Campus Messenger with Voice allows district staff the ability to create voice messages for delivery to parents, students and/or other district staff. This article explains the basic concepts and setup of Campus Messenger with Voice.
Messenger with Voice Technical Details
Campus Messenger with Voice has merged with Shoutpoint, a third-party VoIP (Voice-over Internet Protocol) service designed to efficiently route a large volume of calls. Shoutpoint provides a voice-over internet protocol service that can deliver daily messages (e.g., student behavior, attendance, grades), high priority messages, general notifications from the school/district, internal staff messages, etc. In addition, Shoutpoint also allows for rapid delivery of messages through Emergency Messenger.
The following sections explain how Messenger with Voice and Shoutpoint make voice message delivery possible.
Shoutpoint Details
When a voice message is created in Campus and sent to Shoutpoint for delivery, Shoutpoint takes over. It dials the Campus-provided phone numbers and attempts to deliver the voice message. No phone or dialer hardware is necessary, as Shoutpoint handles the entire dialing and delivery process.
Shoutpoint has two domestic call centers, one in California and another in New York. Database servers dedicated entirely to Campus messaging exist at both locations. In the event that a Shoutpoint server goes offline during a vital messaging period, the dedicated servers allow fail-over protection and ensure message delivery.
Shoutpoint customer identification requires that the district enters credentials on the Voice Settings tab. Shoutpoint will then create a specific customerID that it will use for district recognition purposes.
Shoutpoint Credentials
Infinite Campus Hosting staff will provide districts using Shoutpoint a user name, password and end-point URL to be used for communication and authentication by Shoutpoint. These credentials are required for any type of voice-messaging.
A district will enter and save these credentials on the Voice Settings tab, which will also store them in the Campus database. When entered, a request is sent to Shoutpoint for customer verification. If the customer account cannot be validated, an error will be returned to the user and Shoutpoint messaging will not be enabled.
CustomerIDs
Each school and the district will be assigned a customerID by Shoutpoint. Each school has a customerID that is assigned the first time that particular school makes a call to the Shoutpoint server (to request message delivery). The district's customerID is assigned when Shoutpoint verifies user-entered credentials.
The customerID is stored in the Campus database but is not necessary for functionality or authentication operations. It is for Shoutpoint recognition purposes ONLY.
District Firewall Setup
The Campus application makes a call to Shoutpoint every time a messaging task is ready for delivery. Shoutpoint does not talk to the Campus application server. The Shoutpoint web service allows communication through HTTP/S, so special port configuration should not be necessary.
However, if a firewall is preventing outgoing communication (from the district to Shoutpoint), the district should verify that the Shoutpoint server is not being blocked. For more information or assistance, contact Campus Support.
Message Delivery Methods
Campus message jobs are transferred to Shoutpoint via a web service and SOAP messaging. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) uses XML-based messaging protocol to encode information in a web service before it is sent over a network.
Shoutpoint has an end-point URL prepared to receive the SOAP messages. Shoutpoint returns a report to Campus to indicate whether or not the message was delivered. When Shoutpoint receives a job from Campus, it identifies the type of message (i.e., emergency or non-emergency) and delivers it accordingly.
The number of phone lines available for message delivery vary by district size.
Emergency Message Delivery
Messages created within the Emergency Messenger wizard are delivered instantly. Unlike other Campus messages, which rely on a date and time scheduled by a user through the Task Scheduler, an emergency message is sent immediately. It does not have a delivery window and is not confined to the district-allowed dialing window times set on the Voice Settings tab.
Emergency messages are delivered as quickly as possible and emergency jobs take priority over other scheduled message tasks. Shoutpoint dedicates a number of emergency phone lines to each district.
Non-Emergency Message Delivery
All non-emergency messages (i.e., attendance, behavior, staff) are scheduled for delivery through use of the Message Builder tool (which relies on Task Schedulerfor the scheduling and triggering of message delivery).
Non-emergency messages can be delivered at any time specified by the message's specific dialing window, as long as the time falls within the district-allowed dialing window, defined by the District Start Time and District End Time fields of the Voice Settings tab.
