The automated task feature is available under the Administration menu of Neoserra and thus, can only be configured by the Neoserra administrator.

This feature should be used with extreme caution and it is strongly recommended that all tasks are initially set up in test mode so that you can verify the action of the task.

Neoserra supports four different types of tasks:

• Inactivate client after no reportable activity for N days
• Email reminder about a scheduled appointment N days before appointment
• Send a survey after...
• Send an email after...
• Email reminder for surveys N days after initial request...

In addition to describing the three types of tasks, we will also explain:

• What email template is used?

All tasks run early each morning on the day they are scheduled. Before the normal start of business.

NOTE: You will need to choose a User under whose account this process will run. It is generally recommended that you do not run Automated Tasks under a personal user account. Once a user account is inactivated all associated processes also stop running. OutreachSystems recommends that you select a special "Service" account under which to run the process(es). Service accounts are special accounts that don't inactivate after 180 days of no activity, but Service accounts also cannot be used to log in to Neoserra.

You can give the Service user account a distinctive name such as "Service Account" so that you can easily recognize it as a non-human account. Bottom line: employees may come and go from your program, and setting up a process under one person's account means that that account has to remain active, even after the employee is no longer associated with your program, thus creating a security risk to your data. Setting up a Service account will allow you to keep common processes running even after the person who set up the process has left the organization:

Once the Service user account has been created, we recommend you select this user for your Automated Task.

If you don't see the "Service" option on the list then you can go to Administration|Configuration|Pick Lists and edit the Account Status pick list. Here you should be able to activate the "Service" option.

Inactivate client after no reportable activity for N days

The first four tasks: "Inactivate pre-client after no activity for N days", "Inactivate client after no activity for N days", "Inactivate client after no reportable activity for N days" and Inactivate client after no reportable activity for N days and no active bid match profile are perhaps the most beneficial tasks from a client management perspective. These tasks allow you to focus on those clients that are actively receiving services and and who are regularly updating their information. By inactivating clients that have not been heard from for years, you can use the "My Active Clients" link on the Neoserra home page to foster stronger relationships with those clients who are benefiting from your assistance.

These tasks merely inactivate clients - they do not delete any clients. Clients that have been inactivated can be reactivated by the counselor if/when they return for services. However, setting up these tasks requires careful attention to the details. As a precaution, Neoserra will not let you mass inactivate any clients that have had any reportable activity in the last 90 days (you can, of course, inactivate these individual clients manually.) Once a batch of clients has been inactivated they can be reactivated, but the reactivation is a manual process.

For purposes of these tasks, the reportable activity that Neoserra will look at is any one or more of the following sessions:

• awards
• capital funding
• counseling sessions
• inquiries
• milestones
• survey responses
• training event
• user-defined forms

In other words, if a client has any of the above listed activities within the date range specified and within the funding source specified, then the client will not be inactivated. The activity must be reportable.

If Neoserra inactivated the client, the action will only be logged in the data stream if you chose to create a close-out session, else it will be logged in the audit logs of the client.

For purposes of this task: "Inactivate client after no reportable activity for N days and no active bid match profile" the bid match status of the clients is also taken into account. If you choose the "Inactivate client after no reportable activity for N days" task then the bid match search profile WILL be inactivated along with the client record.

Setting up the inactivation task

To set up a new inactivation task log into administrator-mode and:

1. Go to Administration|Automated Tasks:

   

2. Click "New" in the upper right hand corner of the interface.
3. Enter a meaningful "Task Name" that will help you easily identify this task later on.
4. From the "Type" pick list select the "Inactivate client after no reportable activity for N days" task.
5. By default, your newly created task will be disabled. Decide whether you are ready to enable this task or not. Disabled tasks will not run - not even in test mode.
6. Next, decide whether you want to run this task in test mode, before running it live. Running a task in test mode will mean that you (the owner of the task) will receive an email message showing what Neoserra would have done, had the task not been in test mode:

   

   No action (other than sending the email) will be performed by Neoserra until the task has been taken out of test mode. If you take the task out of test mode, then all the clients on the list will be inactivated at that time. The test email message is sent at the same time the task would have normally been executed. A similar email will be sent when the task is live.

