What Are the Send To, Reply To, and Portal Reply Options on Action Item Steps?

When configuring action items, you must determine the steps associated with that action type including what role each step can Send To, Reply To, and reply to using the Vantaca Home portal. 

When you view the steps for a specific action type (in this case Homeowner Request General Question), the Send To, Reply To, and Portal Reply columns show the roles that can perform that action.

Send To

Send To designates what Role receives an action item at a particular step, and in some cases, is responsible for any outbound communication. In the example above, a General Question is created in Step 1 - Owner Question for CS. This step will appear in the My Action Items page of users with the Customer Support role (depending on additional factors, such as portfolio.) 

When the Customer Support person steps that action item to the next step - Question for Manager, that action item is no longer in the Customer Support role's My Action Items, but has moved to the Manager's My Action Items. Depending on that user's Communication Preferences, they may have received a notification about the step change. 

Stepping the action item to the next step - Response to Owner from Manager, the action item will send an outbound communication to the homeowner via the appropriate channel. Typically, this would then automatically advance to another step, such as a Closing step.

Note: If you have multiple people or roles in a step, it is important that the users in those roles have good training in place so that everyone who receives the action item has a clear understanding of how to proceed. We recommend that you avoid putting two roles on one step and create separate steps attached to different roles when possible. For example, if two roles are assigned to the same step and the first role to see it steps it, then the other role may never see the step and miss any actions that were needed.

Reply To

The Reply To field determines who gets a message that shows in the Unread Message section of the Dashboard when an outside role, such as a homeowner or service provider, replies to the action item. 

These replies enter the system through:

• Email replies from outbound communications
• Using the Reply option on the Vantaca Home portal

In either case, the Action Item sends a New Message to the person in the Reply To field of whatever step the action item is currently in, which is not always the step from which that communication was sent. Because of this, think about who would be best able to answer homeowner replies at that point in the process. 

Using the example of an ARC Request in the following image, the Manager receives the action item that an ARC application was received. The action item then goes to the ARC Committee for a decision. While the request is with the ARC committee, the homeowner replies to the initial email asking for a status update. While the Send To for this step should be the ARC Committee because they are the ones doing the work, any replies or messages should be directed to the Manager as the liaison between the homeowners and the ARC committee. 

Note: The Send To and Reply To columns should not necessarily always be the same. While in many cases that makes sense, there are some cases where it would not make sens such as using the Reply To to send to Homeowner.

Portal Reply

The roles that you enter in this column display as the options that homeowners can Send to through an action item in the Vantaca Home portal. When they reply to a message, the roles in this column display as options in the Send To dropdown list.

Note: Do not include the homeowner role in this column as they are the ones sending the message and you may not want the Board to message the homeowner directly and instead filter that communication through the Manager.

While you might sometimes want the same role for both Reply To and Portal Reply, you might also want to include additional options for the portal that are not the default for all emails of this type.

For instance, at a particular step of an action item you may want to include the Accountant role if the item is related to accounting, but you wouldn't want the Accountant included in all email replies. The Portal Reply gives you additional flexibility for communication options.

In the following example, the Manager was added to the Portal Reply column on the Manager Review Request step so when users reply to this type of message, the Manager role is automatically added as an option in the Send To field and can receive a reply from the portal if selected.

FAQ

Q: How do I hide the step of an action item from the portal?

A: To hide an action item step from the portal:

1. Navigate to Settings > Action Types/Steps and locate the action type and step you want to hide.
2. Click the Rules button for that step.
3. On the Edit Rules screen, select the Rule Configuration tab.
4. Click the Show Advanced Fields toggle in the bottom left corner.
5. In the Communication Settings section, toggle Hide from portal to ON.

The selected step will no longer be visible in the portal.

Q: An owner is unable to send a message on an action item on the portal. Why?

A: This occurs when the action item step does not have any roles configured in the Portal Reply field. The Portal Reply field determines which roles appear as options in the "Send To" dropdown when homeowners reply to messages or action items in Vantaca Home. 

To resolve this, navigate to Settings > Action Types/Steps and locate the relevant action item. Find the specific step and click Edit. In the Portal Reply field, add the roles that should be available for messaging on that step. Click Update to save your changes. Homeowners will then be able to select one or all of these roles when sending messages through the portal on that particular step.

Q: An owner is replying through the portal despite the portal being disabled. How?

A: Once the portal is disabled, owners cannot log in to reply to action items through the portal. If an owner is still replying to an action item, they are responding via email rather than through the portal. You can confirm this by checking the action item step—if the reply came via email, you'll see an email address displayed to the right of the Author's name. Additionally, a Recipients (BCC) hyperlink will appear next to the email address. Click this hyperlink to view which email address received the owner's reply.

Q: Why can't I add a specific Role to the Send To, Reply To, or Portal Reply fields in an action type step?

A: Roles must be added to the action type's Default Followers before they can be used in individual steps.

To add a Role to Default Followers:

1. Navigate to Settings > Action Types/Steps
2. Locate the action type and click Edit
3. In the Edit Action Type window, click in the Send To field (Default Followers), select the desired Role from the dropdown menu
4. Click Update

To add the Role to a step:

Once added to Default Followers, the Role will be available for selection in any step within that action type.

1. Click Edit on the desired step
2. Select the Role from the dropdown menu in the Send To, Reply To, or Portal Reply field
3. Click Update to save

Q: What is the difference between the Send To field and the step options on an action item?

A: The Send To field on an action item step indicates the role(s) that will receive the message or notification when the action item reaches that step. It controls who is notified, not where the action item goes next.

The step options are the available choices presented when stepping an action item forward. They determine which step the action item can move to next.