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Find out how to create a new Communications

What does this section cover?

Table of Contents
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Navigating to Communications

Info

CRM APPLICATION > COMMUNICATIONS > MANAGE COMMUNICATIONS

Explaining Communications Fields

 

Name

Description

NumberAn auto generated number that uniquely identifies each communication
CodeAn auto generated code which is used to uniquely group follow up communications.
This information is hidden.
Life Cycle StateThe life cycle state of the communication which can be Draft or Completed
Contact*

The person or company for which the communication is created for. Only existing contact information can be used.
Contact affects the filtering of available Communication Templates 

Direction*

The communication direction, which determines if the communication is Incoming or Outgoing.
The availability of communication media depends on the selected communication direction. The default communication direction is the outgoing

Media*

The media that was used to send or receive the communication. The supported media are the following:

  • Email: Available and applicable only if the direction is set to outgoing
  • SMS: Available and applicable only if the direction is set to outgoing
  • Phone: Available and applicable for all directions
  • Letter: Available and applicable for all directions
  • Face to Face: Available and applicable for all directions
CategoryThe category of the communication
Communication TemplateThe communicate template of the communication that will generate the appropriate content.

Templates will be filtered in the following way:
Communication's contact information and referred entities will be compared against the Communication Template's Entities.

A Communication Template will become available for selection if:

  • The Communication Template includes Date Tags only or no Communication Tags at all
  • All of the Communication Template's Entities also exist on the Communication either as Contact Information or Referred entities.

If you select a template (which is a valid, based on the current Communication information) and then the you add additional information on the Communication, such as a Referred entity, then the available Communication Templates will be refreshed.
If for any reason, the previously selected Template is no longer valid, then the Communication's content will be removed, and you need toselect another template.

From*

The sender of the communication which holds different type of information based on the selected Media and Direction.This information is available and mandatory only if the media is set to Email or SMS and the direction is set to outgoing. The information is automatically set to the default Email address or SMS sender name as specified in active communication definitions.

To*

The receiver of the communication which holds different type of information based on the selected media and direction.This information is available and mandatory only if the media is set to Email or SMS and the direction is set to outgoing. One Email address or phone number is required which can optionally be selected from the existing contact information Emails or Phones.

Subject*

The subject of the communication. Communication tags can be used to generate the subject based on data kept on the related contact information or the referred business entity. The tags are replaced with the actual values while typing them.

When Media SMS is selected, then the Subject field should not be available.

Content*

The actual content of the communication. Communication tags can be used to generate the content based on data kept on the related contact information or the referred business entity. The tags are replaced with the actual values while typing them.

Status
colourRed
titleAvailable from CRM.COM R9
- The WYSIWYG tool's editing area is used to capture the actual content along with all of the utility's toolbar that provides the ability to edit and style the content. The WYSIWYG tool's editing is available only for Communications with Media Emails and Letters. For the other media types, a plain text area is used to capture the actual content.

 

Status
colourRed
titleAvailable from CRM.COM R9.0.0
- Links to external websites such as http://www.google.com  can be added to your templates. If you would like to track the links, for example check whether they have been added and viewed then it is mandatory to add the "http://" or the "https://".
Visit  Understanding Communications for more information on tracking links and emails

Referring To

The entity that the communication is referring to, which should be owned by the selected contact information. The supported entities are the following:

  • Subscriptions
  • Activities
  • Jobs
  • Communications
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Bill
  • Notifications
  • Rewards Participant
  • Award Reward Transaction
  • Spend Reward Transaction
  • Service Request 
  • Payment Gateway Cards
  • Payment Gateway Requests
  • Leads 
  • Payments
  • Buy in Advance
  • Status
    colourRed
    titleAvailable from CRM.COM R9
    Access Tokens (Not available when creating a new communication from the User Interface) Access Token will be shown in View mode, when a communication is created and send automatically on the creation of a new Rewards Participant or an Accounts Receivable)
    When creating a new communication from the WEB API however, you will be allowed to add a new access token)

    Referring To affects the filtering of available Communication Templates

Unrestricted Parameters -

Status
colourRed
titleAvailable from CRM.COM R9

The unrestricted tags and their associated values which will be replaced with on saving the communication.

This section is available only if the communication is draft or if the communication is completed and at least one unrestricted parameter exists

Follow Up CommunicationsA list of communications that were created as a follow up of the specific communication
Communication Queue External SystemCommunications Queue External Systems are used to define the external systems which are allowed to access and process information kept in the communications queue.
This information is not available through the UI.
The external System may be set on a communication either by using WEB APIs, or when the communications are created via Notification Runs were the external system is set based on the used Notification Type
Attachments

The attachments related to the specific communication.

LOG INFORMATION
Owned by group*The group owing the communication.
Shared NotesThe shared noted of the communication
Privacy levelThe privacy level of communication. 
Log DetailsThe standard log information

Tracking Details

This section is visible only if the communication media is set to email and the direction is outgoing.

 

Email Tracking EnabledDetermines if the email communication was enabled for email tracking
ViewedDetermines if the customer viewed the email send by the email communication.
This information is visible only if the communication is email tracking enabled. 
Viewed OnThe date that the customer viewed the email send by the email communication.
This information is visible only if the communication is email tracking enabled.

Link Tracking Enabled

Status
colourRed
titleAvailable from CRM.COM R9

Determines if the email communication was enabled for link tracking.

Tracked Links

Status
colourRed
titleAvailable from CRM.COM R9

List all the links that were send through this communication provides the date that the customer viewed that link. The following information is displayed for each tracked link:

  • URL: The Link that was send
  • Viewed: Determines if the customer viewed the that link or not
  • Viewed On: The date that the customer viewed that link

All information is read only.

This information is visible only if the communication is link tracking enabled.

