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  2. BlackBerry AtHoc
  3. BlackBerry AtHoc 7.12
  4. Create and Publish Alerts
  5. Define content for an alert or alert template

Define content for an alert or alert template

The Content section is used to define the key parts of an alert or alert template in the system: the title, the body, the type, and any response options, website links, attachments, or location details that are relevant.
  1. If  you are creating an alert or alert template in a language other than default language displayed on the screen, click the button next to the Severity field and select the language from the list that appears. This does not change the language displayed on the screen. Instead, it changes the language that the message is delivered in. If text-to-speech is enabled, the audio portion of the sent alert will be in the language you selected.
  2. In the 
    Severity
     field, select the severity level from the list.
    High severity is reserved for extreme emergencies. On the Mobile application, it overrides the device sound settings to emit any sounds associated with the alert or alert template.
  3. In the 
    Title
     field, enter a one-line summary that communicates the purpose of the alert or alert template. There is a 100 character maximum in this field. The title is required and displays at the top of the recipients' screen when the alert is sent out.
  4. Optionally, if you want to insert a placeholder into the alert or alert template title, click The Expand icon and select the placeholder in the list that appears.
  5. In the 
    Body
     field, enter up to 4000 characters of text that communicate why the alert has been sent and provide instructions to the target audience.
    For more details on what to include in the Body field, see Writing effective alert messages.
  6. In the 
    Type 
    field, select the type that fits with the alert or alert template you are creating.
  7. In the 
    Response Options
     field, do one of the following:
    • Click the 
      Custom Response Options
       list to view a list of pre-set responses you can add to the alert or alert template.
    • Click the 
      Add Response Option
       link to define one or more responses that alert recipients can send to let you know that they have received the message. If the response involves a call bridge, select the Call Bridge check box, then, in the two fields that appear below the check box, enter the call bridge number and passcode users will need in order to respond. For specific details about what call bridges are and how they are used, refer to the text box below.
    • Targeted users within countries that have a provisioned SMS country code can respond to SMS alerts. Users within countries that do not have a provisioned country code cannot respond to SMS alerts. For more information, including a list of countries with a provisioned code, see “How does AtHoc SMS support sending text messages to countries abroad?“ on the 
      BlackBerry AtHoc
       support site.
  8. Optionally, in the 
    More Info Link
     field, enter one of the following:
    • A URL that opens a webpage where users can go to get more details about the alert when it is sent out. When users receive the alert, a 
      For Further Information
       link within it will take them to the webpage.
    • A URL that opens an attachment (media or documents) stored on Dropbox. For details on how to store an attachment on Dropbox, see Add an attachment using Dropbox.
    To include the URL in SMS alerts, the SMS alert template must contain a [TargetUrl] placeholder. For more information, see "Configure the hosted gateway for cloud services" in the 
    BlackBerry AtHoc
     System Administrator Configuration Guide
    .
  9. If you entered a URL in the previous step, click 
    Test URL
     to verify that the link works correctly.
  10. Optionally, in the 
    Location
     field, click 
    Add 
    to access a map on which you can designate a geographic area for the alert or alert template.
    For a detailed description of how to specify a geographic location for an alert or alert template, see Select an alert location.
  11. Optionally, in the 
    Attachments
     field, drag and drop or click 
    Browse
     to select files to include as attachments in the alert. For more information, see Add attachments to an alert.
  12. When you are done, configure the Target individual users section.
What Is a Call Bridge?
A call bridge is a type of alert response option for telephony devices consisting of a text response accompanied by either a phone number or a URL address. If you set up a Call Bridge phone option, end users must type the full phone number plus the passcode (if required) preceded by an ‘x’ delimiter: for example, (321)987-6543x98127.
If you set up a Call Bridge URL, the URL address must begin with one of the following:
  • http:// – for standard web addresses
  • https:// – for secured web addresses
  • sip:// –  for conference device addresses