7. Configure the number of days since the last reportable activity before a client is inactivated. Keep in mind that Neoserra will not let you inactivate any clients with reportable activity in the last 90 days. In other words, the number of days must be greater than 90.
8. Use this field with extreme caution! It is generally recommended that you leave the selection to all funding sources. Only counseling sessions with the selected funding source(s) would be used to determine whether the client has been active, or not. In other words, if you select "DoD" as your funding source here, then only DoD-funded sessions will be considered when evaluating whether the client had recent activity. Keep in mind that if the client had SBA activity just last week, but no DoD activity for over a year, then this client would run the risk of being inactivated if it only looks at DoD-funded activity.
9. Select the centers upon which you wish to execute this task. Only clients belonging to the centers selected here will be affected by this task. If no centers are selected then the task is essentially moot since there won't be any clients upon which to perform this task.
10. Since you are inactivating clients, you will need to decide if you want to log a close-out session for these clients, for documentation purposes. If you decide to create a close-out session then the non-reportable session will be created using the counselor and funding source assigned to the Neoserra user who is setting up this task. No time will be assigned to the close-out session and the date will always default to the date when the task was executed.
11. If you do want to create a close-out session, then you may also want to log some notes in the session to explain the reason for the inactivation. The close-out session will, of course, be logged to the data stream and will look something like this:

    

12. Upon completing all the fields, your task should look similar to the screenshot below. If you are satisfied with your configuration settings, then click "Save". Please verify all your settings carefully since this task (if enabled and not in test mode) cannot be undone. Each client that is inactivated by this task will need to be reactivated manually. Your task will be executed, either live or in test mode depending upon your configuration, tomorrow morning.

    

13. To inactivate this task simply edit the task and uncheck the "Enabled" checkbox. Alternatively, you can delete the task from the More menu.

All clients that meet the criteria specified in your rule will be inactivated. Thus, if you choose to set up a rule to "Inactivate client after no reportable activity for 365 days" all clients, that meet that criteria, will be inactivated the first day that this rule runs. All clients that you haven't interacted with for years will all be inactivated on that first day.

Email reminder about a scheduled appointment N days before appointment

There are three "reminder" tasks that all perform very similarly. The three tasks differ as to who will receive the reminder email, but otherwise are identical in their configuration. Since these emails are considered to be direct communications between you and the clients, they are not subject to the "subscribe to email" checkbox.

Note: It is important that the Neoserra system administrator, who configures the task, is located in the same time zone as the counselors, who create the follow-up appointments. The system administrator will need to make sure that their time zone is set correctly under their personal preferences.

Setting up the follow-up reminder tasks

To set up a new follow-up reminder task log into administrator-mode and:

1. Go to Administration|Automated Tasks
2. Click "New" in the upper right hand corner of the interface
3. Enter a meaningful "Task Name" that will help you easily identify this task later on
4. From the "Type" pick list, select one of the following:
   • Email contact(s) a reminder about a scheduled appointment N days before appointment
   • Email client a reminder about a scheduled appointment N days before appointment
   • Email Neoserra user a reminder about a scheduled appointment N days before appointment

Keep in mind that, within Neoserra, all follow-up appointments are always made with clients - not with contacts. However, the distinction offered here within the task interface, is to allow you to email the follow-up reminder to the contact's email address rather than the company's email address on the client record.

5. By default, your newly created task will be disabled. Decide whether you are ready to enable this task or not. Disabled tasks will not run - not even in test mode.
6. Next, decide whether you want to run this task in test mode, before running it live. Running a task in test mode will mean that you (the owner of the task) will receive an email message showing what Neoserra would have done, had the task not been in test mode. No action (other than sending the email) will be performed by Neoserra until the task is taken out of test mode. The test email message is sent at the same time the task would have normally been executed.

   When you take the task out of test mode, review the list of clients in the queue carefully, and consider deleting them from the queue if they should not receive the notification the next day. By default, Neoserra will include everyone in the queue when the task is enabled and out of test mode.

