Once you have searched for and selected a job, the system displays the Job Menu with the Job Definition details on top. The Job Menu provides the options required for setting up and editing the job tasks required for generating and sending the Transactional Campaign.
Note: You can edit jobs with status paused or stopped. Active jobs cannot be edited. The permission to pause a running job is reserved for the Manager. You can open an active job to view the details, but the display is read-only.
- In the Job Overview list, select the required job from the list.
The system opens the Job Detail with the Job Menu.
The display varies based on the selected Transactional Campaign job. The system only lets you select actions and options that are available for the selected job.
For instance, the Resume Job action is only available for paused jobs, the Scheduler option in the Job menu is available for pre-arrival and post-stay emails and not for reservation confirmations, offers, and cancellations. The Edit Job option is not available for active jobs.
- You can switch between the selected job and the Messages Overview and Job Overview options anytime by clicking the corresponding options.
- Access any of the Job Menu options by clicking the respective tab options.
Options in the Job Menu:
- Job Definition: Defines the basic job details, such as name, hotel, type of communication template selection.
- Email Settings: Defines the mandatory Email From Address, the mandatory Subject line for the email, additional email settings, where applicable, the target language and, where necessary, other languages for your Transactional Campaign.
- Scheduler: Determines the frequency (daily, every x minutes, day of month, stopped), as well as date and time when the job should be processed and emailed.
- Link Tracking: View and edit the web links used in the template associated with the communication job.
- Template: Displays the template that is the basis for the emails generated by this job. After selecting a preview scenario and optionally providing some additional sample information, you can preview the template and check the resulting output. The Template option also provides access to the Content Editor, where you can adapt the content, such as text blocks, images, labels and links defined for the template.
- Messages: Shows the messages that are generated and processed by this job. This option is identical to the Messages Overview for the selected job.
- Statistics: View a statistical overview of the selected communication job to see how many records were opened, how many bounced, which links were clicked.
- Search for and open another Transactional Campaign job: Click on Job Overview to return to the list of jobs
On top of the Job Menu, the system displays the available actions, such as save, cancel, activate, deactivate, pause, resume, etc. The display varies based on the job status and your access rights. The system only displays icons that can be used.
Job Menu – Available Actions
Icon |
Description |
Save |
When you have completed the job details, click Save to save the entry before proceeding to the next steps. Once you have activated a job, you can no longer change it unless you pause it. Therefore, for active jobs, the Save icon does not display. |
Deactivate
|
Click Deactivate, if you no longer require the job. The Deactivate option is only available for paused/stopped jobs. Deactivated jobs are no longer displayed in the regular display lists. For details, see “Deactivating a Job” on page 29. |
Activate |
Click activate, if you want to activate a deactivated job. For details, see “Reactivating a Deactivated Job” on page 29 |
Pause Job |
When an email communication is up and running (i.e. the Scheduler has been set up), the option Pause Job displays. Select Pause Job if you want to pause the job temporarily, for whatever reason. The system will pause the service and check regularly if the job is still paused. During the pause time, messages received are queued and will be executed as soon as the job is started again. |
Resume Job |
This option is displayed for paused jobs only. If you select Resume Job, the system will start processing and sending messages to recipients resulting from this job again. |
Stop Job |
If you stop a job, the Schedule Type status option changes to Stopped. This is used to ensure that no unwanted communication is emailed until the setup of the respective Transactional Campaign job is completed |
Run Now |
Select Run Now, if you want to run the job immediately, independent of the Scheduler setting. |
Start Job |
This option is displayed for stopped jobs. If you select Start Job, the system will start processing and sending messages to recipients based on this job. |
Close |
Close the Job Details (hereby canceling any unsaved changes) by clicking the Close icon. The system returns to the Job Overview. |
Job Definition
The Job Definition provides basic job details, such as the name, hotel, type of communication, and the template selection.
Note: Once the job has been set up and saved, the fields Hotel selection and the communication Type become read-only. You can change the Name and select another Template, though.
