Message Builder

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Voice and text message features described in this article only apply to schools/districts that use Campus Messenger with Voice add-on functionality

The Message Builder tool allows a user to build and send messages to students and/or guardians. Depending on the messaging options used by the district/school, this tool may be used to create inbox, email, voice and/or text messages. The Message Builder tool uses saved ad hoc filters and messages templates as a basis for building messages.

If an enrolled student who is an emancipated minor has a non-Household Messenger relationship box selected for themselves on the Relationships tab, the Message Builder sends messages to the student when Student Messenger Contacts is selected in Message Builder and the student meets the other filter criteria selected for the message.

 Messages may be sent immediately through this tool or set for automated delivery with the Message Builder Scheduler tool.

Message Builder 

Field Descriptions

FieldDescription
User/Group

This dropdown list allows you to save message templates to your user account or a user group to which you belong.


You must have Read Tool Rights to User Group Formats under this tool in order to share templates among the groups to which you belong.

TemplateThis dropdown list displays a list of available templates. To create a new template, select <new> from this list. Templates save to either the User (default), or User Group where they are accessible to other members in the group.
Minimize future message setup time by creating and saving templates. 
Templates save:
  • Recipient Lists (Selections, Filters, Active Students)
  • Language Delivery Preferences
  • Message Type
  • Delivery Devices
  • Sender Display Name
  • Message Subject
  • Message Body
  • Attachments
  • Send Time
Filter Criteria
Message Type

This field determines the type of message that is sent. The following options are available:

  • General Notification (Default)
  • Priority Notification
  • Attendance
  • Behavior
Deliver To: 
  • Student Messenger Contacts. If marked, this checkbox indicates that the message is sent to student Messenger contacts. The user must then specify to deliver one message per student or per household:
    • Mark the Message for Each Student radio button to deliver one message for each student in a household for whom that message applies.
    • Mark the One Message Limit radio button to deliver one message to the household, even when there are more than one student in that household for whom that message applies.
  • Students. If marked, indicates the message is sent to students.

See the topic About Call Chaining in the  Messenger with Voice - Setup and Details  article for more information about how Voice Messenger and Shoutpoint distribute voice messages.

Enrollment Filter: Message Only Active Students

When this checkbox is marked, Messenger sends the message to students who meet the following criteria:

  • Student has an active enrollment in the current calendar.
  • Student has NO end date on their enrollment or the end date is in the future (after today).

If this checkbox IS NOT marked, the message will deliver to all individuals who pull based on the Saved Filter, regardless of enrollment.

Limit delivery to contacts that speak:

This field allows messages to be filtered to any household language based on the value selected in the Preferred Language field in Census > People > Demographics > Personal Contact Information (section).


The default selection for this field is 'No Language Preference'. This option allows messages to be sent out to all recipients regardless of their Preferred Language type. If a language is selected, only recipients whose Preferred Language in Demographics matches the language selection here will receive the message.

Saved FiltersThis is a list of saved student type Ad hoc filters.
Set Filter Operation

This field determines what the tool should do with the filters. The default value Union is used most often. Union indicates that all members of all selected filters are included. Intersection indicates that only the members who exist within each of the selected filters are included.

Delivery Devices
InboxThe Inbox option is automatically selected. This option places a note in the parent's inbox that a new message is available. Infinite Campus strongly recommends leaving this option marked to ensure delivery to a Portal Account when no other delivery devices are marked for messages.
EmailThe Email option sends an email to the guardian's email address on record (entered in Census > People > Demographics).
Voice

The Voice option calls the guardian's phone number on record (entered in Census > People > Demographics).

Sub-reports cannot be added to Voice messages.

Text

The Text option sends a text message to the guardian's mobile device. Recipients who have indicated a desire to receive text messages must have the Text (SMS) checkbox marked in the Personal Contact Information editor of the Demographics tab to receive text messages.


Sub-reports cannot be added to Text messages.

Message Details
Reply To Email

This field displays the email address that is automatically included in the message body for message recipients to reference.