 

 

Creating & Saving, Validations & Restrictions

ActionValidationsRestrictionsAdditional Information
Create

 

  • If tags will be used, you must first define the Referring to Entities
  • If unrestricted tags will be used, you must then define the values of each unrestricted tag under Unrestricted Parameters
Save
  • Mandatory Fields
    • Contact Information
    • Direction
    • Media
    • Subject (Not available if the media is set to SMS)
    • Content
    • Unrestricted Parameters' Value
      • if unrestricted tags are used
    • Only if media is set to Email or SMS and the direction set to outgoing:
      • From
      • To

 

 

 

Creating a Communication

  1. Search using the criteria available in the summary page
  2. From the top menu click on "NEW" to open the Communications data entry page
    Every time you complete a tab click on the "NEXT" button  
  3. MAIN INFORMATION

    1. Contact: Type the name of the contact or click on the Find button to search the contact via the Contact Search modal
    2. Direction: Select the direction of the communication
      1. Incoming: Logging communications for customers calling in 
      2. Outgoing: Logging a communication for agents contacting customers 

        Info
        titleFiltering of Media based on Direction selected

        According to the direction selected the related Media will be loaded 

        NoMediaAvailable in Direction
        1EmailOutgoing
        2SMSOutgoing
        3PhoneOutgoing
        4LetterOutgoing & Incoming
        5Face to FaceOutgoing & Incoming
        6DeviceOutgoing & Incoming (only if an external system is specified)
    3. Media: Select the Media used for the communication
      If the media selected is "Email" or "SMS" then the From field will be automatically loaded as it is defined in Communication Definitions

    4.  Category:
      1. Click Find to search for the category based on your needs
        1. A modal window opens with a tree structure of the available categories. 
        2. Select the category you need
    5. Click on "ADD REFERRING TO ENTITIES" in order to add the entities that are related with the communication. A modal window will open where you will have the option to search and add the related entities

      Info

      The contact must be selected first in order to only load the entities related to the contact. If no contact is selected then the search will not return any results.

      REFERRING TO ENTITIES

    6. To: Search for the mobile phone number or Email address of the recipient of the communication. One Email address or mobile phone number is required, which can optionally be selected from the existing contact information Emails / Phones

      Info

      • This is a free text field. You can add any mobile phone number or Email address manually; however you have the option to view the already registered Emails and Phones of the contact and choose one of them

      • If an SMS is going to be sent, then the phone number needs to always start with the country code: e.g. 0031 for The Nertherlands



    7. Communication Template: Choose a communication template available in the drop down list
      When a template is selected the following fields will be updated accordingly:
      1. Media
      2. Category
      3. Subject
      4. Content
    8. Subject: The subject of the communication. 
    9. Content: The actual content of the communication. 

      The WYSIWYG editor is available to be used only if media Email and Letter are selected.

      Info

      Communication tags can be used to generate the subject & the content based on data kept on the related contact information or the referred business entity. 
      "#" needs to precede the communication tags. As soon as you type the "#" symbol the system will automatically populate the list of the available tags that can be used. As you type your text, the list will be filtered accordingly. 
      Subject and Content are also automatically filled when the template is selected

  4. UNRESTRICTED PARAMETERS
    Status
    colourRed
    titleAvailable from CRM.COM R9

    Info

    Unrestricted Parameters section will be available if the following include unrestricted tags:

    • Communication Template

    • Content

    • Subject

     

    1. The unrestricted tags used in the above sections will be listed under the table

    2. Click ADD MISSING UNRESTRICTED PARAMETERS to add any tags that were not added automatically

    3. Specify the Value for each tag 

  5. ATTACHMENTS

    1. Include Page
      Attachments - Global
      Attachments - Global

      Info

      If the communication Direction is Outwards and communication Media is Email, if any files exist in the Attachments section, then they will be sent as attachments once the communication is sent.



  6. LOG INFORMATION

    The following information is automatically set by the system on saving the Communications

    1. Include Page
      Log Information - Global
      Log Information - Global


  7. From the Action Menu click on "SAVE"

    Info
    titleSave as Draft

    Communications can also be saved as Draft, by clicking on "SAVE AS DRAFT" button.

    Save as Draft button

    • If saved as Draft then no further processing will be done (i.e. sent to Communication Queue) till the communication life cycle state is updated to Completed. 

    • A Draft communication can be further updated.

System Processing

  1. Communication is created and life cycle state set to:
    1. Draft: If "SAVE AS DRAFT" button is used
    2. Completed: If "SAVE" button is used
  2. If required, a record is added in the Communication queue for further processing with Life Cycle State: Pending

Other processes responsible for creating Communications

Apart from the Communication module which can be used to manually create communications, the system will also create communication automatically, through a number of other processes.

  • Notification Batch process
    Notification process will create a communication and a communication queue record for every notification created. The /wiki/spaces/V4Manual/pages/9831177which will process the communications in the queue is defined in the Notification Type 
  • /wiki/spaces/V4Manual/pages/9833065
    OSM run will process any pending requests for messages created via OSM sending utility. On processing this requests, a communication along with a communication queue record will be created and will be processed in the queue by the external system /wiki/spaces/V4Manual/pages/9831177which is defined in the Panaccess OSM Message Run Definition  
    The same process may be executed by the Panaccess Provisioning Request Processing Run
  • Conax Mail & Bark Message Runs
    Mail & Bark message run will process any pending requests for messages, created via Send Mail & Bark Messages Utility or WEB APIs. On processing this requests, a communication along with a communication queue record will be created and will be processed in the queue by the external system which is defined in the Conax Mail & Bark Message Run Definition  
    The same process may be executed by the CONAX Provisioning Request Processing Run 
     
Note

Visit Understanding Communications for business examples related to Creating Communications

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