Working with Communications

Messages enable agency staff, responsible parties, and applicants to maintain correspondence regarding the progress of permit applications.

Agency users can send emails, notifications, and texts associated with a specific application on the Communication page. Agency staff, applicants , and responsible parties can also use the Communication page to view a record of the messages associated with an application.

Security Details for Working with Application Communications

This section describes important security roles, requirements, or considerations specific to working with permit communications.

Permit application

Primary Role	Access Description	Associated Job Roles and Abstract Roles
Anonymous access	View permit communications that are marked as visible to the public.	All users, including guests who don't log in.
PSC Registered Public User	View communications that are marked as visible to applicants.	PSC Registered Public User
PSC Permits Communication Management	Manage communications in permit applications.	PSC Inspections Supervisor PSC Geographical Information System Administrator PSC Finance Administrator PSC Economic Development Officer PSC Chief Building Officer PSC Cashier PSC Building Inspector PSC Business Analyst PSC System Administrator PSC Principal Planner PSC Planning Coordinator PSC Plan Reviewer PSC Permits Supervisor PSC System Administrator PSC Permit Technician

For more information on creating roles for Oracle Permitting and Licensing, see Creating Custom Roles for Oracle Permitting and Licensing.

For more information on all the predefined security data such as abstract roles, job roles, privileges and so on, see the Security Reference for Oracle Permitting and Licensing.

Sending Communications

1. Click the Permits tile on the Agency Springboard.

   Select an application on the Permit Applications page.

   Click Communication in the left-hand navigation bar.

2. On the Communication page, click Add.

3. On the New ad hoc message page, enter values or click Insert (+) and choose from the list for the following fields:

   Page Elements	Definition
   Channel Type	Specify what type of ad hoc message you want to send. Values are: Email: Generates an email that is sent to users. Emails and Notifications: Generates both an email and a notification with the same message. Notification: Generates a notification that appears when users click the notification icon in the application. Text: Generates a short message service (SMS) text message that is sent to users. Note: The fields that are available to define on this page vary depending on the channel type and display format that you select.
   Visibility	Select which users can see this message listed on the application's Communication Details page. All communications can be viewed by agency staff. Values are: Applicant and contacts: Includes agency staff, the applicant, and contacts added to the transaction. Agency staff only: Includes only agency staff. Applicant and Primary Contact:: Includes agency staff and the primary contact on the transaction. Note: This option is presently not applicable for Code Enforcement.
   Display Format	Select the format of the message. Values are: HTML: Displays rich text, links, and images Text: Displays plain, unformatted text. Note: This field does not appear for the Text channel type.
   Create Web Form	Click to access the Web Form modal page where you create a questionnaire that you can insert into your message.
   Priority	Turn this switch on to display the notification at the top of the notification list. Note: This field appears only for the Emails and Notifications and Notification channel types.
   User Can Delete	Turn this switch on to enable users to delete this notification from their notification lists. Note: This field appears only for the Emails and Notifications and Notification channel types.
   Create Web Form	Click the icon to insert the web form questions into the body of your message along with a link that the recipient can use to access and respond to the questionnaire.
   To	Click the Insert button (+) to view the Insert into the To field drawer from which you can search for and select recipients. Click Insert to add recipients. Click the Insert button to view a drop-down menu from which you can search for and select recipients. The display shows the options and the count of values available, which are determined by the transaction you are working with and the channel type you selected in the Message Attributes section. For example, when you select a value here for the email channel type, the email ID is inserted into the field. You can delete the ID using the X icon, but you can't edit it. Enter the email addresses, user IDs, or phone numbers of the people or organizations that you want to send the communication to. Note: Enter email addresses for emails, user IDs for notifications, and phone numbers for texts. For more information, see Using Attributes in Communication Templates.
   Cc and Bcc	Enter or click + and select the email addresses of the people or organizations that you want to receive a copy or blind copy of the message. Note: These fields appear only for the Email and Emails and Notifications channel types.
   Attachments	Click Add to add an attachment from your local device. After adding an attachment, you can click the Actions icon to view attachment details, download attachments, or delete attachments. Note: The maximum number of attachments in a single email is 5. The maximum total size of an email, including all attachments, can't be more than 10 MB. If the total attachment size exceeds this value, the email will not be sent to the recipients even though it is saved in permitting and licensing communications.
   From	Enter or click + and select the email address, user ID, or phone number of the person or organization who is sending the generated message. For text messages, select the phone number of the person or organization who is sending the generated text message from the drop-down list. The available numbers come from a third-party messaging service. Note: Enter email addresses for the Email and Emails and Notifications channel types, user IDs for the Emails and Notifications and Notification channel types, and phone numbers for the Text channel type.
   Subject	Enter a brief description of the purpose and content of the message or click + to select attributes to include. Note: This field doesn't appear for the Text channel type.
   Message Body	Enter text for the message body. For the Text channel type and emails and notifications with the Text display format, you can enter only plain, unformatted text. For the HTML display format, you can enter rich text, links, and images.
   Insert in Message Body	Click to select attributes to add to the message body.
   AI Assist	Click and enter a prompt to generate an automated email or notification. AI Assist is only available for Permits beginning in 25A. The agency must enable the Redwood interface in order to use the AI Assist feature. Staff should always review messages generated by AI Assist before sending. For more information, see Using AI Assist for Permits, next.

