SMS stands for Short Message Service, more commonly known as a Text Message.
Our Student Management System gives you the ability to send a text message to a Party and receive a response. These messages can be sent ad hoc or sent automatically when triggered; for example, you can send an SMS Reminder 24 hours before an Event Start Time.
Please Note
To use this feature, you need to connect with a third-party provider such as Message Media before sending an SMS from your System.
Add an SMS Template
To add an Automated SMS, you must first create a templated message against the Party entity.
To create an SMS Template, follow these steps:
- Go to Administration → Templates → Entities.
- Click Party from the List.
- Click Templates. This is nested under the SMS heading in the left-hand navigation.
- Click the + plus Icon to create a new SMS Template.
- Complete the SMS Template window.
Name - Name for the SMS template.
- Description - Description of the purpose for the SMS template.
- Message - The content of the automated message you'd like to send.
- Enabled - Sets whether the SMS template is enabled or not.
- Once you have entered the details for the SMS template, click on the Create button.
You have now added an SMS Template.
Automate the SMS Template
To Automate the SMS, follow these steps:
- Go to Communications → AutoMate → Automations.
- Click the + New button to create a new automation.
- From here, you will be asked to select a Target.
What is a Target?
The Target is where you want to create your automation. This is important because it determines what you can do with the task, the fields you can merge, the templates you can access and the triggers/conditions that are available.
For example; if you want to create an Event Reminder you would select Event as the Target.
For the purpose of this article, we will create an Automated Event Reminder. Therefore, we have selected Event as our Target.
- Complete the New Automation window.
Name - Create a unique name for your automation that will allow you to easily identify and search for it in the future.
- Description - Describe the purpose of the automation.
- Action - Make sure that Create SMS is highlighted/selected.
- Apply to - Where do you want to store the record of this communication?
For example; if it is an Event Reminder you may wish to store the Automated SMS against the Party (Student) record. - Execute Task - This is your trigger. Use this section to identify when to send the automated SMS. For example, 24 Hours Before Event Start Time.
- System Task - If enabled (checked), the automation will be triggered for all entities for which this workflow task has been created. If this is not enabled, you will need to allocate the automation to each Entity (e.g. Course or Event).
- Enabled - If enabled, this automation will be in effect.
- Conditions - Conditions can be used to further filter the automation.
For example; you could limit the automation to only send the SMS to students who have been marked as 'present' or 'absent'. - SMS Template - Here is where you apply your previously created SMS Template.
- Skip Workflow Tasks - Disabling this setting can cause actions from this automation to trigger other automations in your system. It is highly recommended that you leave this setting enabled.
- Click on the Create button.
You have now set up an automated SMS.