Notifications

About Notification Specifications

Notification specifications provide the rules for sending messages to your customers through an external notification application. They define which customers can receive each type of message as well as how and when to deliver the message.

Each notification specification defines the following:

The business event associated with the specification, such as CustCreate, ProductTermination, or BillDue.

The business event indicates whether the message is generated when an account is created, when a product is canceled, when a bill is almost due, or so on.
The delivery window:
- Within a day after an event occurs
- Minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months before an event occurs, such as one week before a bill becomes due
- Minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months after an event occurs, such as five days after a bill is past due
The specification's validity period, such as now through December.
The criteria an account must meet to receive a message, such as a customer type, zip code, or payment method.
The message's delivery method, such as text, email, or IVR.
The message's delivery time of day, such as immediately, at 14:00, or any time outside of the silent period.
The opt-in defaults, such as whether customers are automatically opted in to receive notification messages.

For example, you can specify to send account creation messages to Canadian customers via email at 15:00 local time. Likewise, you can specify to send bill-due reminder messages to New York customers via text at noon, three days before the bill is due.

After you create a notification specification:

You cannot delete it. However, you can change the end date to make it expired.
You cannot change its name and associated business event.

Creating a Notification Specification for Delivery Within A Day

To create a notification specification for delivering messages to customers within a day after an event occurs:

On the landing page, click Notifications Configuration.

The Notifications Specification page appears.
Click Create.

The Trigger Criteria screen appears. See "Trigger Criteria Screen" for details.
(Optional) To duplicate an existing notification specification, select Copy Existing Notification Specification and then select the specification to duplicate.
Enter general information about the notification specification:
- Enter a unique name
  
  Note: You cannot modify the name after the notification specification has been created.
- Enter a brief description
- Select the business event that the specification applies to
- Select a validity end date
  
  Note: If you do not select an end date, the notification specification never expires.
In the Notification Trigger Criteria section, specify the attributes that an account must have to receive a message. For example, you could specify that only Gold-level customers qualify or that only customers in France who pay through invoice qualify.
Click Delivery Details.

The Delivery Details screen appears. See "Delivery Details Screen" for details.
In Select Delivery Methods, select how to deliver messages to your customers.

You can select one or more delivery options.
In the Trigger Time list, select one of the following:
- Predefined time: Delivers messages at a specified time of day after an event occurs. You must also enter the time of day to deliver messages, such as 09:00.
- Real time: Delivers messages immediately after an event occurs.
In Notification Defaults, specify one of the following:
- Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type by default. However, customers can unsubscribe at any time.
- Customers do not receive messages for this notification type by default. However, customers can subscribe to receive messages at any time.
- Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type. They cannot unsubscribe.
Click Review.

The Review screen appears. See "Review Screen" for details.
Review the details of your notification specification.

To make changes, click Delivery Details at the top left.
Click Finish.

Creating a Notification Specification for In-Advance Delivery

You can create notification specifications for delivering in-advance messages to your customers for the following business events:

BalanceExpiry: A customer's balance is about to expire
BillDue: A customer's bill is almost due
CollectionsActionDue: A collections action is about to be performed against a customer
InstallmentDue: A customer's installment payment is almost due
ProductExpiry: A customer's subscription is about to expire
ServiceLifeStateChangeExpiry: A customer's service life cycle is about to change
SuscriptionRenewalDue: A customer's subscription is almost due for renewal

To create a notification specification for delivering messages before an event occurs:

On the landing page, click Notifications Configuration.

The Notification Specifications page appears.
Click Create.

The Trigger Criteria screen appears. See "Trigger Criteria Screen" for details.
(Optional) To duplicate an existing notification specification, select Copy Existing Notification Specification and then select the specification to duplicate.
Enter general information about the notification specification:
- Enter a unique name
  
  Note: You cannot modify the name after the notification specification has been created.
- Enter a brief description
- Select the business event that the specification applies to
- Select a validity end date
  
  Note: If you do not select an end date, the notification specification never expires.
In the Notification Trigger Criteria section, specify the attributes that an account must have to receive a message. For example, you could specify that only Gold-level customers qualify or that only customers in France who pay through invoice qualify.
Click Delivery Details.

The Delivery Details screen appears. See "Delivery Details Screen" for details.
In Select Delivery Methods, select how to deliver messages to your customers.

You can select one or more delivery options.
In the Trigger Time list, select Fixed time in advance.
Do one of the following:
- To deliver messages at a specified time: In Time, select the delivery time of day in 24-hour format and then click OK.
- To deliver messages outside of the silent period: Enable the Don't send notification during silent time option. This prevents messages from being delivered to customers at inconvenient times, such as at night.
  
