The SMS functionality is located within the Analytics section of the system.
Firstly, the Administrator must search for the appropriate Booking, Participant or User records, using the search filters.
From the search results, the Administrator can select all or specific records for which they wish to send an SMS by using the check-boxes.
Once records are selected, click ‘Send SMS’.
The SMS dialogue box will then open. It will display the phone numbers stored on the database which are associated with the Booking, Participant or User records which were selected.
The Administrator can choose which of these phone numbers are to be used for sending the SMS. It is possible to send the message to more than one phone number associated with a particular record. For example, it might be desired to send the SMS to both parents.
The message to be sent is entered in the panel labelled ‘SMS TEXT’.
Variable values can be entered, such that the SMS sent to each number will substitute the actual value from the record in place of the variable. For example, “Dear {UserFirstName}, we are pleased that {ParticipantFirstName} will be joining us on the Club Jubilee Camp this summer…..”. In this example, {UserFirstName} and {ParticipantFirstName} will be replaced by the actual parent’s first name and their child’s first name when the message is sent. This process will be repeated for each SMS record which is sent, if it is being sent to multiple Users. This is a way to personalise the message which is sent and also make it more understandable for the receiver.
Currently, the following variables can be used for substitution:
{ParticipantFirstName}
{ParticipantSurname}
{UserFirstName}
{UserSurname}
{Token}
{Transport}
{PaymentReference}
N.B. There is a limit on the number of characters which the Cyta SMS service will send on one message. This is currently 575. Any message with more characters than this will fail to be sent. The Administrator should allow for long names which might cause the message to exceed this limit after variable substitution has taken place.
A record of sent messages is kept on the Cyta system and can be checked by logging into the Cyta extranet.
All SMS can be re-directed to a single phone number for testing purposes. To do this, there is a configuration file e.g. test.clubjubilee.com/config/globals.php. In this file, add the re-direct phone number as shown below
After the message is sent, it would be better to revert to the analytics page rather than having to click “back” or inadvertently pressing the send button again (which has happened)
No of characters allowed is 575 including spaces etc
After the message is sent, it would be better to revert to the analytics page rather than having to click “back” or inadvertently pressing the send button again (which has happened)
No of characters allowed is 575 including spaces etc
Updated to 575.
Noted, regarding re-direct back to analytics.