 7 minute read
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User/Role assignment, automatic replies, staff notifications, and status updates can all occur automatically using the Rules Editor.
Before you create Inbox rules, you will first need to:
Add the Message Inbox query base from the Slate Template Library. This query base inherits exports and filters from the Prospects query base. Keep in mind that if you are using these inherited filters, messages that are not yet assigned to person records will be excluded from the results.
There are a number of standard filters available for this query base that you will be able to use in your rules, including filters based on the Created Date/Time, inclusion of an attachment, Inbox Group, etc.
Add the Details export and any filters that you will want to use for your rules from the Slate Template Library as well.
Notification emails can be sent to notify users of specific types of emails. For example, if you want to alert users when a message is received that has an attachment and contains certain words like checklist. If you want just one notification message to be sent about a specific message, then you can use an Exclusivity Group to allow just one notification, where you specify the preferred order of importance. If you want a single message to be able to trigger multiple notification emails (for example, sending notifications to multiple people), then you should not include those notifications within the same Exclusivity Group.
Important!
Any one rule will only send a notification email for a specific message one time. If you have Notification rules configured to run during Nightly Processing, and the message meets the filter criteria to have a notification email sent for a specific rule overnight one night, then the notification email will be sent at that time. If during any subsequent nights the message meets the filter criteria again, a notification email will not be sent again for that same message and rule.
Can Notification rules use Currently Assigned User address options with the Upon Message Receipt Only trigger?
The emails are sent after assignment rules have run, so if you are setting a User using Assignment rules that run Upon Message Receipt Only, then those users will be assigned before the email is sent. However, unless you are always automatically assigning Users, it is possible that a message will not have a current User assignment, and this would prevent a Notification rule from sending if the Email Recipient Type is set to Currently Assigned User Email Address.
Attachment Notification
Send a notification email to a specific user whenever a message with an attachment is received that has at least one of the words "application" or "checklist" and is assigned to the Admissions Inbox Role.
Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
Click New Rule.
Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
Name - Attachment Notification
Base - Message Inbox
Type - Notification
Trigger - Upon Message Receipt Only
Folder - Inbox / Notifications
Click Save.
Configure the appropriate filters:
Partial Match - The Partial Match filter finds matching messages with the included words, regardless of their ordering. If you want to find messages with a specific phrase, include quotes in the filter.
Partial Match CONTAINS application checklistRole - IN Admissions Inbox
Has Attachment - Has Attachment - Message has attachment(s)
Configure the appropriate action:
Email Sender - This determines the From address for the email.
Default email address for your database
Other email address - You may enter a specific email address in the text box.
Email Recipient Type
Currently Assigned User Email Address - Send the notification to the message's current User. Note: If the message does not have a User assignment, then a notification will not be sent.
User Email Address - Send the notification to a specific User.
Other Email Address - Specify a different email address for the notification email.
Send Email Notification - Use the HTML editor to compose a notification email.
Skip New Messages
This rule will notify a specific user when messages are older than 30 days and not yet resolved.
Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
Click New Rule.
Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
Name - Skip New Messages
Base - Message Inbox
Type - Notification
Trigger - Nightly Processing
Folder - Inbox / Notifications
Exclusivity Group - Old Messages
Priority - 1
Click Save.
Configure the appropriate filters:
Created Date - > today - 30. This rule filters for messages that are under 30 days old, since the desire is to only send notifications for messages that are older than 30 days.
Created Date > today - 30Configure the appropriate action:
No Action Rule - Check Do Nothing and skip processing of other lower priority rules in this Exclusivity Group when filter criteria are met. It is a No Action rule, which means that the only purpose for this rule is to prevent messages that meet the filter criteria for this rule from being eligible for subsequent rules in the Exclusivity Group.
Which operator do I use for the date and time filters?