  If a business event occurs during the silent time configured in your system, the message is delivered after the silent time ends.
In Fixed time value and Unit, enter the number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months before an event occurs to deliver messages. For example, enter 3 Days.
In Notification Defaults, specify one of the following:
- Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type by default. However, customers can unsubscribe at any time.
- Customers do not receive messages for this notification type by default. However, customers can subscribe to receive messages at any time.
- Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type. They cannot unsubscribe.
In Aggregate Notifications, specify whether to consolidate multiple notifications for a customer into one message.
Click Review.

The Review screen appears. See "Review Screen" for details.
Review the details of your notification specification. If you see any mistakes, click Delivery Details at the top left to make changes.
Click Finish.

Creating a Notification Specification for Post-Event Delivery

You can create notification specifications for delivering post-event messages to your customers for the following business events:

PostBalanceExpiry: A customer's balance has expired
PostBillDue: A customer's bill is past due
PostCollectionsActionDue: A collections action is past due
PostInstallmentDue: A customer's installment payment is past due
PostProductExpiry: A customer's subscription expired
PostServiceLifeStateChangeExpiry: A customer's service life cycle has changed
PostSuscriptionRenewalDue: A customer's subscription is past due for renewal

To create a notification specification for delivering messages after an event has occurred:

On the landing page, click Notifications Configuration.

The Notification Specifications page appears.
Click Create.

The Trigger Criteria screen appears. See "Trigger Criteria Screen" for details.
(Optional) To duplicate an existing notification specification, select Copy Existing Notification Specification and then select the specification to duplicate.
Enter general information about the notification specification:
- Enter a unique name.
  
  Note: You cannot modify the name after the notification specification has been created.
- Enter a brief description.
- Select the business event that the specification applies to.
- Select a validity end date. If you don't select an end date, the notification specification never expires.
In the Notification Trigger Criteria section, specify the attributes that an account must have to receive a message. For example, you could specify that only Gold-level customers qualify or that only customers in France who pay through invoice qualify.
Click Delivery Details.

The Delivery Details screen appears. See "Delivery Details Screen" for details.
In Select Delivery Methods, select how to deliver messages to your customers.

You can select one or more delivery options.
In the Trigger Time list, select Fixed time after due date.
Do one of the following:
- To deliver messages at a specified time: In Time, select the delivery time of day in 24-hour format and then click OK.
- To deliver messages outside of the silent period: Enable the Don't send notification during silent time option. This prevents messages from being delivered to customers at inconvenient times, such as at night.
  
  If a business event occurs during the silent time configured in your system, the message is delivered after the silent time ends.
In Fixed time value and Unit, enter the number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months after an event to deliver messages. For example, 45 minutes or 1 week.
In Notification Defaults, specify one of the following:
- Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type by default. However, customers can unsubscribe at any time.
- Customers do not receive messages for this notification type by default. However, customers can subscribe to receive messages at any time.
- Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type. They cannot unsubscribe.
In Aggregate Notifications, specify whether to consolidate multiple notifications for a customer into one message.
Click Review.

The Review screen appears. See "Review Screen" for details.
Review the details of your notification specification.

To make changes, click Delivery Details at the top left.
Click Finish.

Modifying a Notification Specification

You can modify a notification specification's validity date, trigger criteria, delivery method, and delivery time, but you cannot change its name or associated business event.

To modify a notification specification:

Search for and open the notification specification that you want to modify. See "Finding Notification Specifications" for more information.

The Edit Notification Specification wizard appears.
In the Trigger Criteria screen, modify the description, validity end date, or trigger criteria.

See "Trigger Criteria Screen" for details.
Click Continue or Delivery Details.
In the Delivery Details screen, modify the delivery method, delivery time, notification defaults, or aggregation settings.

See "Delivery Details Screen" for details.
Click Continue or Review.
In the Review screen, review the details of your notification specification.

Tip:

If you see any mistakes, click Delivery Details at the top left to make changes.

See "Review Screen" for details.
Click Finish to save your changes.

Finding Notification Specifications

To find an existing notification specification:

On the Notification Specifications page, click Search at the top left.

The Search dialog box appears.
Enter the search criteria. You can search by the name of the notification specification or business event, the delivery method, and the notification specification status.

Tip:

Use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to match one or more characters at the start or end of words or numbers.
Click Search.

The Notification Specifications page displays the search results. You can enter more criteria to refine the search if there are many results. You can also sort the results using the up or down arrows next to the column names.
Select a notification specification name to open it.

Billing Care displays the selected notification specification.

Create Notification Specification Wizard Reference

Use the Create Notification Specification wizard to create a notification specification, which defines the customers that can receive a specified message as well as how and when to deliver the message.

The Create Notification Specification wizard includes the following screens:

Trigger Criteria Screen

Use the Trigger Criteria screen to specify general information about the notification specification, such as its name and the business event it applies to.

