SMS Notifications

Owned by Seth Petry-Johnson
Last updated: May 08, 2020
3 min read

SMS notifications were introduced in 10.2.0. Notifications are always sent via email, but can be optionally configured to be sent as a text message as well.

SMS recipients receive a short text message containing the notification’s subject line, plus a link to view the full notification within the LearningBuilder Communications History page.

Capabilities and Use Cases

The following user stories are supported:

  • System users accustomed to SMS messaging can choose to receive their system notifications via text, rather than email

  • Persons with multiple accounts in the system, such as a Practitioner and a Provider account, can use the same phone number for both accounts but only receive notifications for one account via SMS

  • Administrators can see delivery status information, so that they can tell whether a given message was sent via SMS and if it was successfully queued for delivery

  • Recipients of a text message can opt-out from further messages directly via SMS reply containing the word “STOP”, without needing to log into the system.

  • During testing, SMS messaging can be suppressed or funneled to a specific phone number so that “real” texts are not sent out.

Configuration

SMS features are managed in the SysAdmin area by Heuristic Solutions. For more information, see SMS Notification Configuration

Enabling SMS for a Notification

Once the feature toggle is enabled in the SysAdmin area, you can “SMS-enable” a Notification in the Admin → Automations → Templates area.

 

When a SMS-enabled Notification is sent to a recipient that has a SMS-enabled phone number, that recipient will receive a text message containing the subject line and a link to view the full message in the Communications History of the My Account area.

Enabling a phone number for SMS notifications

Once the feature toggle is enabled in the SysAdmin area, individual phone numbers can “opt-in” to notifications from the My Account and Account Profile screens.

Technically speaking, the opt-in actually happens when a user sends the word “START” to the number used for sending notifications. However, through the UI the user can request an “invitation” message which they can then reply to, simplifying the process.

The opt-in process satisfies all regulatory compliance requirements by identifying the purpose of the notifications, the expected frequency, the fact that data rates may apply, and how to opt-out in the future.

Configuring the “opt-in” messaging

There are two Content Blocks that can be customized to control the messaging.

Content Block

Purpose

MyAccount → SMS Opt-in Confirmation Prompt

Displayed in the modal popup during the opt-in process. Can be customized to provide a more informative explanation of how SMS messaging will be used.

MyAccount → SMS Opt-in Confirmation Text

This is the body of the “welcome” SMS message that is sent to a user immediately after they opt-in.

Limitations

  • Notifications are always sent via email, and can optionally also be sent via SMS. Notifications cannot be sent only via SMS.

  • The SMS message contains the subject of the email message and a link to view the notification within LearningBuilder. The notification body is not delivered via SMS.

  • The SMS delivery network may throttle outgoing messages to as few as 1-3 messages per second; if a scheduled Notification generates a large number of SMS messages, there may be a delay between the delivery of the email version and the delivery of the SMS version.

Business Rules

For detailed business rules and flowcharts, see https://heuristicsolutions.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOCS/pages/900890883