Best Practices for Outbound Notifications

Civify is a valuable tool for municipalities responsible for construction projects and keeping residents informed about project details and updates within their municipality. This app allows organizations to post project updates and send notifications to residents through various channels, including SMS, emails, and automated calls. It's important to note that the app's notification feature is designed exclusively for outbound communication. In this article, we'll explain how you can make the most of this feature and why it's good practice to include a specific note at the end of each notification.

Outbound Notifications: A Key Feature

Civify provides municipalities with robust outbound notification capabilities:

• SMS Notifications: You can send project updates directly to residents' mobile phones using text messages, ensuring timely communication.
• Email Notifications: Residents receive detailed project information and updates in their email inboxes, allowing for comprehensive project insights.
• Automated Call Notifications: Automated voice messages can be delivered to residents, providing an additional communication channel for keeping them informed about construction project developments.

These outbound notification features are powerful tools for engaging residents and ensuring they are well informed about the progress of construction projects.

The Importance of Clarity

While Civify excels in delivering outbound notifications, it's important to maintain clarity in your communication. To avoid any potential misunderstandings, we recommend including a specific note at the end of each notification. The note should read, "This inbox is not monitored. Please do not reply." This simple addition serves several important purposes:

• Setting Expectations: Residents are informed that responses to the notification will not be monitored or acted upon through the app, preventing any potential confusion. 
• Efficiency: By discouraging replies within the app, organizations can streamline their communication processes and ensure that relevant responses are directed through the appropriate channels. 
• Enhanced User Experience: Including this note helps manage resident expectations and improves their overall experience with the app.

Variables

To help make this process easier, we’ve included a feature called “Variables” to quickly do this for you. Variables allow you to automatically pull in information such as resident names, project name, city name, and more. One of the variables is called [Inbox_Not_Monitored]. When you click on this and add it to the end of your message, the system will automatically read "This inbox is not monitored. Please do not reply." 

Example Notification

Here's an example of a notification that a municipality might send to residents regarding a concrete pavement replacement project in their neighborhood. This example incorporates the recommended note for clarity. 

You work for Anytown USA and are working on a project called Sorrento Concrete Street Repairs. The resident you are messaging is named John Smith. Here is how the message would read: “John Smith, This is Joe with Anytown USA informing you of upcoming work on Sorrento Concrete Street Repairs. This inbox is not monitored. Please do not reply.”

This example demonstrates how organizations can effectively communicate project details while also setting clear expectations regarding communication through the app.

Clear, Concise, and Complete

To make your notifications as effective as possible, we encourage you to keep your messages clear, concise, and complete. This means using your words deliberately and getting straight to the point so your audience can easily comprehend. You can always direct them to their App to get more information. 

Conclusion

Civify's notification feature is a powerful tool for municipal organizations to keep residents informed about construction projects. While it excels in outbound communication, it's essential to include a note at the end of each notification, such as "This inbox is not monitored. Please do not reply," to ensure clarity in communication. This practice helps manage resident expectations and enhances their overall experience with the app, allowing organizations to effectively share project updates and information while directing responses to the appropriate channels.