How to Send a Broadcast Email

Summary: The purpose of this article is understand the process of sending a Broadcast Email. 

A tutorial video can be found at the conclusion of this article! 
 

If you need to send a message or document to an entire association, portfolio of associations, or maybe just a subsection of a small neighborhood community, then Vantaca’s Broadcast Email action item is the tool for you!

Broadcast Emails are typically used for communicating emergency weather updates, maintenance work being performed in the community or association meetings. Using the Broadcast Email action item is not only the most efficient way to get one message to all owners but it is also the best way to keep track of those communications you as a management company send to your associations. 

This action item is a Generation type action item, which means that when generated on the association-level, it creates individual action items that are attached to homeowner accounts, with their own unique action item number.

So, when the Broadcast Email action item is created and completed, it will create a Broadcast Email Message action item on each Homeowner account in the association you select, unless you select only Homeowners with certain tags.

1. To create a broadcast email action item, go to the Association > Action Items page or the Action Items > All Action Items page.
2. Click + New Action Item.

3. Make sure the correct association is selected. If not already selected, choose the association with the Select button. Then, Select the Action Type: Broadcast Email.  The Current Step will begin at: 1 – Enter Message.  The message of the broadcast email should be entered in the Description field.

4. If you would like to add an attachment, expand the Attachments menu. Click Select files... to attach a document or other file. Emails cannot exceed 25MB, this size encompasses attachments and Vantaca generated items such as letters/reports. Emails exceeding that will fail in the broadcast generation as this is an email client limitation. Once you have finished your message, you can click Update and Select to immediately review and send your message or you can click Update to create the Broadcast Email for later review or for someone else to review.

Note: There are 1,024KB in 1MB

***NOTE: Clicking "Update and Select" advances the action item but keeps it selected so you can continue to review or process it. 

5. Once a Broadcast Email action item is created it will then move to the Review step. This step can be used to notify the role designated by your management company to review the Broadcast Messages and make any necessary corrections. 

   If corrections are needed, simply click Edit from the menu button, make your adjustments, and step the action item to the "Broadcast" step.

6. When ready to broadcast the email, click either Approve ~or~ the Hamburger Menu (three horizontal lines) and click Step. (Both of these actions will allow you to broadcast the email). 

7. The Next Step is: 3- Broadcast. To send the Broadcast Email, click Update or Update and Select.

8. Once updated, the Broadcast Email action item will begin generating on each homeowner’s account in the association you have selected. Depending on the number of properties in the association, this process may take a few minutes.

   

Once completed, you will see the Broadcast Email message created in the message step as a closed action item. This action item will remain closed until the Homeowner responds to the message, at which time the action item will automatically reopen in the Owner Response step.

To see any previously created broadcast email action items go to the All Action Items page, select your association or all associations, click Include Closed and filter your search with the type column to “broadcast email.” This will show all broadcast email action items created for the association you have selected.

We can also send multiple associations the same broadcast email by going to the association list page and using the Bulk Action Item feature. Select the desired associations and click the Bulk Action Item button. 

Association > Association List 

From here choose the Broadcast Email type. Enter the body of your message in the description box, add attachments and click Update, just like a regular Broadcast Email.

These Broadcast Email action items will then all move to the Review step where they can be reviewed and bulk-stepped to the "Broadcast" step. To bulk step multiple Broadcast Email action items at the same time, go to the All Action Items page and select "All Associations." Then filter your search by Broadcast email or by the subject or description you used in your message. Be sure that your items per page is large enough to cover all action items that you would like to bulk step and then select the check all button. Then, click the Bulk Step button and select the "Broadcast" step and click Update.

Once the generation completes for each association, those Broadcast Email action items will create Broadcast Email Message action items on all owners accounts for the selected associations. 

Now let’s go back to the generation that took place and the Broadcast Email Message action item that was created. 

The broadcast email message you see on owners accounts will be sent via email to all of the email addresses listed on the Homeowner’s Contact Info page, including the primary email address on file.  We can click on the Homeowner link of the message to see the time and date stamp of when the message was sent and the email addresses the message was sent to.

