Communication

Communication setup is where you define newsletters, alerts, and other communications sent to your customer base.

About Newsletters and Alerts

Many newspapers and magazines publish newsletters and other communications of various kinds. These can range from updates about the local hockey team to weekend entertainment events to severe weather alerts. These communications surrounding the flagship publication can generate a loyal readership and targeted advertising opportunities.

As Circulation stores many subscriber and non-subscriber contact details, including addresses, phone numbers, and e-mails, it is the logical choice for storing newsletter opt-in and contact information. Circulation’s newsletter workflow is depicted in the diagram below.

To manage communication preferences in Circulation:

• You define individual newsletters and other communications here, in Communication setup. As part of setup you specify the contact methods (e-mail, phone, mail) and whether the newsletter is visible in iServices Subscriber.

• Subscribers can opt into these communications as part of a start in iServices Subscriber. Subscribers and non-subscribers can also manage their newsletter preferences (opt in or out, the e-mail, address or phone number used, etc.). This information can also be entered by a CSR in Customer Service (see the User Manual).

• You select customers who have opted into a newsletter or other communication in Targeted Marketing, and export contact information to a file (see the User Manual). This file is used to send the actual communication. (Because content is created in a separate application, Circulation does not send the actual newsletter or alert e-mail.) Communication preferences can also be interfaced via the Circulation API, and exported to InSight.

• Targeted Marketing can (optionally) generate communication history records when exporting occupants opted into a communication item. If history records are created, they can be viewed on the Communication History subtab in Customer Service (see the User Manual).

• You can also import communication history, which tracks when a customer was sent a particular newsletter or other communication (see the User Manual).

Note: Currently, only free newsletters are supported by Circulation.

Communication Item Setup

You define the individual newsletter or alert as a communication item. You can then add the communication item to one or more communication groups, and define the websites and publications for which the communication item should be offered.

Set up a communication item

• Select Communication from the Subscription | Occupant menu to display the Communication screen. The top portion of the Items tab lists previously defined communications. Click the plus sign to the left of a communication item to list the communication methods (e-mail, phone, etc.) that have been defined for it.

  
• In the Communication Item area in the lower left of the Items tab, click the Add icon () and enter basic information about the newsletter. The fields are described in the table below.

  

  Field	Type	What to enter
  COMMUNICATION ITEM	open (12)	Specify an ID for this newsletter, alert, or other communication.
  START DATE, END DATE	date	Enter the date range during which this communication will be active. Newsletters, alerts, etc. will only be offered to subscribers while they are active. You may leave End Date blank.
  DESCRIPTION	open (30)	Enter a description of this communication.
  CAN OPT OUT	yes/no	Indicate whether subscribers who opt in to the communication can opt out. Typically subscribers can opt out of receiving newsletters, alerts, and other dispatches.
  ENTER ON WEB, SHOW ON WEB	yes/no	Indicate whether subscribers can opt in to the communication during a start in iServices Subscriber, and whether the communication is displayed when subscribers manage their preferences. Typically if Enter on Web is flagged, Show on Web is also flagged.
  ITEM TYPE	predefined	Indicate whether this is a newsletter, alert, or other communication.
  FORMAT	predefined	Indicate whether this communication is a digital or print document. For example, a weekly newsletter that is e-mailed to subscribers should be set up as digital.
  WEB DESCRIPTION	open (unlimited)	If this communication will be displayed in iServices Subscriber, enter the description that should display.
  IMAGE PATH	open (unlimited)	If an icon should display for the communication in iServices Subscriber, specify the image name here. This image will be used to represent the newsletter, alert, etc. It should be stored in the iServices “webcustom” area along with other images, ideally in a “newsletter” subfolder. This field can contain a relative path to point to the subfolder (such as “/newsletter/arts.jpg”). Any format that is supported by a browsing device (e.g. gif, jpeg, png) can be used.
  BLURB TEXT	open (unlimited)	If this communication will be displayed in iServices Subscriber, enter any additional information or instructions that should display with the web description.

• Click the OK icon to add the communication item.

• In the Valid Communication Methods area in the lower right of the Items tab, click the Add icon to add a communication method (e-mail, mail, etc.). The fields are described in the table below. Click OK to accept the method. Add one record for each communication method supported by this newsletter.

  

  Field	Type	What to enter
  COMMUNICATION METHOD	predefined	Indicate whether the newsletter or other communication is disseminated by mail (address), email, or phone.
  START DATE, END DATE	date	Enter the date range during which this communication method will be active. The communication can only be made using this method while it is active. You may leave End Date blank.
  VALID METHOD TYPES, DEFAULT METHOD TYPE	predefined	If the communication method is e-mail, specify the valid e-mail types: HTML, text or both (HTML, text), as well as the default e-mail type. For example, you might allow HTML and text e-mails, but make HTML the default.
  DEFAULT	yes/no	Check this field if this communication method should default when customers opt in to the newsletter.
  DEFAULT PRIMARY	yes/no	For e-mail or phone methods, check this field if the subscriber’s primary e-mail or phone number should default when that method is selected. For example, if the e-mail communication method has both Default and Default Primary checked, the e-mail method will default when a subscriber opts in, and the subscriber’s e-mail address that is flagged as primary will default.