Field	Description
Copy existing notification specification	Select to reuse the details from an existing notification specification. If you select this option, the following field also appears. In Notification Specification to Copy, select the notification you want to copy from the list.
Notification Specification Name	Enter a unique name.
Description	Enter a brief description.
Business Event Name	Select the business event that this notification specification applies to.
End Date	Select an end date for the notification specification's validity period. If left blank, the notification specification never expires. The notification specification is considered expired if the end date is less than or equal to the current date.

Notification Trigger Criteria Section

Use the Notification Trigger Criteria section to specify the criteria for this notification specification. All accounts that meet the criteria will receive the specified message.

Field	Description
Criteria	Select the criteria to use, such as Service or Profile.
Field	Select the field to include, such as Effective_T.
Operator	Select an operator, such as equals (=). Note: All operators for the selected field appear in the Operator list. Select an appropriate operator.
Value	Enter the value for the eligibility criteria. Note: This field is dependent on the selected field. For example, if you select service and effective timestamp as the criteria and field, the value type will be Criteria Date. It prompts you to select a date from the calendar.

Delivery Details Screen

Use the Delivery Details screen to specify when and how to deliver messages to your customers.

Field	Description
Select Delivery Methods	Select one or more methods for delivering messages to your customers: IVR: Delivers messages through interactive voice response (IVR). SMS: Delivers messages through text. EMAIL: Delivers messages through email.
Trigger Time	Select one of the following options: Fixed time in advance: Delivers messages a specified amount of time before an event occurs. For example, one week before a subscription expires. Fixed time after due date: Delivers messages a specified amount of time after an event occurs that hasn't been resolved. For example, one week after a bill is past due. Predefined time: Delivers messages at the time of day you specify. Real time: Delivers messages immediately after an event occurs. Note: The available options depend on the business event and how your system is configured.
Time	Select the time of day to deliver messages, such as at 14:00. Note: This option is grayed out when the Don't send notifications during silent time option is selected.
Fixed Time Value and Unit	Enter the number of hours, days, weeks, months, or years before or after an event occurs in which to deliver the message. Note: This option is available for only the Fixed Time in advance and Fixed time after due date trigger times.
	Select the + icon to add a new Fixed Time Value and Unit row, and the – icon to remove a row.
Notification Defaults	Select whether customers receive messages for this notification type: Sent by default, but customers can unsubscribe: By default, customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type. However, customers can unsubscribe at any time. Not sent by default, but customers can subscribe: By default, customers do not receive messages for this notification type. However, customers can subscribe to receive messages at any time. Always sent to customers: Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type. They cannot unsubscribe.
Aggregate Notifications	Select whether to consolidate multiple notifications for a customer into one message: Select Aggregate Notifications to consolidate multiple notifications into one message sent to the customer. Deselect Aggregate Notifications to send separate messages to the customer for each notification. Note: This option is available for only the Fixed Time in advance and Fixed time after due date trigger times.
Don't send notifications during silent time	Select this option to prevent messages from being delivered during the systemwide silent period configured in your system. Note: This option is available for only the Fixed Time in advance and Fixed time after due date trigger times.

Review Screen

Use the Review screen to view the configuration of the notification specification you created.

Field	Description
Delivery Details	Click to return to the previous screen and make changes to the notification specification.
Notification Specification Name	Displays the name of the notification specification.
Description	Displays the description of the notification specification.
Business Event Name	Displays the business event that this notification specification applies to.
End Date	Displays when the validity period ends for this notification specification. If no date is listed, the specification never expires.
Delivery Methods	Displays the methods for delivering messages to your customers, such as SMS or Email.
Trigger Time	Displays when messages will be delivered to your customers: ADVANCE: Delivered a specified amount of time before an object expires. PREDEFINED: Delivered at a specified time of day after an event occurs. REALTIME: Delivered immediately after an event occurs. AFTER DUE DATE: Delivered a specified amount after an object expires.
Time	Displays the time of day that messages will be delivered.
Notification Defaults	Displays the default subscription options for receiving messages: Sent by default, but customers can unsubscribe: By default, customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type. Not sent by default, but customers can subscribe: By default, customers do not receive messages for this notification type. Always sent to customers: Customers are automatically subscribed to receive messages for this notification type. They cannot unsubscribe.
Don't send notifications during silent time	Displays whether messages can be delivered during the silent period: Yes: Messages cannot be delivered during the silent period. No: Messages can be delivered during the silent period. Note: This field is displayed only for the ADVANCE and AFTER DUE DATE trigger times.
Aggregate Notifications	Displays whether to consolidate multiple notifications for a customer into one message: Yes: Notifications are consolidated into one message sent to the customer. No: Separate messages are sent for each notification. Note: This field is displayed only for the ADVANCE and AFTER DUE DATE trigger times.
Finish	Click to create the notification specification and save your changes. Note: After your notification specification is created, you cannot change its name or associated business event.
Cancel	Click to exit the notification specification without saving your changes.