Message Delivery Verification
Campus queries the Shoutpoint call log every 15 seconds to review the status of messages scheduled for delivery. It requests information about the recipient and the message delivery status, which indicates how the call was received.
Results are displayed in the Sent Message Log. For more information, please reference Sent Message Log articles.
About Call Chaining
Voice Messenger and Shoutpoint use a method called Call Chaining to distribute messages. Call Chaining increases the speed and efficiency by which messages are sent.
For example, there is a Family with Mom, Dad, Son and Daughter. A non-emergency message is sent from the school about Son and Daughter and both Mom and Dad have the Messenger checkbox marked on the Relationships in Census for each student.
Guardian Messenger Settings
Contact preferences for the guardian may look like this:
Guardian Contact Preferences
For this scenario, Voice messenger would create the following 6 default Call Chains. All 6 call chains would potentially start running simultaneously.
- Household Phone Number > Message about Son
- Household Phone Number > Message about Daughter
- Dad’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Son
- Dad’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Daughter
- Mom’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Son
- Mom’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Daughter
If the message was just pertaining to Daughter, there would only be three call chains:
- Household Phone Number > Message about Daughter
- Dad’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Daughter
- Mom’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Daughter
When a message recipient presses the confirmation key “0” on any of these chains, only THAT CHAIN is cancelled. The other chains are not affected. So, if Mom receives the message on the Household Number and presses 0, she will still be called on her cell, work or other number and will need to confirm and cancel that chain as well.
The district/school can enable message grouping in Voice Settings by marking the Allow multiple Messages in a Single Call checkbox. In the previous example, if grouping were enabled, the following three chains would be created:
- Household Phone Number > Message about Son and Daughter
- Dad’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Son and Daughter
- Mom’s contact preferences (cell, work, other) > Message about Son and Daughter
This option does not apply to Emergency Messenger. Emergency Messenger currently filters duplicate phone numbers when calling.
Messenger tools that can insert Campus Fields for recipient names (POS Account Messenger, Staff Messenger, or Survey Messenger) ignore unique recipients when the phone number is the same. When recipient names are inserted into the Messenger Templates and a phone number is shared among multiple recipients, then only one recipient name is selected for the bundled call.
Required Campus Application Setup
A district should verify/complete the following steps before use of voice messaging features is attempted.
1. Shoutpoint Credentials
PATH: System Administration > Messenger > Messenger Preferences > Voice Settings
Shoutpoint must have been enabled by Infinite Campus. After this is done, the district will receive credentials for Shoutpoint customer recognition/verification that must be entered in Campus.
Entering the Shoutpoint Credentials
When Campus provides the district with the Shoutpoint credentials (i.e., the User Name, Password and URL End Point), they should be entered on the Voice Settings tab.
2. Phone Number Format
PATH: Census > People > Demographics
All existing and new phone numbers must be entered in 10-digit format in the Personal Contact Information editor. Shoutpoint cannot deliver messages to phone numbers that do not have a specified area code.
Infinite Campus recommends always entering the full 10 digits in all phone number fields.
3. Establishing Messenger Contacts
Voice messages can be delivered to parents, students and district staff members. A person must have one or more phone numbers entered on his/her Demographics tab to receive voice messages. To deliver voice messages to student contacts/guardians, additional setup is required.
Message Delivery to Students
If a student has a phone number entered (in any of the phone number fields of the Personal Contact Information editor, he/she can receive phone messages designated as "student" messages. Tools such as Message Builder,Class Messages, Survey Designer, etc., allow a message to be specifically designated for delivery to students.
Message Delivery to Student Contacts / Guardians
If a student messenger contact or guardian wishes to receive voice messages related to the student, he/she must have at least one phone number entered in a phone field of the Personal Contact Information editor on the Demographics tab. In addition, the type of phone messages the contact/guardian wishes to receive should be indicated by marking the checkboxes of relevant message types in the Messenger Preferences area of the Personal Contact Information editor.
