1Overview #
Automatic Messages holds every rule for a message nobody writes by hand. A rule says when (the event), which (the voucher types, the statuses, the days) and what goes.
On the voucher screen: a voucher saved (a new one, or a change) or its status changed. Such a rule can use the voucher's own profile - the e-mail, SMS or API profile the voucher type always used, with its PDF - and either send it at once (Auto) or ask the person saving (Confirm, Edit then send, Pick profile), exactly as the voucher type's options did. The options each voucher type had were turned into rules when this was installed; the web now reads the rules. The desktop still reads the voucher types' own options.
In the background, looked at by the server: a document's workflow approved or rejected, a received cheque cancelled (bounced), a post-dated cheque falling due in N days, a party going over its credit limit, an employee's birthday and work anniversary. These send a message of your own - e-mail, SMS or WhatsApp with placeholders - through the Communication Hub, and it lands on the person's conversation in Communications.
A message of your own can also wait: e.g. a feedback request three days after an invoice. What went lists every firing - sent, waiting, handed to the person saving, skipped (with the reason) or failed.
2Who it is for #
- Invoices, receipts and orders e-mailed or texted to the party when they are saved - what the voucher types' options did, now in one place.
- Telling a supplier when a purchase order is approved, a customer when a cheque bounces or is about to be presented, and a party when it goes over its credit limit.
- Birthday and work-anniversary wishes to employees.
3What it is not for #
- One message to many people at once - that is Communications > Bulk Messages.
- Telling colleagues about a workflow - that is the workflow's own notification rules.
- The desktop's sending - it keeps the voucher types' own options (Voucher Manager).
4Step by step #
- Press Add rule and give it a name. - e.g. "Invoice e-mailed on save".
- Pick When - e.g. A voucher is saved - then the voucher types and Add / Modify. - Only the fields that event uses are shown.
- Pick What goes: the voucher's own profile (and How), or a message of your own (channel, wording, and a wait if you like). - Placeholders: click one to copy it, paste it where it belongs.
- For a message of your own press Preview - on a voucher number, or 'Who would get it today' for a background event. - Nothing is sent; each person shows with their address, or why they would be skipped.
- Press Save (F5). - It is on from now - nothing that happened before fires.
- Open What went to follow it. - Pending ones can be stopped before they go; a sent one opens its conversation.
5The fields #
- The rule
- Name / On - A unique name; off = nothing fires. Switched on again, only what happens from then on fires.
- When - The event - on the voucher screen (a voucher saved; its status changed) or in the background (workflow decided, cheque cancelled, cheque falling due, credit limit crossed, birthday, work anniversary). Each is offered while its module is licensed.
- Voucher types - Which vouchers set it off.
- On: Add / Modify - A new voucher fires once; every change fires again.
- Statuses - A status change: the status names your vouchers use. A workflow: Approved (completed) or Rejected (aborted).
- Days before - Post-dated cheques: how many days before the cheque's date (0 = on the day).
- Not again within - Credit limits: while the party stays over, it is told again only after this many days.
- What goes
- The voucher's own profile - On the voucher screen only: E-mail, SMS / WhatsApp gateway or API push, with the profile (blank = the voucher type's default) - Auto sends at once; Confirm shows it first; Edit then send lets the person change it; Pick profile asks which profile. The PDF goes as the profile says.
- A message of my own - E-mail (From, Subject, Message), SMS (profile, Message) or WhatsApp (number, approved template, values) with placeholders - sent by the server through the Communication Hub, onto the person's conversation.
- Wait - A message of your own on a voucher event can wait - minutes, hours or days (30 days at most).
- Preview - The message as it would go - on a voucher (its internal number) or, for a background event, to whoever it would reach today. Nothing is sent.
- What went
- Status - Pending (waiting for its time), Asked (handed to the person saving the voucher), Sent, Failed, Skipped (with why), Declined (the person closed the window).
- Stop - A Pending one: it will not go.
- Conversation - The message on the person's conversation in Communications.
6Rules and integrity #
- Once per event - A rule fires once for each thing that happened - a new voucher once, each change once, each cheque once, each birthday once a year. Two servers or two tries never send it twice.
- Nothing from before - A rule acts only on what happens after it was saved (or switched back on) - it never catches up on the past.
- Service messages - Automatic messages are about the party's own dealings, so the bulk opt-out does not stop them; an address a mail server refused is still left out (Bulk Messages > Bounced addresses).
- When the background runs - Workflow decisions and cancelled cheques are looked at every minute; cheques falling due, credit limits and birthdays once a day from setting 288's hour. Messages go out a few a minute (setting 255).
- No PDF in the background - A message of your own carries no PDF - use the voucher's own profile on the voucher screen for that.
7Shortcut keys #
- F5 - Save the rule being edited - or, in the delete window, OK.
- Esc - Cancel the edit; with nothing being edited, close the page.
8If something does not work #
"Name: give the rule a name." / "Name: 100 characters at most." / "Name: there is already a rule named ..."
- Why
- The name is missing, too long or taken.
- What to do
- Give a unique name. The rule
"When: pick the event that sets it off." / "When: '...' needs ..., which this company's licence does not hold."