7. Configure the number of days prior to the scheduled follow-up meeting when you reminder should be sent. Keep in mind that the task is executed early each morning (between roughly 1:00-4:00am), before the start of business. The number entered here represents "N" in the task name.
8. Select the centers upon which you wish to execute this task. All selected centers will be affected by your task. If no centers are selected then the task is essentially moot, since it will not perform any action.
9. Mostly importantly, select the email template you want to invoke as part of this task. By default, for the client/contact reminder messages, Neoserra will select the "Client Followup Reminder" email template; while, for the Neoserra user reminder message, Neoserra will select the "Counselor Followup Reminder" email template, by default. However, you may select a user-defined template, assuming one has been configured as discussed in this FAQ.
10. Upon completing all the fields, your task should look similar to the screenshot below. If you are satisfied with your configuration settings, then click "Save". Please verify all your settings carefully since this task (if enabled and not in test mode) will send an automated email to contacts, clients and/or Neoserra users. Once the email is sent it cannot be retrieved. Your task will be executed, either live or in test mode depending upon your configuration, tomorrow morning.

    

11. You will receive an automated confirmation email each time the task is executed:

    

12. To inactivate this task simply edit the task and uncheck the "Enabled" checkbox. Alternatively, you can delete the task from the More menu.

Send a survey after...

There are seven different "survey" tasks that all perform very similarly but are triggered off different criteria. All of these tasks will only work for client records, which means that pre-clients and stakeholders are expressly excluded. Furthermore, the trigger is only based upon reportable sessions.

Setting up the survey tasks

To set up a new survey task log into administrator-mode and:

1. Go to Administration|Automated Tasks.
2. Click "New" in the upper right hand corner of the interface.
3. Enter a meaningful "Task Name" that will help you easily identify this task later on
4. From the "Type" pick list, select one of the following:
   • Send a survey after N reportable contact hours
   • Send a survey N days after first initial counseling
   • Send a survey N days after first/second/third follow-up counseling
   • Send a survey N days after any initial counseling
   • Send a survey N days after any follow-up counseling
   • Send a survey N days after any closeout

   Note #1: For the option "Send a survey after N reportable hours" it important to realize that only reportable contact hours for the selected funding source(s) are taken into consideration. For purposes of this rule all prep and travel time is ignored. Furthermore, it is important to be aware as to what time period will be considered over which the hours are measured. On the Administration|Configuration|Settings panel you can configure the time during which these hours must take place:

   

   This ensures that your activity with a client who you worked with 10 years ago, and who just came back anew last month, is considered by the task based upon their recent activity, not their old activity.

   Note #2: For the options "send a survey N days after..." it is important to note that a client could, potentially, have multiple counseling sessions for different funding sources. Take, for example, a Neoserra database that includes both an APEX Accelerator program and an SBDC program. A single client could be counseled, theoretically, by both programs and thus have an initial counseling session with each program.

   You will need to determine whether you want to send a survey after the first initial counseling session or whether you want to send the survey after each initial counseling session.

   Note #3 Back data entry can cause some interesting situations! Tasks based upon the first initial session (etc.) or X hours of counseling, are evaluated at the time the session is entered, regardless of the actual session date. Thus, if you enter a session on October 1st but you back date the session to September 15th, and based upon the current automated task schedule it should have triggered a survey on September 15th, then the survey will be triggered now, on October 15th.

5. By default, your newly created task will be disabled. Decide whether you are ready to enable this task or not. Disabled tasks will not run - not even in test mode.
6. Next, decide whether you want to run this task in test mode, before running it live. Running a task in test mode will mean that you (the owner of the task) will receive an email message showing what Neoserra would have done, had the task not been in test mode. No action (other than sending the email) will be performed by Neoserra until the task is taken out of test mode. The test email message is sent at the same time the task would have normally been executed.

   When the task is taken out of test mode all clients who would have received the survey during testing period, will receive the survey. If this is not desirable, then make sure you remove them from the queue before taking the task out of test mode.

