Communications

Owned by Spyroulla Ioakim
Last updated: yesterday at 11:35 am by Georgia Kountouri
7 min read

Managing Communications

Communication is the interaction between the business and its contacts and users via different channels such as Email, SMS and in-App notifications. Communications are is triggered by either a system one-time event or through Communication Plans.

Multilingual communications are also supported. The communication is sent in the Contact’s preferred language and channel of communication.

  • Contact Segments need to be defined before configuring Communication Plans (Contact > Segmentation)

  • The relevant third-party Communication Integrations must be enabled and successfully configured (via Platform > Integrations) before creating Communications.

  • Communications are also configurable via Automations (Platform > Automations) on the occasion that an event is triggered

  • Configure Communication Templates to standardise frequently used communication contents

To view or create a Communication Plan, navigate to CRM > Communication Plans using the main menu on the left-hand side of the screen.

When you create a Communication plan, the Content (on the right) will change according to the interogation methoh you have selected.

Communications are sent according to the preferred language and method of communication set by each Contact. 

Languages

A communication can be set up in multiple languages, switch between languages using the language button and type the contents.

The available languages can be configured via Settings > Platform > Generic category > Languages.

The communication will be sent according to the Contact’s preferred language, which can be set either by the Contact using the consumer app or via the back-end from the Contact screen.

If the Contact’s preferred language is not specified in the communication plan, but the base language of the system (English) is specified, then the communication will be sent in English.

Communication Integrations

Select the integrator to be used for sending the communication; only one integrator can be selected per communication configuration.

The available integrations can be configured via Platform > Integrations; refer to the Integrations manual for further information.

The communication will be sent according to the Contact’s preferred marketing preferences, which can be set either by the Contact using the consumer app or via the back-end from the Contact screen.

Overriding Contact Preferences

If you enable the toggle to ignore the Contact’s marketing preferences, then your communication will also reach those Contacts who have not set the communication channel you have chosen as their preferred form of communication. I.E. If a Contact has opted out of email communications and you have enabled the override option for an email communication, then the Contact will receive the email regardless of their preference (assuming they have an email address set).

Content

Use the Content tab to create your message in multiple languages. For email communications, a rich text editor is available with options to insert images and add embedded links. Images can also be included for in-app push notifications.

Tags

Tags can be used to create personalised Communications for customers. They are predefined and are replaced with actual values when a communication is sent. To use a tag, enter a # in the message body, and a drop-down list of available tags will be displayed for selection.

These are the generic tags available as a minimum for all types of communications. If the communication is being created via Platform > Automations, then additional tags relevant to the event will also be available.

Tag

Contents

#Contact.name

Contact name as it appears in the system (e.g. first name, last name)

#contact.code

Unique Contact code

#contact.email

Contact’s email address

#contact.phone_number

Contact’s telephone number

#contact.referral_code

Contact’s referral code (for referring a friend)

#contact.first_name

Contact’s first name

#contact.middle_name

Contact’s middle name

#contact.last_name

Contact’s last name

#contact.balances

All Contact’s account(s) and wallet(s) balances

Format:

<account currency> Account <account number> balance <account balance>, Wallet <wallet number> balance <wallet balance>

Example:

EUR Account A123 balance 13.00, Wallet W500 balance 5.35

GBP Account A888 balance 55.80, Wallet W900 balance 4.90

#account.billing_address

Contact’s account billing address

#account.balance

Contact’s primary account balance

#wallet.balance

Contact’s (primary account) wallet balance

#wallet.open_balance

Contact’s (primary account) wallet Open balance

#wallet.commerce_balance

Contact’s (primary account) wallet Commerce balance

Communication Templates

When creating a Communication Plan, if you select the Save as Template option, you will be able to name and save the Communication as a template which can then be used for creating future Communications efficiently.

A template can be recalled via the Use existing template option. The available templates to select from are filtered based on your language and integration selections.

Other uses of Templates

A Communication template can also be used to email or print an Invoice or Order from the Contact screen Activity Feed.

Navigate to Contacts > My Contacts > locate and select a Contact > Activity Feed > select an invoice > …

 

  • Email to Contact - Email the invoice to the Contact’s current email address

  • Print - View a print preview of the invoice, save it as a pdf file, or print a copy

For both these options, you will be prompted to select the template to be used to display the content.

Ditto for Orders.

Editor Limitations

The communication editor provides the basic requirements expected of such a tool. However, these are some known (and not restricted to) limitations:

  • With the exception of communications created for in-app push notifications, images can only be inserted using a URL. Uploading an image by browsing your device is not an option.

  • If you want to insert content below an image, press Shift+Enter to move to a new line below the inserted image.

  • Inserting HTML code using the Source Code widget (<>) may not provide the desired result.

  • Tables cannot be inserted as content

Scheduler

Use the Scheduler tab to define when the Communication Plan will be executed:

  • just once - Set the one-off execution date and time

  • on repeated basis - Define the repeating time interval (Daily/Weekly/Monthly) to execute the Communication plan.

Recipients

Specify one or more Contact Segments for the Communication Plan, i.e. the Contacts who will receive the communication. At least one Segment must be selected in order to be able to Save a Communication Plan.

Save

Once a Communication Plan has been saved, it will assume a Posted state and be scheduled for delivery on the date and time you have selected. It’s possible to edit and reuse a communication plan without restrictions.

Save as Draft

The Save as Draft option indicates an incomplete Communication Plan; the system will allow you to save the Communication Plan in Draft state without defining the recipients or the scheduled date & time.

Delete

A communication plan can only be deleted when in Draft state; Posted communications cannot be removed.

Communications Settings

To configure Communication settings navigate to Settings > Contacts & CRM > Communications.

Communication Templates

Create Communication Templates without the need to create a Communication Plan.

The configuration largely resembles that of Communication Plans with the exception of the following:

  • Entity - Used to select the type of transaction your communication will be related to, the Entity selected also determines the communication tags available for use

  • Channel - The communication channel is used instead of the integration.

Reference Material

You may also find it helpful to refer to the following manuals for further reading about Communications.

Segmentation

Create Contact Segments to group the recipients.

https://crmdevelopment.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CRM/pages/557842493

Automations

Send automatic communications when an event is triggered.

https://crmdevelopment.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CRM/pages/1397522961

Integrations

Configure integrations for methods of communication.

https://crmdevelopment.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CRM/pages/1397522770

General Settings

Select the system languages to allow multilingual communications.