- Why
- No event, or its module is not licensed.
- What to do
- Pick a licensed event. The rule
"Voucher types: pick at least one." / "On: tick Add, Modify or both." / "Statuses: say which status(es) set it off." / "Statuses: Approved or Rejected."
- Why
- The rule does not say which vouchers or statuses.
- What to do
- Fill them in. The rule
"Days before: 0 (on the day) to 60." / "Not again within: 1 to 365 days."
- Why
- The number is missing or out of range.
- What to do
- Correct it. The rule
"What: this event runs in the background - it sends a message of your own (Template), not a voucher profile." / "What: the voucher's own profile, or a message of your own."
- Why
- A background event has nobody at the screen to run a profile.
- What to do
- Choose A message of my own. What goes
"Channel: ..." / "How: Auto, Confirm, Edit then send or Pick profile."
- Why
- The channel or the way it goes is not one offered.
- What to do
- Pick one offered. What goes
"Delay: a voucher profile goes while the voucher is on the screen - use a message of your own for a delay." / "Delay: 0 to 30 days." / "Delay: this event cannot wait ..."
- Why
- Only a message of your own on a voucher event can wait, for 30 days at most.
- What to do
- Set the wait to 0, or use a message of your own. What goes
"Subject: an e-mail needs one." / "Message: write it." / "Message: an SMS is 1000 characters at most ..."
- Why
- The message is incomplete or too long.
- What to do
- Write it - the event's own wording is filled in when you pick the channel. What goes
"WhatsApp number: ..." / "WhatsApp template: ..." / "Template values: the template has N {{n}} ..."
- Why
- WhatsApp needs a number, an approved template and one value per {{n}}.
- What to do
- Pick them; sync the templates on Communications > Channel Setup if one is missing. What goes
"That rule is no longer there."
- Why
- Somebody deleted it meanwhile.
- What to do
- Refresh. The rule
"Give a voucher number (the internal one) to preview on." / "There is no voucher with that number."
- Why
- A voucher rule previews on a real voucher.
- What to do
- Give the voucher's internal number - the one in its address on the voucher screen. Preview
"A voucher-profile rule goes out as the profile says - save a voucher to see it ..."
- Why
- Preview is for a message of your own.
- What to do
- Save a voucher of that type to see the profile's message. Preview
"Nobody would get it today."
- Why
- No cheque, party or employee meets the rule today.
- What to do
- Nothing to fix - try the preview another day, or check the rule's numbers. Preview
Skipped: "No e-mail address - add one to the contact person (or the employee master)." / "No mobile number - ..."
- Why
- The person has no address of that kind.
- What to do
- Add it on the ledger's contact persons (or the employee master). What went
Skipped: "x@y.com bounced - correct it, then clear it (Bulk Messages > Opt-outs)."
- Why
- A mail server refused that address for good.
- What to do
- Correct it on the contact person, then Clear it under Bulk Messages > Opt-outs > Bounced addresses. What went
Skipped: "The rule was switched off before it went." / "The event's module is no longer licensed." / "Stopped by ... before it went."
- Why
- A waiting message was stopped.
- What to do
- Nothing to fix; switch the rule back on for new events. What went
Declined: "Not sent - the person saving closed the window." / "No profile was picked."
- Why
- The rule asks (Confirm / Edit then send / Pick profile), and the person closed the window.
- What to do
- Nothing to fix; use Auto if it should always go. What went
Failed: the mail server's or gateway's answer
- Why
- It could not be sent (a wrong address, a mail account's password, the SMS balance...).
- What to do
- Fix the cause (Settings > Mail Accounts, SMS/WhatsApp Profiles, the address). What went
"It is no longer waiting - it went, or somebody stopped it."
- Why
- Stop is only for Pending messages.
- What to do
- Refresh What went. What went
On the voucher screen: "The voucher could not be read - no automatic message."
- Why
- The voucher was not found when its rules were asked.
- What to do
- Save it again; tell the administrator if it repeats. Voucher screen
Vouchers stopped e-mailing after the rules were installed
- Why
- The web now reads the rules - a rule may be off, or its voucher types changed.
- What to do
- Check the rule seeded for that voucher type (its card says 'From the voucher type's ... option'); switch it on. Voucher screen
A birthday or cheque reminder did not go this morning
- Why
- The daily events are looked at from setting 288's hour, by the API server's worker.
- What to do
- Check setting 288 and What went; if nothing is listed, an administrator checks the API server is running. What went
9For an administrator #
- The worker - The API server's Communication Hub worker scans the background events and sends what is due each minute - one sender per database at a time.
- A new event - A module adds an event as a class in CommRuleEvents.All - no table, page or script change.
10Settings it uses #
- 288 - Hub: send date-event messages at (hour): when the daily events are looked at. Default 9.
- 255 - Bulk messages sent per minute: the pace, shared with the bulk sends.
This is the help InvoiceNET® ERP shows beside the Automatic Messages screen. Whether you have the screen depends on the modules of your licence and the rights your administrator has given you.
See this screen for yourself
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