• You can now add the communication item to one or more groups (see step 4 in the Communication Group Setup procedure below), and/or define usages for the item (see Communication Usage Setup).

Communication Group Setup

Communication items can be organized into groups for organization and presentation purposes. For example, you might define a group called “Arts” that contains three newsletters: Books, Film and Music. You could then define an iServices Starts usage for the Arts group; the Books, Film and Music newsletter preferences would display under the Arts heading when entering a start in iServices Subscriber.

Note: Communication groups do not display in Customer Service. Only communication items display on the Contact tab.

Define a communication group

1. In the Communication option, click to the Groups tab. The groups currently defined display in the top portion of the tab.

   
2. On the Details subtab, click the Add icon (). Define the communication group by entering the fields described in the table below.

   Field	Type	What to enter
   COMMUNICATION GROUP	open (12)	Enter an ID for the communication group.
   START DATE, END DATE	date	Enter the date range during which this communication group will be active. You may leave End Date blank.
   DESCRIPTION	open (30)	Enter a description of this communication group.
   WEB DESCRIPTION, IMAGE PATH, BLURB TEXT	open (unlimited)	If this communication group will be displayed in iServices Subscriber, enter the web description, image path, and blurb text that should display for the group. These fields work the same as they do with communication items (see Communication Item Setup).

3. Click the OK button to create the communication group.

4. Highlight the new group in the top of the Groups tab and click to the Group Items subtab.

   
5. For each item that should be assigned to the group, click the Add icon (), select the communication group and communication item, and enter the date range during which the item should be part of the group (you may leave End Date blank). Then click OK.
6. After all communication items have been added to a group, set the display order for items in the Display Order area in the lower right of the Groups tab. Use the and arrows to move the highlighted item up or down the list, or the and arrows to make the highlighted item the first or last one in the list. Click Save Display Order to save the order. You can also click the Show Historical button to include items or groups in the list that are not currently active.

Communication Usage Setup

A newsletter or alert may only be offered to subscribers of certain publications, or on certain iServices websites. In addition, you must define the areas where the newsletter will be offered. Five areas can currently be configured for newsletters. These are known as “usage types”:

• iServices Starts. Newsletters display when entering a start in iServices Subscriber.

• iServices Manage. Newsletters display when managing communication preferences in iServices (Preferences option).

• Customer Service. Newsletters display in the Communication Preferences area on the Contact tab.

• Circulation API. Newsletters defined for this usage can be interfaced to a third party system via the Circulation API.

• iServices Registration. This usage is currently not utilized.

Communication usage records can be defined at the individual communication item level, or at the communication group level.

Define communication usages

1. In the Communication option, click to the Usage tab. The usages currently defined display in the top portion of the tab. One line displays for each website/publication/usage type combination.

   
2. Click the plus sign to the left of a line to display the groups and items defined for the usage.

3. In the Communication Usage area in the lower left of the tab, click the Add icon (). Define the usage by entering the fields described in the table below.

   Field	Type	What to enter
   WEB SITE	setup	Select the iServices website where this communication item or group will be offered, or select “*” if it will be available for all websites. For example, if you manage several publications in the Circulation database, each with their own website, you may wish to offer a newsletter on only one of the websites. Websites are defined in the iServices Admin module, using the Create Site Specific Settings option. See the iServices Subscriber manual for details.
   PRODUCT	setup	Select the publication associated with this communication item or group, or select “*” if it should be offered with all publications. This field is currently only applicable to Customer Service and iServices starts. Only communication items or groups defined for a publication the customer subscribes to or is starting will be displayed. In the case of a combo, the items or groups defined for all component publications will display.
   USAGE	predefined	Select the usage type, which indicates the areas of Circulation where the communication item/group should display. For example, if a communication item should display during iService starts, on the Preferences page of iServices, and in Customer Service, you would add three records with usages of iServices Start, iServices Manage and Customer Service.
   ENTITY TYPE	predefined	Indicate whether you are defining a usage for a communication group or communication item.
   ENTITY	setup	This field label changes to Item or Group, depending on whether “Item” or “Group” is selected in the Entity Type field. Select the item or group for which you are defining the usage in this field.
   START DATE, END DATE	date	Enter the date range during which this usage will be active. You may leave End Date blank.

4. Click OK to accept the usage.

5. Once valid groups and items are defined for a website/publication/usage combination, you can set the display order in the Usage Display Order area in the lower right of the Usage tab. This determines the order the groups and items display when entering a start or managing preferences in iServices. Use the and arrows to move the highlighted group/item up or down the list, or the and arrows to make the highlighted group/item the first or last one in the list. Click Save Display Order to save the order. You can also click the Show Historical button to include items or groups in the list that are not currently active.