Message Automation

Owned by Bulldog Connect
Last updated: Apr 19, 2023
3 min read

Creating a Send Message Automation

On the Lists and Saved Items page, navigate to the Automations table. Click New Automation. The New Automation page opens. Enter the Automation Name. 

Enter the Automation Conditions. Select a Saved Search and then choose Send Message from the THEN... take this action field. If desired, check the Omit initial matches box. You may want to do this if (for example) your intent is to automatically send a welcome message to students when they are assigned to you, omitting students who are currently assigned to you.

 

 

Next, create your message. Users may create EITHER a recurring email to be sent to the students. Email messages have a rich text editor and the ability to add the merge fields Recipient Name, Recipient First Name, and Recipient Last Name.

After entering the Automation Conditions, it's time to enter the Automation Schedule.

First, set your duration. For example, if you want your automation to remind students to fill out financial aid forms as shown in the screenshots above, you can have the automation occurrences run from January to April.

Next, set the automation frequency. This sets how often your automation checks for new students. Finally, set a Time. You will be notified by email two hours before each automation run, so it's best to set this two hours after you can review it.

Once everything is set, click Save Automation. A confirmation window opens. Click Save as Active to start the automation.

Managing an Automation Occurrence

Once you have created an automation, it shows on the Lists & Saved Items page. Automations can be edited or deleted from here. You can also open the automation by selecting the link in the table.

Two hours before an automation occurrence runs, you receive an email notification from Bulldog Connect with the planned automation details.

Click the View Details link to go into Bulldog Connect and look at the Automation Occurrence.

You can take several actions from this page. You can review, search for, and/or omit individual students from being included in the automation occurrence. You can process the automation immediately instead of waiting for it to be sent. Finally, you can cancel the occurrence of the automation.

 Viewing an Automation Occurrence

When a message is sent via Message Automation, it appears on the student's Conversations Tab like any other message.