   You can also insert variables for contact attributes into fields when composing a communication for contacts with a specific type, the primary contact, or all contacts. Select attributes such as phone, email, user ID, and user name of the contacts and insert the variables into the selected field. For example, if you want to send an email to all of the contacts for an application, you select the email attribute for all contacts and insert the variable into the email To field. For information about inserting variables, see Using Attributes in Communication Templates.

4. Click Send.

Using AI Assist for Permits

AI Assist enables you to automate ad hoc emails and notifications improving efficiency and creating messages that are professional and informative. You can enter some event-specific prompt information in the message body, click the AI Assist button, and get AI generated text. AI Assist is only available for Permits beginning in 25A. The agency must enable the Redwood interface in order to use the AI Assist feature.

Here’s an example of a prompt: “Write an email to the applicant that their permit is being processed. Include the permit type, permit number, and application number. Let the applicant know who the permit has been assigned to, and that this person will follow up if additional information is required.”

Here’s an example of the AI generated text:

Dear Ms. Jose,

We are writing to acknowledge receipt of your application for a CKPERMITTYPE01 permit, application number CK-2024-00237, submitted on Thursday, November 07, 2024. Your permit application is currently being processed.

The City of Innovation would like to inform you that your application is being reviewed by our team and is assigned to Joe Green. Mr. Green will be in touch if any additional information is required. Please allow us up to 7 business days to complete the review process.

Should you have any further questions about your application, you may contact Joe Green directly at [e-mail].

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

Joe Green

City of Innovation

8888 Santa Clara St, San Jose, US-CA, US, 78787

Using Attibutes in AI Assist

These are the key attributes you can use in a prompt. You can add other text in the prompt to create the message:

• Agency Name

• Agency Staff Name (who is currently creating the Ad Hoc communication)

• Agency Address

• Application ID

• Applicant Name

• Application Link

• Record Type

• Application Description

• Permit Issue Date

• Job Cost

• Currency Code

• Fees Balance Due

Communicating Using a Web Form

You can create and send emails or notifications that contain an online form with questions for the applicant, responsible party, or other agency staff. The correspondence contains a link that the recipient can use to access and respond to the questionnaire. Note that contacts can't access web forms or web form attachments.

Here’s how to create a web form:

1. On the Communication page, click Add.

2. Enter values for the channel type, such as email or notification, visibility to send to the applicant, responsible party, or agency staff, and the To, From, and Subject fields.

3. Click Create Web Form.

4. For each row of the web form, enter the Question Text along with the Answer Type that you expect from the recipient for that question. You can select from these answer types:

   Answer Type	Description
   Attachment	Enables the recipient to attach one file per question. After the recipient uploads the file and submits the form, attachments are available in the web form response and on the Attachments page for the application. For more information, see Setting Up Agency-Level Options for Business Licenses.
   Date	Enables the recipient to answer the question using a calendar to indicate the date.
   Text	Enables the recipient to enter text in response to a question.
   Number	Enables the recipient to enter a numeric value of up to 13 digits and three decimal places.

5. Click OK to save your web form questionnaire and return to the Ad Hoc Message page. The Create Web Form button displays the number of questions included on the web form in parentheses.

6. Click Send.

After you receive the communication, you click the link in the message to open the online web form and answer the questions or upload a file. After you submit the form, the response appears on the Communication Details page and attachments are also listed on the Attachments page.

Viewing Application Communications

The Communication page displays a list of all messages that are associated with the application, including emails, notifications, texts, and web form responses.

1. Click the Permits tile on the Agency Springboard.

   Select an application on the Permit Applications page.

   Click Communication in the left-hand navigation bar.

   You can view the message reference ID, date and time the message was sent, message subject, channel type, attachments, and status, such as Sent.

2. For each row on the Communication Details page you can:

   • Click the Actions icon to resend or forward the message.

     Select the Resend action to access the message in the Message Details modal page in display-only mode. Click Resend to send the message another time to the same list of recipients.

     Select the Forward action to access the message in the Message Details modal page. Enter new recipient email addresses, update the message if necessary, and click Forward to send the updated message to the new recipients.

   • Click the View More Details button to view detailed information about the message.

   • If there are attachments, you can view detailed information about the attachment.