If the "Use Sender's Email from Census as Sender's Email Address" checkbox is...Then this field displays the email address entered in....
selected on the Email Settings tab

Census > People > Demographics > Email

NOT selected on the Email Settings tabSystem Administration > Messenger > Messenger Preferences > Email Settings > Default Sender Email Address
 

This field can be changed if the Allow Custom Sender's Email Address checkbox is marked on the  Email Settings  tab.

Existing templates may display a different address if the the Allow Custom Sender's Email Address checkbox is marked and a user modified the Sender’s Email field.

Caller ID

This field displays the phone number that is automatically included in the message body for message recipients to reference.

If the "Use Sender's Work Phone from Census as Caller ID" checkbox is...Then this field displays the phone number entered in....
selected on the Voice Settings tabCensus > People > Demographics > Work Phone
NOT selected on the Voice Settings tabSystem Administration > Messenger > Messenger Preferences > CallerID Preferences
 

This field can only be changed if the Allow Custom Caller ID checkbox is marked on the Voice Settings tab.

Existing templates may display a different Caller ID if the Allow Custom Caller ID checkbox is marked and a user modified the Caller ID field.

Sender Display NameEntries to this field will display in the recipient's email inbox for easier sender identification.

 
Sender Display Name
 
This field is only available if the Allow Custom Sender Display Name checkbox is marked on the Email Settings tab AND Email is selected from the Delivery Devices options in the message template. 
Message SubjectThis field determines the text that displays in the Subject field of the email message.
Message Body

This field contains the text contained in the message. See the Campus Insert Fields for Message Builder section for important information about inserting Campus fields in the Message Body and the Text Message body.

The Message Body uses a WYSIWYG editor.

Do NOT copy attribute fields from another Messenger tool in Campus. The attribute fields are not the same.

For more information about using the options available with the editor, see the WYSIWYG Editors article.


Message Body supports the use of Chinese characters for email messages only.

This option allows you to send a voice message. See the article Messenger with Voice - Setup and Details for more information about this feature.


You must click the Upload button after browsing for the attachment. When an attachment is properly uploaded, the Attach File message displays on the screen.

Browse and upload an email attachment


You must click the Upload button after browsing for the attachment. When an attachment is properly uploaded, the Attach File message displays on the screen.


If you need to send multiple files, attach a zip file.


This option is controlled by an email preference set by the District Administrator and may not display in all districts.

 

File attachments are not sent to Messenger Inbox or Portal Inbox. File attachments are only received in email.

Text Message

The text message to be sent to the guardian's mobile device and are limited to 400 characters.

 

The maximum length of a text message is set to 400 characters. A warning message displays when a message has reached the character limit and will prevent the message from being saved if the limit is exceeded. 

Campus recommends districts stay within a 140 single text character limit.  Messages that exceed 140 characters, but remain within the 400 character maximum, should note the following:

  • The first 100 characters of the message will appear with a trailing URL. After the recipient selects the URL they will be redirected to a webpage to view the message in its entirety. 
  • Unless connected to WiFi, a recipient's cellular data rates may apply.

Existing text message templates still display in their entirety, but need to be modified to be within this limit before sending.

If users wish to stop receiving text messages, they can text STOP to the short code. This results in the user receiving no further text messages from Campus, even if the user has the Text option marked on their Contact Preferences. Users need to go through the opt in process again to start receiving texts at a later date.

Delivery Date:The day on which the message should be sent.
Send Inbox/Emails at:

The time inbox and/or email messages begin delivery.

The time saves with the templates. If messages should always go out immediately after Send is selected, this field should be left blank.

Dial Window

These fields create a dialing window during which a general voice message may be sent. The default values for these fields are set up on the Voice Settings tab (System Administration > Messenger > Messenger Preferences > Voice Settings).


Dial Window times must be entered and saved with templates. If the start time entered on the message is earlier than the start time on the template (and the start time on the template is after the start time entered on the Voice Settings tab), Messenger uses the start time on the template and does not send the message until that time is reached.


If the end time on the Dial Window is earlier than the end time entered on the Voice Settings tab, calls do not stop. Instead, they continue until the end time on the Voice Settings tab is reached. In addition, if a voice message is still delivering when the District end time is reached, message delivery stops and is not completed.

Campus Fields and Sub-Reports for Message Builder

Campus Fields and Sub-Reports includes specific Message Builder fields for use in the Message Body WYSIWYG. Once a message is sent with a specific event (for behavior or attendance), the message is only sent once. If a student receives a message about an event that occurred on Monday, the message about that event is not be sent again.

