Overview |
Overview
Blanchard Exchange includes a feature that allows email communications to be saved directly in courses. This feature also includes a rule engine for detecting certain conditions to determine when to trigger communications, along with determining who is eligible to be sent the communications.
Please view the following video for an introduction to these features:
Building a Communication Plan
The following video covers the rule engine and instructions for creating a communication plan.
Updated October 4, 2018: It is now possible to have two separate blocks of "matching ANY..."/"matching ALL..." rules within the same communication.
Trigger Categories
The following categories are available when crafting rules for communication plans (more information included in the "Building a Communication Plan" video above).
ACTIVITY Can detect whether completion status is or is not: Not Started |
MODULE Can detect whether completion status for all activities and events under a section are/are not: Not Started |
PARTICIPANT
This trigger is recommended for use in crafting automated communications based on detecting whether a user’s status is “Activated” or not. Example: By not detecting whether a user’s status has been activated, a new enrollment to an existing project may receive a separate communication such as a reminder before the initial invitation has been sent to the individual, which automatically triggers their activation status. |
EVENT Available event triggers are as follows: Start date |
DATE (only available in projects – not available in Course Builder) After (will continue to send the communication to new learners after the date/time have passed) |
Tips for Automated Communication Plans
The following provides tips for setting up and adjusting your communication plans:
NAME/LABEL: Always number the name/label of the communication to be based on the order that communications are sent.
ACTIVATE vs. DEACTIVATE: Communications that are saved as activated in a course (i.e. showing “Deactivate” button) will always be sent automatically once the conditions of the rules in the communications are met.
If you want to include a communication that should be included with a course, but is not meant to be automatically sent (such as a communication that will use the "Date" trigger to be sent on a specific date and time), save the communication as a deactivated rule - the deactivated communication will be present in new projects automatically and can be adjusted before being activated.
PARTICIPANT TRIGGER SET FOR ACTIVATIONS: Use this trigger in all of your communications if there is the possibility of having late enrollments in your project (full details included in the "Building a Communication Plan" video above).
REPLY-TO ADDRESS ADJUSTMENTS: Adjust the Reply-To settings in communication plans to be directed to a point-of-contact, and adjust the body of your messages to include these details, as well. Learners don't always know who to reach out to for questions related to their training and giving them a resource they can quickly find can eliminate frustration.
COMMUNICATION STATUS: Most communications will show a status of "Active" or "Deactivated" when reviewing them in a project. You might additionally see a status of "Stopped" or "Future" if the current date falls outside of the "start and stop date" range (step 5) of the communication's rule.
"Stopped" indicates that the rule will no longer be evaluated unless the end date is extended to a date in the future, while "Future" indicates that the rule will not be evaluated until the date entered for the start date of the communication.
Example Communication Rules
We've included examples of the rules applied to common communication types - you can use these as the basis for your own communications and adjust accordingly.
INITIAL INVITATION
TRIGGER: How does the rule work?: This rule sends the invitation only to individuals not invited/activated. It will automatically trigger invitation to new enrollments as soon as they are added to the project once the rule is activated. |
ASSIGNMENT REMINDER (based on detecting completion of all assignments in a section such as "LAUNCH")
TRIGGER: 2) Module → <select module/section name> → Status (is not) → Completed 3) Event → <select event> → Start Date (exactly) → <insert days> (away) How does the rule work?: This rule sends a reminder only to individuals who have not completed all assignments under a particular section of a course when the date is "x" number of days away from the live event. It will not sent a reminder to anyone who has been added to a project, but not invited/activated. |
EMAIL SENT AT THE END OF A LIVE EVENT (fieldwork instructions, MASTER email, etc...)
TRIGGER: 2) Activity → <select event> → Status (is) → Completed Optional if assignments can be completed ahead of time*: 3) <select Activity or Module category> → <select activity name or module name> → Status (is not) → Completed How does the rule work?: This rule sends a reminder only to individuals who have not completed all assignments under a particular section of a course when the date is "x" number of days away from the live event. It will not sent a reminder to anyone who has been added to a project, but not invited/activated. *For assignments that include offline activities (ex: "Have a conversation..."), it is recommended to still send a reminder even if the accompanying assignments on the course have been completed. |
Viewing Communication History
To view the communication history of a project, start by selecting the Communications tab of the project (Figure 1-1), followed by selecting the Communication Events sub-tab (Figure 1-2). The following columns will be displayed:
- WHEN - Indicates when the email was sent.
- NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS - The number of recipients who were sent the communication.
- RECIPIENTS* - Indicates whether the communication was sent to a single individual or a group.
- SCHEDULED - Displays whether the communication was manually triggered by an administrator, or was instead scheduled to be automatically sent.
*To see the exact contents of the email that was sent, select the recipient under the Recipients column (Figure 1-3):
- If the recipient is a single individual, selecting their name will display the communication that was sent.
- If the recipient is a group of individuals, select Group. A new window will display all of the individual recipients in that group - select any of the individual recipients to see the communication that was sent.