IMPORTANT: Before creating messages, please ensure that your initial settings are filled out completely. For assistance in setting up and reviewing your initial settings, click here.

In order to create a new message, simply click the Send an Alert (Create & Send) link from the main menu.

Under “What do you want to call this alert?”, choose your Alert Name, Alert Description, Alert Type, school(s) to be included in the alert, and recipients* for this alert.

* For teacher-initiated messaging, the recipient options will be All My Students; Students by Courses; Students by Section; and, Individual Students.

Tip! You can send a message using a custom or standard student or staff current selection by choosing your current selection, stored selection or stored search in PowerSchool, then click either “Alert Selected Students” or “Alert Selected Staff” from the bottom right corner. You will then be ready to build your message to send to your Current Selection List.

Continue to follow the below instructions to create your message.

Under “Manage duplicate contacts”, you must determine if you want to have duplicate contact information removed before your send.  If you leave this box unchecked, the message will be sent to all chosen contacts, including to those with duplicate contact information.

Next, click on Show/Hide Supported Languages in order to define the language(s) for automatic translation to complement your default language. Place a check mark in the box (es) for the additional language selections. 

Note:  SMS/TXT channel does not allow for automatic language translation.

Select which message type(s) you would like to use for your send (Phone Calls; SMS/TXT; and/or E-mail):

Next, select additional options for your message send:

·        Hot-line: Allows recipient(s) to call the caller ID phone number displayed and hear the last message that was sent.

·        Facebook: If initiated as part of your installation, this will allow for you to post your message to Facebook.

·        Twitter: If initiated as part of your installation, this will allow for you to post your message to Twitter.

·        RSS Feed: If initiated as part of your installation, this will allow for you to post your message through your school or district’s RSS feed reader.

Finally, select your message content entry method:

·        Basic will develop the same message across all chosen channels

·        Advanced will allow for you to define content differently per channel

 How to Create a Phone Calls (Voice) message:

You will notice the merge field options to the top left of the message content box. You can use these merge field options to personalize your message content by clicking on the drop-down arrow to the right and selecting the appropriate merge field.

If you wish to use text to speech versus recording your message, check the box that reads, “Use text to speech for Voice Message” and type in the content you wish to include in your message.

To create a recorded message, uncheck the box that reads, “Use text to speech for Voice Message”. You will be prompted via an instructional wizard to record your message after you save your alert content.

Important: Even if you are not using text to speech, it is required that you place the content of your call script into the message content box for your later recording. This will also allow you to have a reference point during the recording options section. In addition, if you do not enter content into this box, you will not be allowed to save your alert.

Type the content of your message into the message content box. 

Click “Next”.  On the next screen, you will be able to confirm the details of your message send.  If you need to make changes, hit the “Back” button and adjust the details of your send. 

Once you are ready to proceed with the message, click “Save and Continue”.

If you are going to be recording a voice message versus using text to speech, you will be prompted to record your message, either by using the toll-free phone number shown on the screen, or you can record your message via your computer’s microphone by clicking the “Record Now” button followed by the provided message code and your primary message.

Tip! If you are recording your message from your computer’s microphone, right-click on the top right hand side of your browser window to allow for SwiftK12 to access your microphone prior to recording.

After you have recorded your message, click ‘Next’.

You will be directed to the “What do you want to do with this alert?” screen. Here, you have three options:

·        Test Alert to Yourself: Allows you to test the alert before you determine to launch now or to launch later.

·        Launch Now (sends immediately)

·        Launch Later (schedule date and time)

o  Determine if you wish to run this once, weekly, or monthly. Provide specific date and time (AT: and On: parameter)

When you are satisfied with your Voice channel content, click Confirm Launch.

You have now successfully created and launched a Voice message through SwiftK12.

How to Create an SMS/TXT message:

You will notice the merge field options to the top left of the message content box. You can use these merge field options to personalize your message content by clicking on the drop-down arrow to the right and selecting the appropriate merge field:

Type the content of your short message into the Short Message content box.

Most importantly with this channel is your character count.  The characters remaining count on the bottom of the short message content box is to be used for strict reference, as there is a limit of 160 characters max (no exceptions), including up to 20 characters for the From SMS: name set in your messaging defaults.  Messages will not truncate or split.

Click “Next”. This is where you will be able to confirm the details of your message send.  If you need to make changes, hit the “Back” button and adjust the details of your send. 

Once you are ready to proceed with the message, click “Save and Continue”.

You will be directed to the “What do you want to do with this alert?” screen. Here you have three options:

·        Test Alert to Yourself: Allows you to test the alert before you determine to launch now or to launch later.

·        Launch Now (sends immediately)

·        Launch Later (schedule date and time)

o  Determine if you wish to run this once, weekly, or monthly. Provide specific date and time (AT: and On: parameter)

When you are satisfied with your SMS/TXT channel send, click Confirm Launch.

You have now successfully created and launched an SMS/TXT message through SwiftK12.

How to Create an E-mail message:

Tip! If you have an email template saved via your initial settings, it will be populated on the screen, automatically, and you can begin editing the content on this screen.

You will notice the merge field options to the top left of the message content box. You can use these merge field options to personalize your message content by clicking on the drop-down arrow to the right and selecting the appropriate merge field:

Type the subject of your email message, followed by the content of your message into the message content box.

The editing toolbar gives you a lot of flexibility in developing your message.  You can change the font type, size and color; add bullet points, tables and more. 

If you would like to include an image from your email stationery library, click the Image icon from the message content box. Then, select the Link tab, followed by Browse Server. Select the image you would like to include in the message content, and click OK.

If you would like to use one of your developed Email stationery options, click on the Templates option in the top-left corner of the message content box.

Then, select the appropriate Content Template from the selection shown on the screen. If you wish to replace the actual content in the existing message with your chosen template, place a checkmark in the box that reads “Replace actual contents”.

Click “Next”. This is where you will be able to confirm the details of your message send.  If you need to make changes, hit the “Back” button and adjust the details of your send. 

Once you are ready to proceed with the message, click “Save and Continue”.

You will be directed to the “What do you want to do with this alert?” screen. Here you have three options:

·        Test Alert to Yourself: Allows you to test the alert before you determine to launch now or to launch later.

·        Launch Now (sends immediately)

·        Launch Later (schedule date and time)

o  Determine if you wish to run this once, weekly, or monthly. Provide specific date and time (AT: and On: parameter)

When you are satisfied with your E-mail channel send, click Confirm Launch.