Our final batch of platform updates for 2020 includes enhancements to Attend and Reserve and registration for our last webinar of the year.
Our previous post was published the day before Thanksgiving, so we've repeated a couple of the larger updates, just in case you missed them.
Please make note that Communico HQ will be closed on Friday, December 25 and Friday, January 1 in observance of the Christmas and New Year's holidays.
Should you need assistance on either of these days, please submit a support ticket and we will get back to you on our return to the office. Our engineers will still be monitoring the platform over these days.
As with all updates, we recommend clearing your cache and cookies before trying out any of our newly released features. If you have questions around any of the updates please do not hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or email support@communico.us.
ATTEND
Email your registrant list from the Control Panel
Now instead of exporting your registrant list to email patrons from another program, you may now email your entire event registrant list right from your Control Panel! Simply click the ‘more’ button and select ‘email registrants’ from the drop-down menu.
This will open a new screen that allows you to select which patron group(s) you’d like to email. By default, the event creator will appear as the sender, but you may choose to modify this. You will then enter your subject and add the body of your message into the text editor.
When you're ready, just click the ‘Send email(s)’ button and your message will be delivered to the designated recipients.
By default all system Administrators have access to this feature and like all our other settings, you have control over which staff members can utilize this feature. To enable this for non-admin users, you’ll need to tick the ‘allow user to email all registrants/waitlist’ box for whichever user or user roles you’d like to grant access to.
NOTE: To use this feature, you must be using your library’s email domain for all email notifications. If you are currently using Communico’s email domain (mylocallibrary.info) for your email notifications but are interested in using your own, please have an authorized member of your team reach out to support@communico.us. and we can assist you with this change.
To complete this request, we'll need to know what domain you’d like to use and then we’ll provide you with the details you’ll need to update with your DNS provider. Once the change is complete, you’ll be all set to start sending emails to your registrant list using own email domain.
East Asian character support for on-demand brochure
Events that contain East Asian characters are now supported in our on demand brochure feature. If you are not currently taking advantage of our event brochure and would like to know more, please reach out to support@communico.us or your Customer Success Manager and the team can provide you with more information and assist with configuration.
You can also see this working on our demo library's Events pages.
SCHEDULE
Patron cancellation
Modeled after our Attend ‘My Event’s and our Reserve ‘My Reservations’ features, patrons will now be able to login to ‘My Appointments’ using their reference number and last name or library card (if used when making the appointment) to view and cancel their own appointments. This feature will allow the patron to self-serve, alleviating the need for the patron to call into the branch to cancel their appointment.
You will have the ability to decide if you’d like to allow patron cancellation on a category-by-category basis. If you choose to enable patron cancellation, you will also be able to decide how close to the time of the appointment the patron is able to cancel the appointment themselves.
Modifying your asset duration times
Asset block sizes can no longer be modified once an appointment has been made against that asset group. We’ve added this measure because modification of the appointment duration causes data issues with both existing appointments as well the availability of future time slots.
Now instead of modifying the block size, you will create a new asset group with the new desired appointment duration. To avoid any confusion, you may hide the original group from the public so appointments can no longer be made against it. This will not result in any data loss nor will it cause any problems with existing appointments.
Library card lookup
We have added a patron library card lookup tool for you to use when creating an appointment on behalf of a patron from the Control Panel. Now, just like when making a room booking or adding an event registrant, you may enter the patron card number and the name, email, and/or phone number fields will populate with the information associated with their account.
UPCOMING WEBINARS
12/16: Year End Housekeeping
Resolve to get your Communico implementation in order in the New Year! Join us as we review a list of overlooked maintenance tasks that keep your Control Panel organized and tidy. Register now.
STAY IN TOUCH!
