Global Automated Messages

MyTime enables franchise businesses to tailor automated messages at both the parent and child levels. This article will outline the steps to configure automated messages specifically from the parent level.

Things to know:

• This feature is available only for accounts using the global database and must be enabled by a MyTime team member.
• To enable global automated messages at both the parent and child levels, please contact our support team at support@mytime.com. Additionally, the "Marketing Campaigns on Parent Account" hidden setting must be enabled at the parent level.
• Once these hidden settings are enabled, global automated messages can be created and edited, provided the "Accessing Automated Messages" access control is set to 'Edit'
• For child accounts with the global database for automated messages activated, any customizations made to automated messages at the parent level will automatically apply to and be available at the child level.
• When you activate or deactivate an automated message template at the parent level, the setting is applied to all child locations.
• By default, child accounts cannot activate, deactivate, or edit global automated messages. However, you can grant them the ability to by enabling the "Allow Child Account to Edit Global Template" hidden setting at the parent level. Only the MyTime team can activate this setting. To request activation, contact your account manager or reach out to the support team at support@mytime.com. For more information, refer to the Override Global Automated Messages on Child Accounts section. 
• Service-specific instructions can be added at the parent or child level:
  • Parent-Level Instructions: When added at the parent level, these instructions automatically apply to all child accounts.
  • Child-Level Customization: Child accounts can modify or customize the inherited instructions as needed.
  • Existing Child-Level Instructions: If a child account already has instructions set for a global service, adding instructions at the parent level will not override or impact those existing child-level instructions.
    
• Directions cannot be added to automated messages at the parent level
• Delivery options for global automated messages can be edited on the parent account. At the child level, these options are view-only and cannot be modified 

• Overage charges for emails or SMS will be applied to each child account if applicable, as global automated messages are sent from the child account level 

• Email themes are configured at the parent level and cannot be edited at the child level. These themes apply to both automated messages and campaigns. 

CONTENTS

• Configuring Global Automated Messages at the Parent Level
• Configuring Global Email Theme
• Override Global Automated Messages on Child Accounts

Configuring Global Automated Messages at the Parent Level

• From the parent account, navigate to Marketing > Automated Messages
• Below you will see 2 tabs, Transactional and Marketing:                                                                

  • In the Transactional tab, you will find all the pre-saved templates. From here, you can activate and edit your transactional automated message templates.

  • In the Marketing tab, you will find all the pre-saved templates. From here, you can activate and edit your marketing automated message templates.

• Below either tab, hover over the desired pre-saved template and select View to edit the template 

• From here, you can edit the following: 

  • Delivery By: You can specify a fallback delivery method (email, SMS, push notification) when the primary method is unavailable.

    • Use if available: This is the primary method that will be attempted first
    • Use if other methods not available: This method will be attempted if the primary option is unavailable (because contact information is not on file or the user opted out)
    • Never Use: This method will not be used, even if none of the other options are available
  • Delivery methods configured before February 3, 2025 (when fallback delivery methods were introduced) will have the following default selections:
    • For enabled delivery methods, the 'Use if available' option will be selected.
    • For disabled delivery methods, the 'Use if others are not available' option will be selected.

  • Email: The client must have an email address on file and be opted in to receive transactional emails

  • Text Message: The client must have a mobile number on file and be opted in to receive transactional SMS

  • Push Notification: The client must have the MyTime Guest App installed on their mobile devices.

• Reply-to-name: Name of the business that appears when your clients reply to an auto email.
• Subject: The subject or title of the email. This can be set and edited to your preference
• The body of the email. To edit:

  • Hover over the highlighted sections 

  • Click on the edit icon                                                                                                                          

• When you are finished editing the template, select Save at the bottom 

Configuring Global Email Theme

1. Navigate to Marketing > Automated Messages
2. Click "Edit Email Theme" in the left panel                                                                                                            
3. You will be on the "Customize Your Email Theme" page, where you can:
   • Change your background color using the color picker
   • Change your button/link color using the color picker
   • Insert a background image
   • Include letterhead
4. Once done, your changes will be displayed below. You can see the web and mobile version of your email template to see how it would look on either platform
5. Save changes

Override Global Automated Messages on Child Accounts

Things to Know:

• The ability for child accounts to override changes made at the parent level, or for the parent to override changes made at the child level, is governed by the hidden setting "Allow Child Accounts to Edit Global Automated Marketing Templates." This setting is only visible and must be enabled at the parent account level for the functionality to apply.
• Once the hidden setting is enabled, changes can be made to the automated message templates at both the parent and the child level
  
• Template Modification Behavior:
  • When saving changes at the parent level, an 'Update Parent Template' modal will appear with the following:
    • Displays the total number of child accounts that will be affected.
      
    • Two radio buttons:
      
      • Overwrite all child account templates
      • Keep existing customized templates unchanged
    • Displays a list of locations that will not be affected by the update. Please note: If all child account templates will be affected, the list and its label should not be shown.
  • When saving changes made to a template in the parent account, the "Keep existing customized templates unchanged" option is selected by default on the "Update Parent Template" modal.
  • When saving changes made to a template in the parent account and the "Overwrite all child account templates" option is selected, changes made will affect the child accounts displayed
• Reset Button Visibility:
  • The reset button for child account templates appears only after changes have been made and saved.
  • Before any modifications, the reset button will not be visible.
  • If a child account resets a modified template, it will no longer be counted in the "Overwrite all child account templates" section at the parent level.
• Template Labels in Child Accounts:
  • If no changes have been made to a template in a child account, the "Parent" label will be displayed next to its name 
  • If a template is modified and saved at the child level, the "Child" label will be displayed next to its name 
• Handling Multiple Versions of Automated Messages:
  • For automated messages that allow multiple versions, changes made at the parent level will only apply to child templates with matching criteria. Example: If a Package Expiration Reminder template at the parent level is set to "Send to clients 5 days before package expiration," it will only update child templates configured with the same criteria. 

From the Parent Level:

Saving changes made to the parent level will display the 'Update Parent Template' modal. Once the selection between "Overwrite all child account templates" and "Keep existing customized templates unchanged" has been made, type 'update' in the text box to confirm the changes.

From the Child Level:

If a template is modified on the child account and changes are saved, the local icon will be displayed next to the template's name.

If no changes have been made to a template or the changes have been made and saved at the parent level, the global icon will appear next to the template's name in the child account where no modifications were made.

For more information, contact us at support@mytime.com or (385) 233-6964.    

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