7. Configure the number of days following the counseling session date when the survey should be sent to the client (this is from the session date, not data entry date.) The number entered here represents "N" in the task name.
8. Select the funding source(s) of the counseling sessions you want considered for this task.
9. Select the center that was associated with the session that is triggering the survey. In other words, if you choose "Send a survey N days after first initial counseling" then the center who conducted that initial session will have to be selected here in order for the survey to be sent. If the client received multiple initial sessions from multiple centers then they could, potentially, receive multiple surveys if all those centers are selected here. If no centers are selected then the task is essentially moot, since it will not perform any action.
10. In the next three fields, you will need to identify the survey and email template that you want to send out:

    

    • Choose the appropriate "Email Message Template" from the drop down. By default the "Survey Request (Client/Contact)" email template will be selected, however, you may select a user-defined template, assuming one has been configured as discussed in this FAQ.
    • Next, choose the actual survey that you want to send. The survey must be a client survey, it must be active and it must have an active request list in order for it to appear in the drop down selection.
    • Last but not least, choose the active "Survey Request List" to which the qualifying client should be added. Note: A Survey Request List needs to be active when the task is configured and for the duration over which you intend to run the Automated Task. Neoserra needs to have an active list where the survey request and subsequent response is logged.
11. Upon completing all the fields, your task can be saved. Your task will be executed, either live or in test mode depending upon your configuration, early tomorrow morning. Please verify all your settings carefully since this task (if enabled and not in test mode) cannot be undone. Each client that meets the criteria of this task will be added to the survey request list ONCE. It is important to note that a client will be added to an active list only once, but that does not mean that they will only receive the survey once. If you configure your task to send a survey after any follow-up session, then the client may receive multiple copies of the survey but not within the same N period. For example, if you talk to a client three times on the same day, then the client will NOT receive three surveys. However, if you talk to a client three times, once a month, over the course of three months, and you have configured your survey to be sent 2 days after any follow-up session, then the client WILL receive three surveys.
12. To inactivate this task simply edit the task and uncheck the "Enabled" checkbox. Alternatively, you can delete the task from the More menu.

Upon configuring this task, you will notice a new section at the bottom of the screen:

The "Queued Emails" section will initially be empty, however, as counselors add counseling sessions that meet the criteria of the task, the queue will grow over the course of each day. The "When" column indicates when the survey will be sent. Once the survey is sent, the queue will be cleared out but each client will have been added to the respective Survey Request List.

Note: The automated task must exist before the counseling session is entered into the Neoserra database for it to be added into the queue. In other words, if you set up an automated task today, then only sessions added after today will be queued, even if there are prior sessions that would have qualified under the task rules.

Send an email after...

There are seven different "email" tasks that mirror the survey tasks. Again they all perform very similarly but are triggered off different criteria.

Setting up the email tasks

To set up a new email task log into administrator-mode and:

1. Go to Administration|Automated Tasks.
2. Click "New" in the upper right hand corner of the interface.
3. Enter a meaningful "Task Name" that will help you easily identify this task later on
4. From the "Type" pick list, select one of the following:
   • Send an email after N reportable hours
   • Send an email N days after first initial counseling
   • Send an email N days after first/second/third follow-up counseling
   • Send an email N days after any initial counseling
   • Send an email N days after any follow-up counseling

   Note #1: For the option "Send a email after N reportable hours" it important to realize that only reportable contact hours for the selected funding source(s) are taken into consideration. For purposes of this rule all prep and travel time is ignored. Again, be aware of the time parameter set on the Administration|Configuration|Settings page:

   

   This setting is important, for example, when you are sending a survey after 5 reportable hours of counseling and you have older clients who may have had counseling 10+ years ago but who recently returned to the program. A new 15-minute session may push them over their historical 5 hours of counseling even if the other 4 hours and forty-five minutes took place a decade ago.

   Note #2: For the options "send an email N days after..." it is important to note that a client could, potentially, have multiple counseling sessions for different funding sources. Take, for example, a Neoserra database that includes both an APEX Accelerator program and an SBDC program. A single client could be counseled, theoretically, by both programs and thus have an initial counseling session with each program.

   You will need to determine whether you want to send a email after the first initial counseling session or whether you want to send the email after each initial counseling session.

   Note #3 Neoserra will count N number of days from the session date, not the data entry date. Thus, if you set up the rule to send an email 7 days after a session, but the session is back entered 10 days from the day it happened, then Neoserra will ensure that the email goes out at midnight after it was entered.