Table Job Definition – Description of Fields
Field Name |
Description |
Job Name |
Name of the Transactional Campaign job. This is usually a meaningful name for ease of recognition. For example Pre-Arrival Airport for the pre-arrival communication of the Airport hotel. The job Name is displayed next to the Job Overview in top navigation. You can switch between the job details and the job overview list by clicking the respective options. You can edit the job Name, even once the job is up and running. |
Hotel (Mandatory for adding, read-only for editing) |
Name of the Hotel as selected from the drop-down menu when first adding the job. Since Transactional Campaign sends mostly transaction-based messages, the jobs are usually set up per hotel. Example: Pre-arrival job for Airport hotel for all guests scheduled to arrive at Airport hotel in 5 days. This field is read-only, once the job has been added. |
Job Type |
Type of Transactional Campaign, i.e. cancellation, confirmation, offer, post-stay or pre-arrival. This field is read-only, once the job has been added. |
Template |
Select the required email Template from the drop-down list. The templates form the text body and layout of the outgoing Transactional Campaign. They are usually streamlined to correspond to the corporate identity of the hotel group. Templates are like merge files. They contain text and placeholders that are filled with individual data of the respective guest (e.g. email address, salutation, booked rate code, etc.) It is possible to change the template once the job is up and running. |
Additional Fields |
Is used for additional queries and special fields. Not usually required. |
Description |
Can be used to describe the purpose of the template in more detail. If you deactivate or pause a job the reason for pausing the job is also displayed here. If you use the Description field to add time-sensitive information, it is helpful to add the date and time. |
Email Settings
The Email Settings provide basic message details, such as the mandatory Email From Address, the mandatory Subject line for the email, additional email settings, where applicable, the target language and, where necessary, other languages for your Transactional Campaign.
Email Settings – Description of Fields
Field |
Description |
|
Email From Address (Mandatory field) |
Mandatory email FROM Address to use as the sending address of all emails resulting from this job, e.g. Reception@NextGuestDemoHotel.com If the template specifies specific email addresses based on sender or active directory users, they override the information here. |
|
Email From Name |
Optional Email From Name used for the email, i.e. the sender name. The combination of FROM Address and FROM Name are displayed to the recipient in the From line of the email. |
|
BCC |
Optional Blind Copy address. Can be used for tracking or separate archiving, if required. Note that the blind copy only works for emails that are sent automatically. It does not apply for on-hold messages that are sent from the monitor. |
|
Subject (Mandatory field) |
Enter the subject line you want to use for sending. For pre-arrival emails it is recommendable to include the hotel name, the arrival date, and possibly the conf number, e.g. Your reservation at Serenata Demo Hotel on [reservation_arrival] | [reservation_pms_confirmation_no] |
|
Template Language/Other Languages |
Select the language for your email communication. The default in the NextGuest CRM environment is always English. The system can automatically check for another language, say German, and send guests with this language code the “German translation” of the message. In this case, you would leave the English default in the Template Language field and select German in the Other Languages field. |
Scheduler
Using the Scheduler, you determine the date and time, the time interval and the frequency in which the system processes, generates and sends the messages that result from this Transactional Campaign job.
The Scheduler is available for transaction-based jobs based on the arrival or departure date of a booking, such as pre-arrival, in-stay. and post-stay emails. It is not available for offers, confirmations and cancellations.
- In the Job Menu, select the Scheduler.
- Select the required Schedule Type from the drop-down. This determines the frequency of the job.
- Define the other Scheduler
Scheduler – Description of Fields
Field |
Description |
Schedule Type |
Select the required Schedule Type from the drop-down (daily, every x minutes, day of month, external application, file pickup, not scheduled). New jobs start out with the default Schedule Type “not scheduled”, which equates to a Stopped status in the Job Overview. |
Email Report Report To |
Optional use for additional tracking and monitoring If you enter an email address in the Report To field, the system will send a summary report with the details of the job to this email address after each scheduled job. The report prints the job name in the Subject line and displays one line per recipient with the recipient’s email address, the ref ID number and the status of the transmission. |
Date Settings |
|
Date Gap Earliest/Latest |
The Date Gap Earliest and Date Gap Latest range determines WHICH guest profiles should receive the email for pre-arrivals and post-stays. The query is run on the arrival date for pre-arrival emails and on the departure date for post-stay emails. The gap range indicates the minimum and maximum number of days on which the arrival or departure needs to occur in order to be applicable for the email. |
|
Example for Pre-Arrival Emails: The default setting for pre-arrivals, e.g. “3” to “2” ensures that the pre-arrivals are sent to guest profiles (with email addresses) who have a booking with an arrival date in three to two days from the scheduled run date. Note that for pre-arrivals, the earliest date always needs to be larger than the latest date. |
Link Tracking
All links included in a Transactional Campaign job are tracked automatically as soon as the email is sent out.
The Link Tracking page from the Job menu shows the number of links tracked in the template.
Selecting a link opens the link dialog.
You can use the Description field to change the Description of the link. You can also add Tags for grouping links and exclude individual links from the template statistics.
More details, for instance open and click rates for the individual links, are visible in the Link Tracking page from Statistics.
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