Understanding Reach Messages

A Reach Message is how SAS relays a caller's message to your on-call staff after we've disconnected the call. You can use a standard, pre-recorded message to play for each reach attempt, you can choose to listen to a recording of the call, or you can create a custom SMS message including the details you need. We'll look at all options below.  

In this article we'll discuss:

Before creating your Reach Message, it's a good idea to have your on-call staff members save your SAS forwarding number as a contact in their phone, so they always know who the messages are coming from.

Creating a Reach message

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Within SAS Flex, select the On-Call tab on the left menu navigation panel. 

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Then, click on the  Reach Messages tab along the top navigation panel

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Next click the  Add Message button as shown below. If you've already created a Reach Message but want to add another one, you can click the Add Message button on the right-hand side of your screen.

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On the next page, you'll need to name your Reach Message. Then, choose one of the following  Reach Message Types. 

You can choose to activate more Reach Message types via our Premium On-Call Add-on.

Recording

If this option is chosen, all staff members will be called with the following message in the order that they are scheduled: "You have a new automated on call notification from SAS. Please press 1 to accept the message."

With a Recording Reach, if call recording is not active on the line, the system will not be able to send anything. 

If the first recipient presses 1, the system will play the full recording of the call for them. If the first recipient doesn't press anything, the system will follow the dialing order and queue time to dial the next recipient. If no one accepts the call, the system will result in a failed reach and stop dialing. Users can repeat the message by pressing 1 after it's been relayed, or press 2 to dial out to the customer. 

If you press 2 to dial the customer back, the system will dial the Caller ID of the initial call. Additionally, this time is billed and logged as Patch time.

Text to Speech

If this option is chosen, the system will call all numbers in the order in which they are scheduled with the audio message, "You have a new automated on-call notification from SAS. Please press 1 to accept the message." If the recipient presses 1, the Text to Speech system will read the message created by the user. Users can repeat the message by pressing 1 after it's been relayed, or press 2 to dial out to the customer. 

If you press 2 to dial the customer back, the system will dial the Caller ID of the initial call. Additionally, this time is billed and logged as Patch time.

If no custom message has been set up within your portal, our system will send the Default Message, which includes the caller's Name, Number and Regarding. You can also choose to send  all collected data or a Customized message. To customize the message, use the Variable picker dropdown to view all applicable script variables. Once a variable has been selected from that list, the Copy merge field box will convert whichever variable you choose into the appropriate format, which you can then copy and paste into your message. 

SMS

If this option is chosen, a text message is sent to all numbers in the array at the same time. The message will say: "A new urgent message has been created. Reply with 'OK' to accept." Once accepted, the system will relay the custom text message that has been created in the portal.

If you have a Toll Free Number with SAS, SMS messages may not always go through. 

The initial alert message will keep sending over the queue interval until all attempts are exhausted. If any of the recipients reply with 'OK', that recipient receives the message with the call details. Once a message has been accepted, any other recipients that respond with "OK" will automatically be notified that the message has been picked up along with the number of the phone that picked it up. 

If no custom message has been set up within your portal, our system will send the Default Message, which includes the caller's Name, Number and Regarding. You can also choose to send all collected data or a Customized message. To customize the message, use the Variable picker dropdown to view all applicable script variables. Once a variable has been selected from that list, the Copy merge field box will convert whichever variable you choose into the appropriate format, which you can then copy and paste into your message. 

If the SMS reach is exhausted and no one has claimed the message, the message can still be claimed with an 'OK' for a few minutes. After the relay window closes, replying with 'OK' will tell the recipient that the message is no longer available for pickup, and they will need to check their portal for message details. To extend the response time within your schedule, you can increase the type and queue.

If an on-call contact responds to an automated SMS message notification with anything other than ‘OK’, such as STOP or END or QUIT, they have just blocked the SAS forward number on their phone. To unblock the message notifications, they need to text either START or YES to their forward number. For more information, check out these instructions.

Serial SMS 

If this option is chosen, a text message is sent to each scheduled employee individually. The message will say: "A new urgent message has been created. Reply with 'OK' to accept." Once accepted, the system will relay the custom text message that has been created in the portal.

If you have a Toll-Free Number with SAS, SMS messages may not always go through.

The initial alert message will keep sending over the queue interval until all attempts are exhausted. If any of the recipients reply with 'OK', that recipient receives the message with the call details. Once a message has been accepted, any other recipients that respond with "OK" will automatically be notified that the message has been picked up along with the number of the phone that picked it up. However, unlike the SMS option, if the message does not get picked up by anyone, there is no alert text saying that it hasn't been picked up.

If no custom message has been set up within your portal, our system will send the  Default Message, which includes the caller's Name, Number and Regarding. You can also choose to send all collected data or a Customized message. To customize the message, use the Variable picker dropdown to view all applicable script variables. Once a variable has been selected from that list, the Copy merge field box will convert whichever variable you choose into the appropriate format, which you can then copy and paste into your message. 

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When you are done, click  Save.
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If either the Recording or Text to Speech option has been chosen, you may also want your on-call staff to receive a text in addition to the phone call.  To do this, you can toggle on the  Send message to Profile option within the Reach Script Block, which will send the message to the Profile of whichever staff members are on-call. 

If you choose this option, then you'll want to make sure all staff members who are listed in the on-call schedule are removed from the Send Message to Profile dropdown option within the message delivery section of the Reach block. 

Adding a Reach Message to an On-Call Schedule

Now that you've created your Reach Message(s), you can begin using them to build out your on-call schedules! 

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Open up the Settings of whichever Reach schedule you wish to update.

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Under the Set your Schedule Type section, select your Reach Message.

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When you are done, click Save. 
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