5. By default, your newly created task will be disabled. Decide whether you are ready to enable this task or not. Disabled tasks will not run - not even in test mode.
6. Next, decide whether you want to run this task in test mode, before running it live. Running a task in test mode will mean that you (the owner of the task) will receive an email message showing what Neoserra would have done, had the task not been in test mode. No action (other than sending the email to you) will be performed by Neoserra until the task is taken out of test mode. Once the task is taken out of test mode, then Neoserra will initiate the email to all the clients who should have received the survey while the task was in test mode. If you don't want your "test" clients to receive the pending email then delete them from the list before you take the task out of test mode. The test email message is sent at the same time the task would have normally been executed.
7. Configure the number of days following the counseling session date when the email should be sent to the client (this is from the session date, not data entry date.) The number entered here represents "N" in the task name.
8. Select the center that was associated with the session that is triggering the email. In other words, if you choose "Send a email N days after first initial counseling" then the center who conducted that initial session will have to be selected here in order for the email to be sent. If the client received multiple initial sessions from multiple centers then they could, potentially, receive multiple emails if all those centers are selected here. If no centers are selected then the task is essentially moot, since it will not perform any action.
9. Choose the appropriate "Email Message Template" from the drop down. By default the first template on the list will be selected. You may select a user-defined template, assuming one has been configured as discussed in this FAQ.
10. Upon completing all the fields, your task can be saved. Your task will be executed, either live or in test mode depending upon your configuration, early tomorrow morning. Please verify all your settings carefully since this task (if enabled and not in test mode) cannot be undone. Each client that meets the criteria of this task will be added to the email request list ONCE. It is important to note that a client will be added to an active list only once, but that does not mean that they will only receive the email once. If you configure your task to send a email after any follow-up session, then the client may receive multiple copies of the email but not within the same N period. For example, if you talk to a client three times on the same day, then the client will NOT receive three emails. However, if you talk to a client once a month, over the course of three months, and you have configured your email to be sent 2 days after any follow-up session, then the client WILL receive three emails.
11. To inactivate this task simply edit the task and uncheck the "Enabled" checkbox. Alternatively, you can delete the task from the More menu.

Upon configuring this task, you will notice a new section at the bottom of the screen. The "Queued Emails" section will initially be empty, however, as counselors add counseling sessions that meet the criteria of the task, the queue will grow over the course of each day. The "When" column indicates when the email will be sent. Once the email is sent, the queue will be cleared out but each client will have been added to the respective Survey Request List.

Note: The automated task must exist before the counseling session is entered into the Neoserra database for it to be added into the queue. In other words, if you set up an automated task today, then only sessions added after today will be queued, even if there are prior sessions that would have qualified under the task rules.

Email reminder for surveys N days after initial request...

Neoserra, by default, only sends one survey request email to a client who has been newly added to a survey request list. However, using this Automated Task option, you can create up to three automated reminders to send to those clients who have not responded to a particular survey. This task works with any survey request list, and thus cannot be used for training surveys which do not utilize survey request lists. Training survey reminders can be scheduled from within the training event record as discussed here.

Whether the survey is queued manually or whether the survey is triggered based upon an Automated Task, the automated reminder can be configured to be sent N days after the initial email. It is important for the user to configure the first, second and third follow-ups in sequential order. In other words, you cannot ask for the first follow-up to be scheduled after the second follow-up.

Each reminder can have its own custom email template, and of course, the reminders will only be sent to those survey recipients who have not yet responded to the survey.

What email template is used?

Since an automated task may include clients from multiple centers, and each center can customize their own email templates, how will an automated task know which email template to use? The automated task system will always use the templates belonging to the owner of the task.

Neoserra constructs a full login context based upon the user who originally created the task. This is the same as if the user were logged in and sending the email interactively. It is also the owner who will need to take the responsibility to make sure that the template enabled for them is accurate and appropriate for the tast specified. It the owner of the task is inactivated (in other words, if their user account is no longer active) then the task will be automatically disabled. It is important to know that only active users can own automated tasks.

Want more? Browse our extensive list of Neoserra FAQs.