AlertBlast User Guide

AlertBlast User Guide

The Basics

You can access your account by navigating to myalertblast.com or through myonecloud.com. The home screen provides a brief overview of the steps to follow to create and send a Message.



Contact Groups must be created before the sequence of Steps. See the Add Contact Group instructions for creating contact group(s) and adding contacts to it.





Create Message

From the home screen, create the Notification/Alert to be delivered.

• Enter Title. (the title will be the name identifier of the Message to be delivered, also referred to as a Job)
• Enter Description (how you want to describe that job)
• Enter Message



  Messages can be personalized by using the Personalize drop-down menu and adding from the available variables.



  The i  icon displays tips on how to use these Personalize variables.




• The Request Response button automatically adds a [question] token to your message.
    A small window will populate where you can configure this question and two answer-choices.



• Choose between Text-to-Speech or Upload Audio File if sending a Voice or Page message.





Choose SMS, Voice, Page, Email, Device, Push

The Add Message Type button will let you choose among the delivery options. Click on it, then select the delivery method(s).
Text Alerts (SMS) are preselected. You can send a Notification using only one delivery method, or multiple delivery methods at once.


Text Alert – sends message via SMS
Voice Alert – sends a pre-recorded or Text-to-Speech message through a phone call
Page Alert – sends a message to IP intercom devices
Email Alert – sends message via Email
Device Alert - sends message to SIP End-Point devices
Push Alert - sends messages to the AlertBlast App





Choose Contact Group(s)

Contact groups must be previously created to be available for choosing. See the Add Contact Group instructions for creating a contact group and adding contacts to it.

For this step, grab the desired Contact Group(s) and drag it over to the delivery method(s). You can add contacts to all delivery methods or leave blank the ones you do not intend to use. You can also use different delivery methods with different contact groups.
For example: a Voice message can be sent to one group, and an Email or SMS to another group simultaneously using the same AlertBlast.


Contact Group



Delivery Method(s)




Send, Schedule, Save

Click on Send your Message button to have the message delivered immediately.

                                                                     

Scheduling and Saving Alerts


As part of Step 4, Notifications can be saved and or scheduled to be delivered at a later date or time. From the Home screen click on the  symbol found on the right side of the Send Your Message button; it will populate two options: Schedule and Save.



Click on Save to have that AlertBlast saved as a Job to be recalled at a later time.

Schedule

 will allow for a Notification to be automatically sent out at the date and time you select, or as a recurring event.



It is advisable to inform your contacts to save your AlertBlast telephone number on their devices so they can easily identify you as the sender of the Notifications.


Add Contact Groups

Contact Groups need to be created and have existing Contacts before they can be used.
To build a Contact Group click on the Groups tab on the left side menu.



• Next, click on the Add Contact Group button.


• Create group name, you can also provide a description.
• Under Type, there are three options: standard, page, and device
-select page for a paging-system-only group.
-select device for a device-only-group. These can be any end-point device that can receive messages. (ie. IP-phones, wallboards, electronic signs, monitors and other network devices)
-select standard for all other contact groups. Then hit submit.



Once a Contact Group exists, is time to add Contacts to it.



Add Contacts to a Group


There are various ways for adding contacts to a group.

1. Create an invite URL or QR code for distribution. This URL or QR code will direct contacts to a registration page where they can register themselves. A contact that registers through the URL or QR code will be automatically added to that Contact Group you would have previously configured. This is a very useful tool, as it simplifies and automates the adding of contacts to a group. 

You can select one contact group or multiple contact groups to be included on the same URL/QR code.

First, click on the Create Invite button to start. 



Then, drag the contact group(s) over, and hit Submit.



Read about the Enable SOS under the Advanced Features section.


A new window will populate with the newly created QR code and short URL link, as well as a Short Code that can be used for contacts to register using the AlertBlast App.




2. From the Contacts menu you can add and or edit individual contacts which can later be assigned to a Group.

You have options to add contacts manually, by importing a CSV file (a link is provided under this option to download a sample CSV file), by importing from Salesforce directly, or importing from the Paging adapters on OneCloud.

Click on the Add Contact button for these options.



 






Click Here to be directed to the Sales Force Integration for AlertBlast user guide – will open up a new tab.




Advanced Features


Jobs

The Jobs screen defaults to Previous Jobs, a list of all sent Messages are found here. You can also view Analytics for these jobs in this pane.



Analytics for a specific Job can be accessed by clicking on the  icon.




Saved Jobs shows a list of jobs that have been saved for future use. This pane also allows you to edit/modify the saved jobs.
Scheduled Jobs shows a list of jobs that have been scheduled to be delivered at a future date, and/or recurring jobs.



Keyword Triggers

A Keyword is a word or phrase that can be use in a SMS that triggers an automatic reply with a pre-selected Response or an Action within the system. Ex. a keyword trigger to send a message to a Teams Group, a keyword trigger to add a user to a OneCloud Callback Queue, or a keyword trigger to sign up someone to your email list/Contact Group.      

To add keyword triggers, click on the Keyword Triggers tab on the left-hand side menu.




Then, click on the Add Keyword button.  

On the populated window:

  • Select the desired phone number if applicable.
  • Select an Action Type:

    – Text Response
    – Webhook – will trigger a webhook on another application for a real-time API call.
    – Subscribe – will populate Contact Group to choose from, can create new, or recall existing contact group.
    – Email – will send a notification and a message to an email of your choice
    – Call Back Queue – will populate a Call Queue to choose from: a Queue Auto response, a No Agents response, or Email if unavailable response.
        For example: a Queue Call Back allows your users to request a call back from your OneCloud system. The user’s phone number will be added to a queue in OneCloud and when
        an Agent becomes available, the system will call your agent and then connect them with the user requesting the call back.  
    – Microsoft Teams – sends a Notification/Alert to a Teams channel.
  • Type keyword or phrase (no spaces)
  • Type desired Response or Action
  • Click on Submit





Conversations

Conversations show the communications history between SMS Alerts and Contacts.





Integrations

The integrations screen will allow you to import Salesforce Campaign content that can later be added to Contact Groups.

There are two buttons with User Guides, one for importing, and one for API setup.






Alert Dashboard

The Alert Dashboard allows you to share pre-configured Jobs to be executed by another user without Admin credentials. This user would access the Dashboard through a weblink and a passcode. 

To create a Job within the alert dashboard, start by clicking on the Add Alert button. 




Enter a Name, Description, a PIN (dashboard will not be accessible without the chosen PIN), choose the Job(s) you want to display on the Dashboard. When ready click Submit.

The created Alert Dashboard Job should now display. It will show a URL link as well as the created Pass Code/PIN. You can now share this link and passcode with another user.




SOS Configuration

This window displays the SOS Alerts that have been assigned to a specific contact group. SOS Alerts can only be executed through the AlertBlast App when enabled during the creation of that contact group. SOS Alerts can also be assigned to individual contacts. 







Reminders


This tab shows a list of jobs that were configured as reminders.


To add a new reminder, click on the Add Reminder button.




A window will populate with the available options to schedule the new reminder.




For Reminders, the Contacts can only be added by uploading a CSV file. Use the given example as your template. 



Send From

Some companies will have multiple dedicated lines from which to send an AlertBlast. If that is the case, from the Home screen or when prompted, select the desired telephone number from the Send From pulldown menu.


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