The Broadcast Mailing Action Type is used to send mailers out to the entire community without the need for a Bulk Action Item. Think of these like Broadcast Emails, but with paper. In order for these to function correctly, there are some Action Type setup items that must be set. In this article we'll look at the ways in which this Action Item can be built.
Table of Contents
How Generations Work
Generation Action Items work by using a single Action Item, created at the Association level, to create "Child" Action Items on the Homeowner Level. These Child Action Items have individual XN numbers, meaning that any responses come back to the correct homeowner Account.
When creating a Generation Action Type,
Remember:
The Generation is WHO receives the content
The Child is HOW they receive the content
Minimal Required Setup
General Note
This is the minimal required setup for this Action Item to function. While there are other settings and configurations that can be added to achieve the desired outcomes for your needs, removing or changing the items specified here can, and likely will, have undesired effects. If you have additional needs or wants for this workflow that aren't outlined here, we encourage you to reach out to our support team with any questions.
Navigate to Settings > Action Types/Steps to begin building your Action Items. You'll need to create both a Generation Type (Parent) and a Standard Type (Child) Action Type for this setup.
Generation Action Type
Category: The Category determines what Additional Actions are available. You must choose Generations for this to work.
Action Type: The name of the Action Item. In this example, we called it Broadcast Mailing so that it lands near the Broadcast Email action type.
Send To: This determines what Role can create this Action Item, as well as who can be added to the Send To/Reply To fields, and who can view this Action Type on the All Action Items screen. At least, we recommend: Admins, Closings, Managers, Customer Support, Note
Administrator Role: Not required
Action Type Requirement: Require Association and/or Owner
Block Creation: No
Generation Steps
The Generation action type will require certain items to function correctly. These steps include:
- Attach the Document
- Review (Optional)
- Send the Document to Homeowners
- Cancelled (Optional)
- Complete
- Generation Failed
- Void
1. Attach the Document
This step is where (most) of the magic happens! Pay close attention to the setup of this action step.
This first step is where any PDF Documents must be attached. A Letter Template or Report is required, along with the manual attachment, and these will be added to this step as well. This step does not need to Send To anyone, nor does it need a Reply To.
Action Step: Attach Document
Send To: N/A
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: No
Letter Template/Report: Yes, required
Attach the Document - Special Rules
Below are the Special Considerations and Rules that must be added to this step.
Duration to Remain at this Step: This should remain blank. Because the Action Item will move once the Additional Action is complete (see below), this field is not needed.
Combine Attachments: Yes (This is very important)
Additional Action: Generate Homeowner Documents
Next Step if Yes: If the Generation is successful, the Action Type will go here. (Either the Send step or the optional Review Step.)
Next Step if No: If the Generation is UNsuccessful, the Action Type will go here. (Likely Generation Failed.)
2. Review (Optional)
It is sometimes wise to have a second set of eyes on a correspondence before sending it to the whole community. If you choose to have another Role review the mailing before it goes to the Print Queue, a review step will be helpful. Adding a Management Co Decision will make the review step easier.
Action Step: Review
Send To: Whatever Role you want to review this mailer. Be sure that role is also a default followed of the Action Type.
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: No
Review - Special Rules
Combine Attachments: Yes
Decision Required?: Management Co Decision - This will give your reviewer an "Approve" or "Decline" option, making it easy for them to send the item through, or send back to the creator, all with no ambiguity.
Next Step if Yes: Send to Print Queue - The step that you've designated to create the Child XNs
Next Step if No: Cancelled - The step that will send back to the creator.
3. Send the Document to Homeowners
This step is where (the rest) of the magic happens. This step creates the Child Action Type and then rolls to Complete. You'll notice this also does not need a Send to/Reply To. You'll also notice that there is only one Rule that's important: The Additional Action.
Action Step: Send to Print Queue
Send To: N/A
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: No
Send the Document to Homeowners - Special Rules
Duration to Remain at this Step: 0 - This item should automatically escalate to the closing step.
Additional Action: Send to Homeowners - This will pull the attachments from the prior step into the Child Action item that is created.
Create Action Item: Your Child Action Item. Whatever Child action type you've created should go here.
Next Step is Yes: If your next linear step is "Complete", then none needed. If your next linear step is NOT Complete, then list Complete.
4. Cancelled (Optional)
If you chose to use a Review step, and for some reason this action item should not go to the community, then a Cancelled or similar step is helpful. This allows the reviewer to put a note why this shouldn't be sent, and return it to the Action Item creator so that they can potentially fix whatever errors exist and then create a new Broadcast Mailing.
Action Step: Cancelled
Send To: The Role that most likely created this Action Item
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: No
5. Complete
A standard closing step. Nothing special here.
