Recurring Events

 

• Schedule Recurring Events – We have now added the ability to create scheduled recurring events from the scheduled SMS calendar! This was a feature requested many times by our current client base. When adding a new scheduled event from within the SMS calendar/scheduler, you can now optionally mark if the event is recurring. If it is, you can then select what kind of recurring event it is(daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly), the frequency of those scheduled events(every day, every 2nd day, every 5th day, once a week, every 2 weeks, etc…), and when those recurring events will end. This gives you the power and flexibility to now schedule multiple recurring events 1 time without having to create them over and over again!
• More Robust Appointment Reminder/Management System – We have now added a more robust appointment reminder and management system to the platform. Here’s some of the features at a glance:
  1. Appointment Settings – You can setup confirm, cancel, and reschedule settings which will determine what to do when the contact texts in your confirm, cancel, and reschedule keywords. You can create a keyword for each status, a custom auto-reply message which will text back the contact when that keyword is texted in, and a custom email to be sent to whatever address you entered when the contact texts in the confirm, cancel, or reschedule keyword. This might be an office manager or appointment setter who needs to be notified of the confirmation or cancellation. You can also set a custom appointment color for each status which will set the appointment calendar color and status background color when the contact texts in the confirm, cancel, or reschedule keyword.
  2. Appointment List – A list view of all appointments created in the system. You can create appointments here or in the appointment calendar. Directly from this list, you can schedule appointment reminders which will pre-select the contact while also populating the message field with a default appointment reminder message containing the appointment date/time for that contact and your confirm/cancel/reschedule keywords. Once you have the appointment reminder scheduled, it will then display on the scheduled SMS calendar where you can view all your scheduled SMS.
  3. Appointment Calendar – View all appointments for all contacts in a nice calendar view, much like the current scheduled SMS calendar. Each appointment will display in a different color depending on its status and the color you selected for each status in the appointment settings.
• Added Column Sorting, Searching, Column Selection to all Tables – On all the table lists in the platform, we have added additional functionality like page level column sorting, page level searching, page level copy, print, and export to Excel and also a column selection drop down. Here they are at a glance:
  1. Column Sorting – Added page level column sorting on all columns in all tables that will allow you to quickly sort in ascending and descending order each column’s data.
  2. Searching – Added page level searching that will allow you to quickly search on anything you want across all columns on the current page.
  3. Copy, Print, Export, Column Selection – Added a copy button that will copy the current page’s data to the clipboard so you can paste that data anywhere you need. Added a print button so you can print the current page’s data. Added an export to Excel button so you can export the current page’s data to Excel. Lastly, added a column selection drop down that will allow you to select which columns you want displayed or hidden from view.
  4. First and Last Paging Links – We have also added “First” and “Last” paging links to all tables when paging through the records so you can skip directly to the last page or go back to the first page.
• If Member Custom Message – We added a new field in the groups module that will allow you to create a custom message sent back to the contact if they send in a keyword again when they are already subscribed. Currently, that message is hard-coded in the backend code and sends the contact a generic “You are already subscribed to this list” message. Now you can set this message to whatever you want.
• Sticky Sender on Responders and Birthday SMS Wishes – In the previous release back in July, we added a “Sticky Sender” feature that when rotating through the numbers in a user account when sending bulk SMS, contacts will always receive the message from the same long code number instead of a random one. We have now added sticky sender to the auto-responders and birthday SMS wishes modules, so if a sticky sender exists for a contact, it will use that same number when sending out your scheduled auto-responders and birthday SMS wishes so they get those messages sent from the same local recognizable phone number to create a consistent experience and increase response rate, maintain conversation history, and establish a true local presence.
• Added Throttling and Numbers Rotate on Voice Broadcast – We have now added rate throttling and the ability to rotate through all your voice-enabled numbers when sending voice broadcasts as well. Currently, those features only exist when sending bulk SMS. Also as mentioned above, if a sticky sender exists for a contact and you want to rotate through your numbers, it will use that same number when sending out your voice broadcasts so they get those messages sent from the same local recognizable phone number!
• Contact Dropdown Search – On the bulk SMS page and scheduled SMS calendar, we have added a nice contact search built-in directly to the contacts pick list. If you have a large list of contacts and only wanted to send to a few of them and not the entire group, previously you had to scroll through that large list of contacts, find them and then select them. This obviously isn’t very efficient and can be a very time-consuming process. Now, as soon as you click on the contacts picks list, it displays a search box at the top of the list where you can search on number, name, or group to filter the list down and select the contacts you want! So much more efficient.
• Users Can Release Their Own Secondary Numbers – Currently only the admin can delete/release their users’ numbers through the admin panel, which will delete the number in the system and also release them from use through the connected SMS gateway. We now give the user direct control over releasing their own numbers if they no longer want to use a particular number for whatever reason.
• Added “Sent From” Number on Sent Stats in the Group SMS Outbox – On the sent statistics from the Group SMS outbox logs, we have now added a “Sent From” column so you can see what number that message was sent from if you have multiple numbers in your account and you are rotating through your numbers when sending bulk SMS. This can be very useful for a number of reasons and can give valuable insight into which numbers are having delivery issues.
• Add Phone Country Code to Add Contact Dialog – We have now added the phone country code to the add contact dialog so when you add a single contact manually to the system, you must select a phone country code now associated to that number instead of entering one in the phone number field which was sometimes overlooked.
• Add “Get Number” Link to the Left Menu – We have now added the Get Number link to the left menu so that it is more recognizable and makes it easier to get additional numbers if you have access to purchase more. Previously, you could only access the numbers dialog through the dashboard which was sometimes easily missed and users were wondering how they could get more numbers.
• New Character Counters – We added beautiful new character counters on all message fields that display directly below the field when the field is clicked on. This saves space and adds a nice visual element to the user panel while also providing the number of characters entered in all message fields.
• Server Memory Improvements – When scheduling bulk SMS and sending voice broadcasts, we have made some memory management improvements that will help save on server memory when sending to very large lists.