Most phone messaging tools, including Emergency Messenger, Behavior Messenger, Attendance Messenger, Failing Grades Messenger, Class Messages, Missing Assignments Messages, Message Builder, Survey Designer, etc., are dependent on this established messenger contact relationship.
Message Delivery to District Staff Members
If a staff member has at least one phone number entered and at least one voice message checkbox(es) marked (per the Personal Contact Information editor of the Demographics tab), he/she will receive phone calls for messages designated as "staff" messages. Tools such as the Emergency Messenger, Staff Messenger and Survey Designer allow a phone message to be specifically delivered to current staff members.
The Emergency Messenger tool also requires that a staff member have at least one Staff Type checkbox marked on his/her District Assignments tab that matches a selection made in the Staff Type(s) area of the created emergency message.
4. Contact Preferences
There are a variety of options for establishing/updating a contact's preferences for receiving messages.
A Campus administrator may configure messenger contact preferences for students, student messenger contacts (usually a parent/guardian) and/or other staff members through either of the following tools:
PATH: Census > People > Demographics
An administrator may specify contact preferences for any individual on his/her Demographics tab. The Personal Contact Information editor allows the administrator to enter phone numbers and indicate which types of messages should be delivered to each entered number.PATH: System Administration > Messenger > Contact Preferences Batch
An administrator may create and/or override messenger contact preferences for a group of users through this tool.PATH: Census > My Data > My Demographics
A district staff member may request updates to his/her own messenger contact preferences through this tool.PATH: Portal
A student or student messenger contact (usually a parent/guardian) with an existing Portal account may configure his/her own messenger contact preferences. The Change Contact Info area allows contacts to specify which phone numbers they would like used for each type of messages.The Portal must be used in the district, and the Contact Information checkbox of the Portal Options must be marked for each school that wishes to allow Portal users the ability to set their own messenger contact preferences.
5. Messenger Contact Preferences
PATH: System Administration > Messenger > Messenger Preferences
Configuration of Messenger Preferences is recommended before voice messaging is attempted. Each of the following tools should be configured:
6. Reviewing the Task Scheduler
PATH: System Administration > Preferences > Task Scheduler
The system administrator is advised to check the Task Scheduler tool when scheduling recurring Messenger activities. A message at the bottom of the Scheduled Task editor will indicate whether or not the tool is enabled. The user should verify that the times of scheduled Messenger tasks will not conflict with other tasks for system performance considerations.
Text Messaging
Text messaging is an additional feature available to customers who already use Messenger with Voice.
The following setup is required to use text messaging:
- The district must already use Campus Messenger with Voice and complete the setup steps listed above.
- The district must request text messaging functionality and it must be enabled by Infinite Campus Hosting staff.
- 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.
Reception, carrier network, phone plan, and/or device variables may influence whether a user receives a text as expected.
Have your contacts complete the following steps to ensure they receive text messages from the district.
- Text the word START to 91201. Result
A Shoutpoint for Schools Alert is sent as a reply. Text YES to confirm that you would like to receive text messages from the district.
Result
You should receive future text messages from the district.
If the user texts the word START to 91201 and never receives the response text despite having adequate reception, they must call their carrier to see whether Premium Messaging (short code) is blocked. If Premium Messaging is blocked, it must be unblocked to receive texts from the district.
Additional charges may apply to the delivery of text messages. Contacts who want to receive text messages should be aware that phone service providers may charge extra for texting services. Infinite Campus is not responsible for text message charges.
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.
Remote Dial-In
PATH: System Administration > Messenger > Remote Dial-In
The Remote Dial-In tool is available to customers who already use Messenger with Voice functionality. This tool allows an emergency message to be sent without using the Campus application. Instead, the person sending the message calls a Shoutpoint phone number and follows the telephone prompts to create and deliver the message.
The following setup is required for Remote Dial-In capabilities:
- Remote Dial-In functionality requires that the district already use Campus Messenger with Voice and complete the setup steps listed above.
- The district must request Remote Dial-In functionality and it must be enabled by Infinite Campus Hosting staff.
- The person sending the message must have access to a phone and have the Shoutpoint Remote Dial-In phone number/password readily available.