In the above example, the goal is to find messages that were created more recently than 30 days ago. We therefore want to compare the message's created date with the date as of 30 days ago to determine if the created date was after 30 days ago. Since more recent dates are considered to be larger (greater than) dates further in the past, to find messages that were created more recently than 30 days ago, we use > (greater than) for the Created Date filter. The filter in plain English states: Messages whose created dates are more recent than 30 days ago. The greater than operator is not inclusive, meaning that if the message was created exactly 30 days ago, it would not meet the filter criteria. The > (greater than or equal to) operator is inclusive, so that would find messages whose created dates occurred 30 days ago or less. To find messages that are older than a certain date, use the < (less than) operator. The same concept is true for Time. 12:00am is considered less than 5:00pm. Therefore, if you want to find messages that were created after 5:00pm, use the > (greater than) operator.
Skip Resolved Messages
This rule runs next, since the Priority is 5. This rule filters for messages that have been resolved, since the desire is to only send notifications for messages that are not yet resolved.
Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
Click New Rule.
Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
Name - Skip Resolved Messages
Base - Message Inbox
Type - Notification
Trigger - Nightly Processing
Folder - Inbox / Notifications
Exclusivity Group - Old Messages
Priority - 5
Click Save.
Configure the appropriate filters:
Resolved - Select Resolved.
Configure the appropriate action:
No Action Rule - Check Do Nothing and skip processing of other lower priority rules in this Exclusivity Group when filter criteria are met. It is a No Action rule, which means that the only purpose for this rule is to prevent messages that meet the filter criteria for this rule from being eligible for subsequent rules in the Exclusivity Group.
Admin. Inbox (Old)
This rule runs next. Its Priority is 10, which is greater than the previous rule's Priority (5), and less than the subsequent rule's priority. This rule will send a notification to a specific user if the message is assigned to the Admissions Inbox Role. Since the No Action rules earlier eliminated messages that are younger than 30 days and those that are already resolved, only messages that were received at least 30 days ago and those that are not yet resolved will result in a notification.
Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
Click New Rule.
Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
Name - Admin. Inbox (Old)
Base - Message Inbox
Type - Notification
Trigger - Nightly Processing
Folder - Inbox / Notifications
Exclusivity Group - Old Messages
Priority - 10
Click Save.
Configure the appropriate filters:
Role - Select IN Admissions Role.
Configure the appropriate action:
Email Sender - This determines the From address for the email. Default email address for your database
Other email address - You may enter a specific email address in the text box.
Email Recipient Type
Currently Assigned User Email Address - Send the notification to the message's current User. Note: If the message does not have a User assignment, then a notification will not be sent.
User Email Address - Send the notification to a specific User.
Selection prompts display of Email Recipient field.
Other Email Address - Specify a different email address for the notification email.
Selection prompts display of Email Recipient field.
Send Email Notification - Use the HTML editor to compose a notification email.
FinAid. Inbox (Old)
This rule runs next. Its Priority is 15, which is greater than the previous rule's Priority (10). This rule will send a notification to a specific user if the message is assigned to the Financial Aid Role. Since the No Action rules earlier eliminated messages that are younger than 30 days and those that are already resolved, only messages that were received at least 30 days ago and those that are not yet resolved will result in a notification.
Click Database in the top navigation bar and select Rules Editor.
Click New Rule.
Enter the following configurations in the popup window:
Name - FinAid. Inbox (Old)
Base - Message Inbox
Type - Notification
Trigger - Nightly Processing
Folder - Inbox / Notifications
Exclusivity Group - Old Messages
Priority - 15
Click Save.
Configure the appropriate filters:
Role - Select IN Admissions Role.
Configure the appropriate action:
Email Sender - This determines the From address for the email. Default email address for your database
Other email address - You may enter a specific email address in the text box.
Email Recipient Type
Currently Assigned User Email Address - Send the notification to the message's current User. Note: If the message does not have a User assignment, then a notification will not be sent.
User Email Address - Send the notification to a specific User.
Selection prompts display of Email Recipient field.
Other Email Address - Specify a different email address for the notification email.
Selection prompts display of Email Recipient field.
Send Email Notification - Use the HTML editor to compose a notification email.
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