Action Step: Complete
Send To: N/A
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: Yes
6. Generation Failed
In the unlikely event that the documents failed to generate for homeowners, you'll want the creator of the Action Item to know so that they can retry. This step will do that.
Action Step: Generation Failed
Send To: The Role that most likely created this Action Item
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: No
7. Void
Best practice is to always have a Void step to denote that an item is closed, but not completed. No special considerations here.
Action Step: Void
Send To: N/A
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: Yes
Standard Action Type
This Action Item has one purpose: to send the letter than was generated previously.
Category: The Category determines what Additional Actions are available. This can be a Standard category Action Type.
Action Type: The name of the Action Item. In this example, we called it Homeowner Mail in order to make finding these items intuitive later.
Send To: This determines what Role can create this Action Item, as well as who can be added to the Send To/Reply To fields, and who can view this Action Type on the All Action Items screen. At least, we recommend: Homeowner, Admins, Closings, Managers, Customer Support, Note
Administrator Role: Not required
Action Type Requirement: Require Association and/or Owner
Block Creation: Yes (this is standard for Child Action Types)
Child Action Item Steps
As mentioned above, all this Action Item does is put a letter in the print queue. Since the Action Item is created at the homeowner level, this will also be on the Homeowner > Activity Notes, as well on the Homeowner's Portal.
Steps
1. Letter Sent
Since the letter is generated already, there's nothing to attach here. If the action item is ONLY sending paper, there's also no need for a "Response" step, as there's no email to reply to. This Action Item simply opens, does it's job, then closes out.
Action Step: Letter Sent
Send To: Homeowner
Reply To: N/A
Closing Step: Yes
Letter Template/Report: N/A
Letter Sent - Special Rules
Below are the Special Considerations and Rules that must be added to this step.
Mail Format: Mailing Address Only - Generations only create ONE letter per OWNER, not per address or property. The letters are not generated at this step, so changing this from anything other than Mailing Address Only will not function as intended.
Notifications: Paper
Hide from Portal: Yes (Optional) Since there is no Response step, it may be best to hide this from the Portal to avoid a homeowner clicking "Reply" through the My Items page.
Note: Attaching a letter template to this step of the child action type will cause a generation error, and letters will not send to the print queue. The letter template if applicable should only be attached on the 1st step of the Generation action type.
Optional Features
Multiple Notification Methods (Email, Paper, etc.)
It's possible to have multiple "Sending" steps on the Generation Action Item. For instance, you may want to have an option for Paper Only, for Email AND Paper, and for Email OR Paper. This requires creating additional Child Action Items with appropriate Notification settings.
Then you will add addition "Send" steps in the Generation. Each of these steps would utilize the same Additional Action: Send to Homeowners.
For the Create Action Item field, select the appropriate Child Action Item that was created.
The Child Action Items would follow the same format as the original, with the exception of the Notifications field, which would reflect the desired sending method.
Note 1: If sending via email, ensure the Child Action Item has an Email Template included as well.
Note 2: Any action item that sends via Email should also contain an "Owner Response" step that will open a closed Action Item back up and send to the Roll appropriate for a response.
Best Practice/Tips n Tricks
Tips
- The first step of the Generation Action item MUST have the Combine Attachments option selected.
- A cover letter or report MUST be added to the first step. (This is not optional)
- Remember, Owner Response steps are needed on the child action item if the notification method is not just paper. Meaning if sending by paper and email, there will need to be a step for the owner to respond (unless sending from a do not reply email).
- Child action types should always be set to Block Creation.
Learn from common mistakes:
- Everything that is to be sent must be on the 1st step of the Generation Action Type. Meaning attachments should be added on the first step, letter templates and/or applicable reports should also be configured on the first step.
- The generation will auto-advance to the next step after it finishes generating, so the Duration To Remain At This Step on the generation step should be blank (null).
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- From there it can either go to a Review step or Advance straight to a step that creates the child action item.
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- Generations only ever generate one letter per homeowner mailing address. This means that if a merged owner has seven (7) properties and only one mailing address they will only get one (1) letter. This is so seven (7) duplicate letters don't all send to the same mailing address. While owners can only have one primary mailing address, they can have multiple additional Mailing Addresses.
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- If you are seeing a different number of properties in the association versus the number of items in the print queue, it is due to this. The generation is being generated by owner and the number of mailing addresses each owner has.
- If sending to "All Addresses", then a Standard action item must be created and kicked off as a bulk homeowner action item. How to Create Action Items from the Homeowner or Association List pages (Bulk Action Item Creation).
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- Merge Tags: Only Homeowner level, Association level, and Company level merge tags pull in (not property level tags) due to the generation logic of one Child Action per homeowner.
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- This means that items like Mailing Address will pull correctly, but items like Account Number, Portal Key, Homeowner > Additional Info, Balance, etc. will not.
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