I’m delighted to be sharing our first set of updates since transitioning to the new, three-week, development cycle I described in our previous email. This revised approach has allowed the team to focus on key areas of the platform and dedicate some extra time to rigorous internal testing. Because we're an agile team, we're able to ship you features fast (and we're getting even faster!), even with this longer sprint cycle!
This week’s release gives Schedule and Reserve users greater flexibility to manage and report on activities, saving time and improving patron usage. We look forward to seeing how you put them to use!
Webhooks for Schedule now available
Communico now supports using webhooks to receive notifications when appointments are created, updated or cancelled. Learn more about creating the webhook for Schedule at this Communico College page.
Additional Field Reports
Schedule can now include 'First' and 'Last' names as separate fields in the report. To begin sorting and reviewing appointments by patron name, drag and drop these fields into the report builder.
Email reminders now supported
Reserve now has the option to send email reminders to your patrons. Please contact support@communico.us if you would like to add this feature to your implementation and we'll be happy to help get you set up.
Set your room hours independently from your branch hours
Physical rooms may now have their hours managed independently from your branch hours, giving you increased flexibility and enabling you to maximize the use of your spaces.
By default this feature will only be available to your top-level system administrators. In order to enable this feature for other user roles, you'll need to add the permission to do so under 'Branches'. Once completed, visit the 'Branches' section of the Control Panel, select a room, and update its opening hours. This will automatically update in the patron front end and allow bookings to be made for the revised hours.
We’re working towards getting more and more of the room administration functions into your hands so, in time, this feature will live in a dedicated Room Admin section! We’ll keep you updated on that project as it progresses but hope that having this functionality available in the meantime is helpful.
Support for Internet Explorer ending this August
Following Microsoft's announcement to retire Internet Explorer (IE) in June 2022, Communico will be ending support for IE as of August 2021. For more information and guidance on how to upgrade to Microsoft’s latest browser, please visit this page.
Communico HQ will be closed Monday, July 5th in observance of Independence Day. Should you need assistance, please submit a support ticket and we will get back to you on our return to the office. Please be assured that our engineers will still be monitoring the platform on these days.
Have a time sensitive issue? Please check out Communico College which has how-to guides and videos to assist you.
We're thrilled to be exhibiting and present at ALA annual this year, although we will miss seeing you all in person in Chicago. We've created five on-demand sessions to help libraries create, promote, and manage library services (you must be logged into your ALA Annual attendee profile to access these sessions).
A special thank you to Cuyahoga County Public Library, Orange County Library System, and Tinley Park Public Library for collaborating with us on these sessions.
To Book or Not to Book: How Orange County Library System Decides to Manage a Service With Appointments
Learn the three questions Orange County Library System Staff ask themselves when deciding if using appointments will make it easier to manage library services and how they evaluated the best technology to streamline the process.
The Evolution of Virtual Services: How Cuyahoga County Creates Virtual Services to Support Community Needs
When the pandemic hit, events were one of the first library services to go virtual. But with so many methods for hosting them, which approach works best for staff as well as patrons? And what other services can be offered virtually to meet the changing needs of your community?
Is the New Normal Here Yet? What’s Next for Events & Room Reservations at Tinley Park Public Library
Find out how staff at Tinley Park Public Library are using a phased approach to re-acclimate patrons to being in branch for events and room reservations while maintaining safety procedures.
Library Lessons from Retail: How Public Libraries Can Take a Page from Retail’s Book
When used strategically, technology can improve a customer's experience and encourage repeat business. This session covers four actionable lessons to be learned from how retail achieves this and how three Communico libraries replicate this success.
How Public Libraries Can Drive Downloads of Their Mobile App
In this session we discuss best practices for promoting your library's mobile app so you can increase downloads as well as sessions and walkthrough a sample marketing campaign to get you started.
STAY IN TOUCH!