Configure Notification Rules

Notification Rules determine which EMS users are emailed about additions or changes are made in EMS. You can set these rules to trigger for new or changed bookings or service orders, changes to VIP events, new Everyday User accounts, or when specific UDF options are selected. Triggers are based on rooms, statuses, event types, group types, setup types, and/or categories.

For a Notification to be generated, all the rule criteria must be met. Notifications are an internal function for reservation schedulers and service providers, but when you configure a Notification Rule, you can specify the email address for whomever you want to receive an Email Notification.

This topic contains information on the following:

To send Email Notifications, first install and configure the EMS Email Notification Service. 

The timing of notification emails also depends on settings in the following three EMS system parameters:

  • Exclude Building Closures on Notifications

  • Exclude Weekends on Notifications

  • Ignore Building Closure/Weekend Notification Settings Beyond xx Days

EMS enables you to set detailed rules that trigger when notifications are sent to people and groups. This highly customizable feature guides you through a series of screens where you fine-tune your notification rules so that notices are more meaningful and timely, and so that notices automatically go to the right people at the right time. You can set your rules to trigger notifications for specific people, rooms, event statuses, and event types. Take extra time with this step and revisit your rules regularly to make sure they are continuing to serve your needs.

Configure a Notification Rule

  1. On the EMS menu bar, click Configuration > Administration > Notification Rules. 

    The Rules window opens, listing all active Notification Rules configured in your implementation. To view deactivated Rules, select Inactive in the Show section.

  2. Click New. 

    The Notification Rule Wizard opens.

  3. In Description, enter a description.

  4. Leave the Inactive box unchecked to add the Notification Rule as an active Rule. 

  5. Select the Notification Type.

    Your selection in the Notification Type section can cause additional fields to become available. The following options are available in the Notification Type section:

Booking Notification Rules

The following notification types are considered booking notifications and are available when creating new Notification Rules in the wizard:

  • New Bookings

  • Changes to Date/Time

  • Room Changes 

  • Status Changes 

Create booking notification rules:

  1. In the Notification Rule Wizard > Setup Type, make a selection to ensure that changes to a booking's room setup will notify attendees. 

    You can select an existing setup type or an option below:

    • (all) – The rule triggers on all Setup Types.

    • (any other than Room default) – Notifications trigger for all Setup Types except for the Room's default Setup Type. (To change the default Setup Type, you can go to Configuration > Facilities > Rooms, then select a Room and select Edit. Then make your changes in the Default Setup Type field.) 

  2. In Notification triggers if change occurs within, specify the time frame (in days or hours) leading up to the booking when notifications are generated. Enter a number and select Days or Hours.

  3. In the Display New Booking As section, specify whether the Notification occurs as Booking Information or Reservation Information.

    For example, for new reservations that contain multiple bookings (recurring meetings), if Booking Information is selected, then a Notification occurs for every individual booking. If Reservation Information is selected, then a single Notification occurs for the entire reservation.

  4. In the Source section, indicate whether additions and/or changes in the EMS Desktop Client, EMS Web App, or both will trigger a Notification.

The Booking options described here only apply to EMS Enterprise. In EMS Professional, only one global Booking Notification can be configured at any time in your EMS database, and it is only available if a Booking Notification is not currently configured in your EMS database.

Service Order Notification Rules

Any of the following notification types are considered service order notifications:

  • New Service Orders

  • Changes to Service Orders

  • Deleted/Canceled Service Orders

Create service order notification rules:

  1. From Category, select the category for which the service order Notification is to be generated. 

    If a category is not available, you can configure it.
    The State, Grouping, and Resource options appear. You can select (all), (multiple), (none), or an individual item on the list. To notify on a whole category, keep the selections set to (all).

    • State – Select the corresponding state that you want the Notification to trigger on.  "New Service Orders" will have to start in that state.  "Changes To Service Orders" will have to change into that state. You can select more than one state.

    • Grouping – Select the grouping that a resource is in. These are set at the resource level in EMS. See Configure Groupings for a Resource.

    • Resource – Select an individual resource from the list.

      When you choose a Group or Category, all three items (New Service Orders, Changes To Service Orders, and Deletion/Cancelation Of Service Orders) become auto-selected. The notification will now only fire on all three. To set the rule to trigger notifications on only one or two of these three, select (all) on both Group and Category.

  2. Next to the Notification triggers if change occurs within... field, you can specify the timeframe (in days or hours) leading up to the booking when notifications generate. Enter a number and select "Days" or "Hours" from the field.

