Skip to main content

Group Notifications

Craig Weir
Updated
Group Notification Manual

Group Notification Manual

Document: 263.01D — Qmatic

Copyright Notice

The information in this document is subject to change without prior notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Q-MATIC AB. All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this manual, but Q-MATIC AB cannot assume any responsibility for any errors and their consequences. This manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Reproduction is not allowed without written permission from Q-MATIC AB.

COPYRIGHT © Q-MATIC AB, 2024. Feedback and questions: documentation@qmatic.com.

1. What’s New

Version Chapter Change
01.A General Manual for Group Notifications created.
01.B Using Group Notification Cancel Appointments functionality added.
01.C Using Group Notification Added info about possibility to select “Default” as notification type; added option to filter appointments on service.
01.D Installation Added information about Group Notification access modules.

2. Installation

2.1 Prerequisites

  • Notification Admin 6.1.0 must be installed and SMS and/or email settings must be configured.

2.2 Installation

If installing from Xtend, skip to step 5.
  1. Copy groupnotification.war to the custdeploy folder of Orchestra.
  2. Add groupnotificationMessages.properties to <Orchestra_install_dir>\system\conf\lang.
  3. Execute update_central.sql (from the sql folder) against the qp_central database to make required changes and add all access modules.
  4. Add the following lines to applicationMessages.properties in <Orchestra_install_dir>\system\conf\lang: 
    application.groupnotification = Group Notification
application.groupnotification.description = Group Notification
module.groupnotification = Group Notification
  5. In groupnotificationMessages_xx.properties, configure the date and time format for the date picker (can be set per language): 
    general.dateFormat = DD/MM/yyyy
general.timeFormat = HH:mm
  6. Restart Orchestra Central.
  7. Set up roles and assign them to users. See section 2.3.

2.3 Access Rights

Users of Group Notification must be assigned to a role with one of the following access modules, depending on what they need to do:

Feature Group Notification Group Notification Admin
Set up languages ✓
Create templates ✓
Edit templates ✓
Send notifications ✓ ✓

3. Using Group Notification

3.1 Introduction

Group Notification allows you to send email and SMS messages to a group of appointments — for example, to inform customers if a branch needs to close for a day. It is also possible to cancel a group of appointments at the same time.

To open Group Notification, go to <Orchestra_host:port>/groupnotification or click the Group Notification icon on the Orchestra start page.

Group Notification has three sections:

  • Notification Languages — Configure the languages available for notifications.
  • Create / Edit Templates — Create and manage notification content templates.
  • Send Template — Send a template as a notification to selected appointments.

3.2 Notification Languages

Group notifications can be sent in different languages. Languages added in Group Notification are shared with Notification Admin — any changes in one are reflected in the other.

One language must be set as the default language. The notification is sent in the default language if:

  • No language is stored on the customer or the appointment, or
  • No message has been set up for the customer’s or appointment’s stored language.

3.2.1 Add Languages

  1. Go to Notification Languages.
  2. Click Add language.
  3. Enter the language code (two characters, ISO 639-1) and language name.
  4. Click Save.

3.2.2 Manage Languages

  • Click Edit to edit a language. Only the name can be edited. To change the language code, delete the language and add a new one.
  • Click Delete to remove a language (confirmation required).
  • Click Refresh to refresh the language list.

3.3 Create and Edit Notification Templates

  1. Go to Create/Edit Templates.
  2. Click Add template.
  3. Enter the following:
    • Name — A descriptive name for easy retrieval.
    • Description — (Optional) When or how the template should be used.
    • Default Notification Type — E.g. Email or SMS. This can be changed at send time.
    • Email Content Type — Text or HTML.
  4. Select a language.
  5. Write the email and/or SMS message in the message editor. Dynamic parameters can be inserted.
  6. Optionally select another language and enter a message for it.
  7. Click Save.

3.3.1 Manage Notification Templates

  • Click Edit to edit a template. Only one user can edit a template at a time. A template cannot be sent while it is being edited.
  • Click Delete to delete a template (confirmation required).
  • Click Refresh to refresh the template list.
  • Click Send to proceed to the Send Template view (see section 3.4).

3.4 Send Group Notification

  1. Go to Send Template.
  2. Select the template to send.
  3. Select a notification type (the template’s default is preselected but can be changed).
  4. Select the branch for the notification.
  5. Select a time range to search for appointments.
  6. Optionally, select a service to filter appointments.
  7. Click Find appointment to retrieve all appointments within the time frame.
  8. Optionally, check Cancel Appointments to cancel the appointments after sending the notification.
    When Cancel Appointments is used, the default Appointment Cancel Notification will not be sent.
  9. Check the checkboxes to select the appointments to notify. To select all, check the top checkbox next to First Name.
  10. Click Send.

After sending, each row shows the result with one icon for email and one for SMS:

  • Green — Notification sent successfully.
  • Red — Notification could not be sent. Hover over the icon for details.
  • Yellow — Notification sent for one channel but not the other (warning).

The appointment list can be filtered to show only errors and warnings.

3.4.1 Resend Notifications

For appointments marked as warnings or errors, notifications can be resent:

  1. Correct the issue that caused the failure (e.g. add a missing phone number if possible).
  2. Select the affected appointments.
  3. Click Resend.

3.5 Notification Types

Notification Type Behaviour
Default Uses the notification type chosen by the customer or staff member (e.g. in Qmatic Web Booking or Concierge). If none was chosen, uses the type defined in Notification Admin.
SMS Sends an SMS only.
Email Sends an email only.
Email & SMS Sends both email and SMS.
Email then SMS Attempts to send an email first; if that fails, attempts to send an SMS.

Q-MATIC AB, Box 198, SE-431 23 Mölndal, Sweden. Phone: +46 31 756 46 00. Email: info@qmatic.com. Web: www.qmatic.com