Tip Reporting: Setup / Implementation [VIDEO]

How to use Scenarios and the Omnilert mobile app to provide a tip reporting function to the app.

 

Steps to set up Tip Reporting

Part 1: Creating a Scenario to relay Tips to your team

The first question we need to answer is: "When a tip comes in, where do we want it to go?"

We answer this by creating a Scenario to launch when that tip comes in. Omnilert includes a special scenario category called "Tip report" for this very purpose. 

Step 1: Create a Scenario of type "Tip Report"

We'll need to add a new Scenario and set it's "Scenario category" to "Tip report". This tells Omnilert that this special scenario is to be launched by an incoming tip from the app. 

In this example, I'm calling my new scenario "Tips". 

Add the new scenario and make it active.

 

Step 2: Create a new Action for the tip message

Now that we have a scenario, we need to have an Action to run when it launches. The "action" will be the message that sends our incoming tip to our team. (This could be the campus police, security, IT helpdesk, or whoever needs to receive the message.)

In this example, I'll name my action "Relays tips via email to security". (The name helps me remember what I want this action to do!)

Add the action and make it active.

 

Step 3: Edit the new Action

Now that we created our action, we need to tell the action what we want it to do. We need to tell Omnilert where to send a message and what to include in that message (e.g. the tip report!). 

Click on the Scenario Manager > Actions > Active tab, then click on our new action from the list.

Now, click on the Message tab for that action. 

Compose a message. In this example, I want to send tips to my "Security Team" group via email. So, I select the group ("Security Team") and endpoint (Email).

Select Who: Choose the group to receive submitted tips

IMPORTANT: Choose the group carefully! Every time any end-user with the app submits a tip, this group will get a message.

WARNING: Do not select a large/public group or "All subscribers" as the group ("Select who") or else any subscriber will potentially send messages to unintended recipients or all subscribers!

Select How: Choose the endpoint type for relaying tips (e.g. Email or SMS)

For most use-cases, we recommend relaying incoming tips via EMAIL since the tip content may exceed SMS lengths.  (If choosing SMS, the message length may exceed SMS's 160 character limit.)

Create message content: Use variables to insert the tip content

Scroll down and enter a message. This is what will be sent to your staff when a tip comes in.

Edit the message content to include the {{tip_body}} which is a special text variable that represents the actual tip content submitted by a subscriber.

When the tip message is relayed, this variable is replaced with whatever text content the end-user submitted via the app's "send a tip" feature. 

You can also include optional variables such as the {{tip_location}} and {{tip_submitter}}.

Available text variable merge fields

Along with standard text variables such as the date/time, the following text merge fields can be used within messages triggered by tip reporting:

• {{tip_body}} - The text content submitted by the app user who is sending you a "tip report". 
• {{tip_location}} - The optional location of the mobile device submitting the tip. This will be presented as a web link that opens your default mapping program and places a pin in the map. (The end-user can choose to turn this off at their discretion.)
• {{tip_submitter}} - If not anonymous, this will be a link to the profile details of the subscriber who submitted the tip. 
• {{tip_category}} - The tip report "category" text value. (This value is the "name" of the tip report category from Part 2, Step 2 below)

 

Finally, with our message composed, click Save message to save our Action's message content.

 

Step 4: Linking our new action to our new scenario

Next, link the action to our new scenario on the Scenarios tab.

In this example, my scenario's name is "Tips"...

Now we've got a new scenario ready to relay incoming tips from the Omnilert app to our "Security Team" group.

 

Part 2: Tip Reporting setup for the Omnilert Mobile App endpoint

With the scenario ready, we just need to tell the Omnilert Mobile App endpoint to use it.

Step 1: Enable tip reporting

The first step is to enable the tipping feature for the app. 

Go to Endpoint > Active (or Inactive) and click on the "Omnilert Mobile App" endpoint to enter the setup screens for the app endpoint. 

 
(Note: Your app endpoint's name may vary, as the name is customizable but the default name is 'Omnilert Mobile App')

Then go to the "Tips" tab and check the "Enable tip reports" box to enable the tip reporting feature in the app.

If the "Enable tip reporting" box is not checked, the "Tips" tab won't be visible inside the Subscriber app.

 

Step 2: Create a new Tip Category

Finally, scroll down and create a new "Tip category".  This is what the subscribers will see on the "Tips" tab of the app on their mobile devices. 

Fill in the following fields:

• Name: The label for this tip category that subscribers will see. It should be descriptive to guide end-users on what you'd like them to submit. For example, if you're soliciting "Suspicious person" reports, name the category accordingly. (In this example, I've named my category "See Something / Say Something")
  
  
• Tip help text: This brief description is displayed on the mobile device to further help guide your end-users when they're typing up their tips.
  
  
• Tip submitted message: A brief message to be included on the "Thank you" screen after a tip is submitted.
  
  
• Associated scenario: The scenario that will be launched if/when a subscriber submits a tip.
  
  
• Allow anonymous reports: Toggle this checkbox on to allow anonymous tip submissions. If blank, all submissions will be linked to the subscriber that submitted them. 

When ready, click +Save new tip category to save the new tip category. 

Once saved and enabled, the tip category will appear in the subscriber app immediately. 

 

How tip reporting appears in the Omnilert subscriber app

Once enabled, subscribers will see a "Tips" tab within their Omnilert mobile app. 

If only one Tip category exists, the app will not show any category selection option. This is the simplest setup for end-users to use.

 

If multiple Tip categories exist, then the subscriber must choose a category before they can submit a tip via the app.

This adds an extra step for the submitter but allows you to route different tips to different scenarios.

 

 

 

Notes, Best Practices, and Suggestions 

• Yes, you can create multiple scenarios and have multiple "Tip categories". If so desired, you can create more than one category to direct tips on specific topics to the appropriate recipients. However, using just one tip category will make the app a little easier to use for your subscribers!
  
  
• WARNING: Do not set a tip scenario's Action to send to "All subscribers". Remember, every time a subscriber submits a new tip, the linked scenario will launch. Thus you would never want incoming tips to be relayed to your entire subscriber list! Tips should only ever be sent to a smaller group that is able to respond as needed. 
  
  
• Include the {{tip_body}} in at least one of your Actions. The actual tip report content (what the end-user types in when they send a tip) is relayed by the "{{tip_body}}" merge text. So, it should be included in at least one action of your Tip Report scenario. We suggest having that sent via email so it can accommodate a longer string of text. 
  
  
• Tip Reporting requires a complete, active Scenario with Actions. In order for the system to properly relay tips, each tip category must stay linked to a "good" scenario. What makes a scenario "good"? A good scenario is "Active" and has at least one active Action that includes the tip info ({{tip_body}}).
   
• Special characters and/or emoji may not be relayed to SMS. Not all endpoints can accept non-standard characters and/or emoji. So, if the submission includes such content, it may not appear in the tip content that you receive if it's not possible to re-broadcast it. Email is usually the "safest" recipient for tip relays. 
  
  
• Images not supported. Subscribers can send text content tips only. At this time, the app does not support sending rich media (photos/video) in tips.