Messages
This is the screen used to manage messages. For background, see also Concepts - Messages.
The screen is in two halves, the top is a standard select screen, the bottom displays the selected message, and then there are buttons to create, process and print the messages.
In the top half:
Type - selects the type of message (All, System, or User)
Status - selects the message status (Completed, Pending or Read). Newly received messages will be Pending until read by the To addressee, then Read, and then (when the Completed button is pressed), Completed.
Dates - normally you can leave the All box checked, otherwise uncheck it and enter the required from and to dates
User - by default this will be set to your user name, but you can enter any name in order to see the messages to that user. Note that you cannot enter a user-group name.
The column headings are as follows:
Date - shows the date and time, or if it's today then just the time
Description - the message subject
From - the user who sent the message
Reason - the message reason
Status - its status. This will be Pending, Read (ie read by the To addressee), or Completed.
Item - this field will be blank for User messages, but may contain information for System messages
In the bottom half the fields are self-explanatory, except for the following:
From & To - note that these user names are links, and clicking on them will redisplay the screen with the User set to the name you clicked. Hence you can quickly switch to see the messages for the from or to person.
Customer & Patient - similarly, these are links to take you to the customer or patient workspace
Buttons - these are as follows: (only New will be visible if no message is selected)
New - create a new message.
Reply - reply to the message.
Forward - forward the message.
Delete - delete the message.
Complete - change the message status to Completed.
Print - print the message.
Mail - email the message.
Note that you can forward and reply to completed messages - the resulting message will be 'Pending'.
New/Reply/Forward
This is the screen used to create, forward or reply to a message.
The fields are as follows:
From - this will always show your name, you cannot pretend to be someone else
To - enter the names of the User(s) or User Group(s) to whom you wish to send the message. Multiple names must be separated by semi-colons. This is in fact a search field (even though it does not have the binoculars icon) and you can enter just 'r' to select Receptionists.
If you are replying to a message, then this will be prefilled with the sender's name.
Subject - you must enter a subject. If you are replying, then original subject will be shown prefixed by "Re: "; if forwarding then by "Fwd: ".
Customer & Patient - use these to enter the customer and patient, if applicable. If you are creating a message and do have a current customer and patient in the Customer and Patient workspaces (which will be the case most of the time), then they will be shown here. Hence if you want to send a message unrelated to the customer and patient, you will need to clear these two fields.
If you are forwarding or replying to a message, these will be set from the original message.
Reason - select the reason from the pull down list. The system comes with two, Phone and Other, but your admisistrator can add more using Administration|Lookups|Messsage Reason.
Message - enter the message text. As with any text field, you can use macros if you want. If you are replying to a message then the original text will be shown prefixed by a line giving the date/time and sender of the original message. Similarly, if you are forwarding a message, the complete header (To/From/date,time/Subject) and text will be shown.
Note that the message text is optional - ie you can send a 'subject only' message like "Staff meeting 8am Wednesday - Be There".
Press Send to send the message, Cancel to abort.
Confirm Delete
This is the Message Delete Confirmation window. Press OK to delete the message, else Cancel.