Any ad hoc fields that have been deactivated display in red. Use the Element Replacement tool to locate deactivated elements and replace them with the new field.

Messages containing a sub-report, where a large recipient count exists, may take longer to send. Users should not navigate away from the page while the system is attempting to send the message. 

Information in the letter sub-reports uses data stored in the AttendanceDayAggregation table. This means that attendance data for the current date is accurate as of the previous night's attendance calculation, or the last time the Attendance Aggregation Refresh was run. If needed, the Attendance Aggregation Refresh tool can be run to force an attendance recalculation to pull in the current day's data.

 Campus Fields can also be added to Text Messages. Sub-Reports cannot be added to Text Message.

Message Builder Campus Fields Selection  

Message Builder Campus Sub-Report Field Selection   

Sub-Report Options

The following table lists the sub-report options for each area.

Area
Sub-Reports
Learner

Student Schedule

Active and Dropped Student Schedule

Learner Planning

Course Requests

Course Plan

Attendance

Period Mark Summary

Course Mark Summary

Whole/Half Day Summary

Exact Day Summary

Single Day Count Summary

Grading

Grade Detail

Term GPA Summary

Behavior

Discipline Summary

Behavior Summary

Student Portfolio
Cumulative GPA and Class Rank
Health

Immunization

Health Screening Concussion

Health Screening Dental

Health Screening Hearing

Health Screening Scoliosis

Health Screening Vision

Point of Sale
POS Account Balance

When using sub-reports in letters, please note the following:

  • All behavior data is included when adding either of the sub-reports.
  • A field only displays if there is data for that field. If a field is chosen from the sub-report but there is no saved data for that student, information for that field does not display.
  • A sub-report option only displays if the district/school records that data.

Create a New Template

Templates allow you to create reusable messages that save time and standardize content.

  1. Select the <New> option from the Template dropdown list.
  2. Select User (default) or a User Group that the template should be saved to from the User/User Group dropdown field. Templates saved under a User Group are available to other members in the group.
  3. Use the Field Descriptions to complete the Message Builder editor.

    The Message Body uses a WYSIWYG editor.

    Do NOT copy attribute fields from another Messenger tool in Campus. The attribute fields are not the same.

    For more information about using the options available with the editor, see the WYSIWYG Editors article.

  4. Click the Save button at the top message editor.
  5. Enter a name for the template in the pop-up box. The template appears in the Template dropdown list.

Delete a Template

  1. Select the template you want to delete from the Template dropdown list.
  2. Click the Delete button. A confirmation message displays.
  3. Click the OK button. Campus removes the template and it does not display in the Template dropdown list.

Create Messages

  1. Select an existing Template from the Template dropdown list.
  2. Use the Field Descriptions to complete Message Builder editor.

    The Message Body uses a WYSIWYG editor. For more information about using the options available with the editor, see the WYSIWYG Editors article.

  3. Browse and upload an email attachment. (optional)

    You must click the Upload button after browsing for the attachment. When an email attachment is properly uploaded, the Attach File message displays on the screen.

  4. Click the Test button.

    Infinite Campus strongly recommends testing messages before delivering them. A message is sent in the exact manner it is delivered to recipients. The Test Message screen prompts you for a destination phone and/or email address then confirm that the test message was sent.

  5. Click the Preview/Send Message button. The Preview Message screen displays.
  6. Click the Review Recipients button. The Review Recipients screen displays.
  7. Complete the following tasks on the Review Recipients screen. (Optional)

    TaskDescription
    To exclude recipients/phone numbersClear the checkbox next to a name or phone number.
    Preview the messageClick the page icon in the Preview column.
    To exit and return to the Message Preview screenClick the Save & Return button if changes have been made to the recipient list. Otherwise, if no changes have been made, click the Cancel button.
  8. Click the Send Message button on the Preview Message screen. The Preview Message screen displays. This screen confirms that the message tasks has been completely set up for delivery at the times entered in the Send Emails At and/or Dial Window fields of the main Message Builder screen. This screen does not indicate that the message is currently being sent.
  9. Click OK