Selecting Recipients

When sending messages you can select recipients by groups, schools, grades, a map and even individually. There are various ways to select recipients.

To send a message to community members - users outside the district that sign up to receive notifications - select the Community Member group.

  1. From Send Messages module, click the "Choose" link that appears to the right of the Recipients area.
     
  2. Select a search method to add recipients:
     
    • From a list: Use this option to type a recipient's name in into the Search box. Or select a group from the list, or open the group and select specific users.
       
    • From a file with IDs: Use this option to upload a file with a list user IDs in it, that match accounts that are already in Mass Notify.
       
    • From a file with addresses: Use this option to upload a list of individuals which contains their email address and phone number (they don't necessarily need to be in Mass Notify already), and then send a message to them. 

      **Hint: The information contained in the list you upload using this method, is used only temporarily, therefore the data is NOT stored in Mass Notify after the fact.
       
    • From a map: Use this option to select users based on their location on a map (assuming an address for the individual is on file in Mass Notify).
       
    • Advanced search: Use this option to find students based on select fields in Mass Notify (e.g. find students in 5 grade who ride bus 64)
       
  3. Select Done.

 

Click any of the sections below, to find out more about each option summarized above.

From a List

When using this option, you'll be able to:

  • Expand the "District Folder" that appears at the top, and then select specific audiences (i.e. Staff, Students, Parents), or open a specific "Audience" sub-folder and then select a specific building or specific individuals that will appear inside the lowest sub-folder.
     
  • Select a Group that you've setup in the Messages>Groups module by expanding the "My Groups" or "Groups" folders
     
  • Type a recipient's name in the Search ield that appears in the lower left of the window to search for individuals using their Last Name for example.

From a File with ID's

Use this option to upload a text file that contains just ID numbers (i.e. Student Number, Staff Number) of only the users with accounts in Mass Notify whom you wish to send a message to.

Uploading a File with ID's

 

To create your list:

  1. Use Window Notepad to create a new Text Document and in it, type a list of IDs that are for individuals that you'd like to send a message to (i.e. student IDs or staff/teacher/admin IDs) - be sure to type only one ID per line and include only one type of ID in the file (e.g. don't mix studentID's with Staff ID's)!

    Example:

    1258754
    6873548
    5487345

    **Hint:  If you want to send your message only to parents, you need to include only the student IDs.
     
  2. Click the "Upload" button that appears
     
  3. Use the field that appears just below "Are these fields setup correctly" to identify what type of ID you have included in your file:
     
    Select Data Type


    **Hint: If your file includes "custom merge tags", the first row in the column can be selected as the header row name and custom merge tag name (custom merge tag headers may contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, _).
     
  4. Click the "Looks Good" button to continue
     
  5. Identify who you intend to send your message to, using the following as a guide:
     
    Select an Audience Prompt
    • Mark "Students" if you only want your message to go to just students themselves
       
    • Mark "Parents" if you want your message to go to just the parents of the students you identified in the file

       
  6. Click the "GO" button to continue - a list of the contacts that were found in Mass Notify that match the ID's you included in your file will appear on the right side of the screen


    **Hint:  Any ID's that weren't matched can be viewed by clicking the link that appears on the left side of the screen as illustrated below:
     
    ID's Not Found


     
  7. Click "Done" to complete the process of selecting recipients using a file with ID's

From a File with Phone Numbers and Email Addresses

Use this option to upload a text file that you create, containing phone numbers and email addresses of individuals you would like to message.  These individuals do not need to be already in Mass Notify, as when the file you create is uploaded, Mass Notify creates a temporary accounts for each that is deleted after the message is delivered.

You can create the file using Windows Notepad or Microsoft Excel using the "Save as a text (tab-delimited)" file format. Columns that you can include in the file include Phone, Email, First Name, Last Name, and Language, but Do NOT add labels or headers to the file.

If a recipient doesn't have an email address, leave the cell blank. If sending a phone message, and the recipient doesn't have a phone number - delete that recipient. Make sure that all recipients have ten digit phone numbers.

Select Upload to select the file. The Select Recipients page updates with the rows of information. Even though you didn't add headers to the spreadsheet, you must select the field names for each column. If an option doesn't exist for the field, select Ignore. Select Looks Good when finished.

The addresses are added to the message. 

From a Map

Use this option to choose users based on their addresses location on a map.

  1. Select the Roles you want to search for.
  2. Provide your school address and select Find Address.
  3. Use the drawing tools to draw a sending area on the map. 


    **Hint: If you draw a circle, you can set a specific mile radius for the sending area. Select Draw a circle. Draw a circle on the map. In the Circle radius field type the number of miles for the area. 

  4. Select Done.
     

Using Advanced Search

Use this method to send messages to groups of users based on set parameters to locate recipients. For example, you can send message to parents with students in a specific grade level.

  1. Select the specific School to limit the recipients to a specific school in your district.
     
  2. Select the specific Role for the user types include.
     
  3. From the drop-down list in Field and Operation, select the search parameters.
     
  4. Type any specific variable in the Value box.
     
  5. Select Search when ready.