Messaging

Reporting Site

Opting In

For a reporter to engage with the messaging feature they first need to opt-in, giving consent to the organisation to maintain communication. By opting in they will be able to generate a code that will allow them to log back into their report once it’s submitted.

We do this via an Opt-In tag that can be assigned to any question within a reporting form. Any question can be set as the Opt-In question and it can appear at any point within the reporting flow. Once a reporter selects a positive answer for an Opt-In question, they’ll be given a code at the end of the reporting process.

Getting a Code

If a reporter has opted in, they'll see a code box and a login bottom as shown below. Anyone who hasn't opted in will see your standard thank you page without the code.

Reporters will be shown a unique, 16-character code which they must keep a record of to access their report and the messaging page. For security and uniqueness, this code can contain a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. No two codes will be the same in our system, so there is no chance of reporters being able to access someone else’s report.

The reporter must make a note of their code here because there will be no way for us to retrieve it once they leave this page. We’ve added a small “copy to clipboard” button inside the code box which should help a reporter easily make a note of their code for later. We’ve also added another info box, just to reiterate that information to the reporter.

Using a Code

When Messaging is enabled, a new button will appear on the homepage.

Clicking this button will take the reporter to a login page where they’ll be able to enter their code and access the messaging feature. For security, when entering a code into the box it will be hidden.

Once a reporter has entered a code and hit submit, they’ll be taken to the messaging page.

When they first log in, they’ll see a customisable SLA as well as the messaging app itself. From here, they can enter a message. Once the reporter sends a message, they’ll see it displayed like this.

When they receive a message from a case worker, it’ll be displayed like so:

The messages will be displayed with the newest one at the top of the page. The case worker’s name is never shown to the reporter here - they’ll only be referred to as “case worker”.

Disabling Messaging

If a reporter wants to end the conversation at any time, they have the option to disable messaging completely via the settings tab in the logged-in area.

Once the reporter clicks this button, their code will be erased from the system. This will close down messaging access for the reporter and for the caseworker.

Dashboard

Reports List

From the list of reports, you’ll notice there’s a new column called “Messages”.

This displays a badge if a report has unread messages against it so that these can be quickly identified. You’re also able to sort reports based on the unread status by clicking the sort button as you would any other column in the list:

This will bring all reports with unread messages to the top.

Messaging Tab

From within a report, you’ll see a messages tab. When you click it, you’ll see the messaging page. You can enter a message into the box and send it to a reporter by clicking “Send message”. If there are no messages associated with a report, then you’ll see the “No messages” state as below.

We’ve also added a red dot that will show when a reporter has sent a message but hasn’t received a reply.

You’re also able to mark a report as read/unread so that you can more easily manage which reports need to be replied to. This will reset a report’s unread status

Using the messaging page, you’re able to send a message directly to a reporter. Once you hit send message, it will immediately display below the messaging box. From there, any messages sent and received will appear with the most recent appearing at the top.

Here you’ll notice that the name of the case worker is displayed so that you can more easily identify who has participated in the conversation with the reporter. The name will only appear in the dashboard for your reference, and will not be shown to the reporter.

Redacting Messages

You’re able to redact messages in exactly the same way that you’d redact any other parts of the report by enabling the redact functionality from the very top menu.

Once enabled, each message will have a redact icon next to it.

Clicking it will bring up the standard redaction controls. The rationale will only be shown in your activity log, the reporter will never see this.

It’s important to note that once a message has been redacted, the original is lost forever. If a reporter were to log into messaging after a redaction has taken place, they’d see a marker next to the redacted message, but they won’t know exactly why it’s been redacted - we’d suggest sending a quick message when redacting, just so the reporter is aware that they’re not looking at their original message.

Disabling Messaging on a Report

Sometimes it may be appropriate to disable access to messaging on a particular report so we’ve added a button to do this. You’ll find it in the menu at the top right of the messaging page.

Clicking this will disable the report’s ability to reply to a report. Once that happens, the messaging page will display an alert

If for any reason you’d like to re-enable the reporter’s ability to respond, clicking the re-enable button will turn it back on.

If a reporter has disabled messaging from their end, there won’t be an option to reenable it, but you’ll still be able to see the previous messages. The textbox to reply will be replaced with a banner.

Archiving Messages

When a report is archived, so is the ability to message on that report. Clicking the archive button will automatically remove access to messaging for a reporter. The login page will tell the reporter that their code is invalid when this happens. If a report has been archived by mistake, unarchiving it will restore access to the messaging feature.

Email Notifications

By default, every time a message is received on a report that’s assigned to you, you’ll receive an email notification.

The email contains a button that will take you directly to the report so that you can find it easily.

If a reporter sends several messages all at once, you’ll only receive one notification. This is to try and minimise potential inbox clutter. If you’d like to receive no email notifications at all, then you’re able to configure this by clicking on your name in the bottom left corner of the screen and finding the notification settings.

Configuring an SLA

From the Site Settings page, you have the option to set an SLA message to be displayed to the reporter at the top of the reporting page. This is turned off by default but can be turned on and edited to provide an expectation of a response time to a reporter. This could be useful during a time when there may be a delay in the reporter receiving a response from a caseworker. This is not mandatory and can be turned off at any time.

Once you’ve configured it, it’ll display on the reporting site when a reporter logs into their messages.