  3. For Source, indicate whether additions and/or changes in the EMS Desktop Client, EMS Web App, or both will trigger a Notification.

Notification Rules for Anything On A VIP Event

The Anything On a VIP Event option is available when creating a reservation in the Reservation Wizard. Select this option to notify users when any changes are made to a VIP Event. 

New Everyday Users Notification Rules

Selecting the New Everyday Users option notifies users when a new Everyday User account is created. In the Source section, indicate whether additions and/or changes from the EMS Desktop Client, EMS Web App, or both should trigger a Notification.

User Defined Field Notification Rules

  1. In Type, select the User Defined Field type for which the Notification is to be generated. 

    If a UDF is not available, you can configure it.

  2. Select the UDF for which the Notification is to be generated.

    Available UDFs have a field type of List. UDFs with other field types are not displayed on the User Defined Field.

  3. Select the UDF value for which the Notification is to be generated.

  4. In Notification triggers if change occurs within, specify the time frame (in days or hours) leading up to the booking when notifications generate. Enter a number and select Days or Hours from the field.

  5. In the Source section, indicate whether additions and/or changes in the EMS Desktop Client, EMS Web App, or both will trigger a Notification.

The Service Order options described here only apply to EMS Enterprise. In EMS Professional, only one service order Notification per category can be configured at any time in your EMS database.

Select Users to Notify 

  1. After you configure the Notification Type, click Next.

    The Users window opens.

  2. Select users and email addresses to which to send notifications:

    1. On the Available list, select the EMS user, or Ctrl-click to select the multiple users who are to receive the email Notification, and then click the move button (>) to move the selected users to the Selected list. If a user is not available, you can configure it.

    2. In Email Address, for each user and/or group that is to receive the email Notification, enter the email address, and then click Add.
      You can also leave Email Address blank, and then click Add to open the Select Names dialog where you can search for and add the email addresses from your Groups/Contacts lists, your Global Address List, or your Outlook address book.

  3. The following additional options are available:

    • Group Users Tied To Rule – Controls if and how users assigned to the notification rule are notified. If enabled, all users on the rule (applies only to Expert Users and not Everyday Users, nor email recipients) will function as a work group. If any user assigned to the rule performs an action that would normally trigger the rule, then the rule will not be triggered and no dashboard or email notifications will be sent. If this option is not selected and that user triggers it, the notifications will go to all the other users and email recipients designated on the Rule configuration.

    • Send to Event Coordinator – Select to send notifications to the Reservation Event Coordinator's email address or dashboard.

    • Send To Everyday User – Select to send notifications to the Everyday User's email address.

    • Send to Reservation Group/Contacts – Send notifications to the first contact's email address, or the group's email address.

Select Rooms Requiring Notifications 

  1. If you have not selected New Everyday Users, click Next. 

    The Rooms window opens.

  2. Search for the rooms to which the Notification applies:

    • In Building, select one of the following – (all) buildings, a specific building, a specific area, or a specific view.

    • In Room Type, leave the default value of (all), or select a specific room type.

    To search for active and inactive rooms, select Show Inactive.

    If a building, area, room type, or view is not available, you can configure it. See Configuring Buildings, Configure Areas, Configure Room Types, and/or Configure Public Views.

  3. On the Available list, select a room, or Ctrl-click to select multiple rooms, and then click the Move button (>) to move the selected rooms to the Selected list.

  4. Click Next. 

    The Statuses window opens.

Select Booking Statuses Requiring Notifications 

  1. When you finish selecting rooms, click Next.

    The Statuses window opens, where you can specify the status of an event that should trigger a notification.

  2. Move (>) booking statuses (use Ctrl-click to select multiple statuses) that should trigger a notification from the Available list to the Selected list.

    If a status is not listed, you can configure it.

Select Event Types Requiring Notifications 

  1. When you finish selecting booking statuses, click Next. 

    The Event Types window opens, where you can specify the type of event that should trigger a notification.

  2. Move (>) event types (use Ctrl-click to select multiple statuses) that should trigger a notification from the Available list to the Selected list.

    If the appropriate event type is not listed, you can configure it.

  3. Click Finish. 

Copy a Notification Rule 

  1. On the Notification Rules screen, select the Notification Rule you want to copy.

  2. Click Copy. 

    The copied Rule will be a duplicate of the previous one. The Description will have the words "Copy of " added to the beginning of the name.

 

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