You can even click on the dropdown menu to see if your message was delivered or opened!

Because this action item is created in a closed step, a reply from the owner will automatically reopen in the "Owner Response" step. This step will then populate the action item on the My Action Items page for the users with the role designated for that step, such as Manager or Customer Support.

Now, lets say that you only want to send your Broadcast email to a specific group of owners within an association, such as the owners on the first floor or the homeowners in a specific neighborhood of the association. You can use Homeowner Tags to send Broadcast Messages to just the Homeowners with those tags! You will first need to create your Homeowner tags, so please click here to reference our tutorial article on Homeowner Tags. Once your Homeowner tags are created, when creating the broadcast email, click on the select button to select your Homeowner tags. Please note that you can select more than on group of tags at the same time! After you have selected your tags, click update to complete your message and enter the review step.

Note: Broadcast emails currently can only be sent from Vantaca itself and not through the homeowner portal. Board members who need to send broadcast emails must contact their management company to have the email sent on their behalf.

One final note: This action item may be named differently in your database than Broadcast Email. Certain Vantaca clients use the Broadcast Message action item which creates the Association Broadcast Message action item. These action items function the Same functions but use different names. Please contact your System administrator if you have questions about the name of the Broadcast action item used for messaging for your management company.

FAQ

Q: How do I recall a broadcast email that was sent?

A: Broadcast emails cannot be recalled once sent in Vantaca. Be sure to carefully review all content and attachments before sending the broadcast.

Q: I only need to send an email to a small number of owners in an association. Should I use Broadcast Email or Email Correspondence kicked off in bulk via Bulk Action Item?

A: While both options allow you to email selected homeowners rather than all owners in the association when kicked off via the Bulk Action Item button, Email Correspondence is the cleaner option.

Email Correspondence creates one action item per selected account, whereas Broadcast Email creates two action items per account: a parent Broadcast Email action item and a child Broadcast Email Message action item.

Q: A past resident says they're still receiving broadcast emails, but I can't find their email in the system. Why is this happening?

A: The past resident's email is likely still stored as a tenant contact.

To check:

1. Go to Homeowners > Homeowner List
2. Add the Tenant Email(s) column to your view
3. Search for the past resident's email address

If you find their email listed under a tenant record, that's why they're still receiving broadcasts.
 

Q: My broadcast email is not displaying a subject line despite entering one when creating the broadcast. Why?

A: This occurs when the email template on the Message step of the Broadcast Email Message action type is missing the Action Item Subject merge tag in its Subject field. This merge tag is required to pull the subject line you enter when creating the broadcast into the actual email sent to recipients.

To fix this:

1. Navigate to Settings > Action Types/Steps
2. Locate the Broadcast Email Message action type
3. Click the caret to the left to view its steps
4. Locate the Message step and click Edit
5. In the Edit Rules window, click Email Template on the left side
6. In the Insert Tag dropdown, locate the Action Item Subject merge tag
7. Place your cursor in the Subject field
8. Click Go next to the merge tag to insert it
9. Click Save Email Template

Note: If you're entering your email address in the Other Email field when creating a broadcast, ensure that step also has an email template setup with proper merge tags. These merge tags are necessary to mimic what is shown to homeowners when the broadcast is sent.

Q: Why aren't Broadcast Emails appearing in owners' My Items on the portal?

A: This occurs when the Hide from portal setting is enabled in the Rules of the Message step of the Broadcast Email Message action type. To disable it:

1. Go to Settings > Action Types/Steps.
2. Locate the Broadcast Email Message action type and click the caret ▶ to the left of the Category to view its steps.
3. Click Rules on the Message step.
4. In the Edit Rules window, ensure Rule Configuration is selected on the left side, then click the Show Advanced Fields toggle in the bottom-left corner.
5. In the Communication Settings section, locate Hide from portal under the Mail Format dropdown and click to disable it.

Once disabled, Broadcast Email Message action items will appear in owners' My Items on the portal.

Note: Action items are removed from My Items 30 days after they are closed.