Sending a Notification with Everbridge

This article covers how authorized campus users can send a notification to campus individuals and groups using Everbridge.

To get authorized for Everbridge, please contact the IT Help Desk at [email protected] with your name, department, and purpose for using Everbridge.

1. Log in to Everbridge.

everbridge login URL

Open a web browser to the Everbridge login page. Then sign in with your Everbridge username and password.

View Accessing Everbridge for more detailed instructions on logging in.

2. Select the Notifications menu and choose New Notification.

notifications menu

3. Enter the Title for your notification, and the verbiage for the notification.

You will see icons with an i or a question mark throughout Everbridge. For information (i) icons, hover your mouse over them for more information. For question mark (?) icons, click on the icon for more information.

message title and verbiage
  1. Enter the title for your notification. This is the Subject for email notifications and the first line of the message for text notifications.
  2. Check Include a separate message for email notifications to use different verbiage for the text notification and email notification.
  3. The recommended length of text notifications is 120 characters to keep it to a single text message. You can keep track of how many characters you have left at the bottom right of the text box.
  4. You have more options for formatting with the email notification, including bold, color, and highlight.
  5. Click Clear Contents to clear all of the verbiage from both the text notification and email notification boxes.
  6. Check High Priority to give the notification higher priority in the Everbridge delivery queue and flag the email when it is delivered to users.
  7. If you have message templates set up, click Use a message template to select a template.

4. Choose your speech, message type, and publishing settings.

speech, message, publishing
  1. For notifications delivered by phone call, choose how you want to present the audio: text-to-speech or use a voice recording. For voice recordings, you can then choose how you want to record the message.
  2. There are several options for the type of message: standard, polling, and conference bridge. Most users will use standard.
  3. Optionally, you can publish the notification to social media channels.

5. Click on the type of contacts you want to use for the notification.

You will be able to view all types of contacts regardless of which option you choose.

contacts

6. Place a checkmark next to each individual, group, or rule that you want to include.

You can have a mix of individuals, groups, and rules in the list of contacts.

Individuals: you specify the individual users you want to notify

Groups: choose one or more groups of users that have been created by an admin in Everbridge. Groups must be updated manually to add/remove users.

Rules: choose one or more rules to send to. Rules are dynamic lists of users based on a rule such as "all enrolled students" or "all faculty" or "all contacts." Sending to a rule means you send the notification to all users in the Everbridge system who meet the criteria for the rule as of today.

rule based contacts

ALL CONTACTS is just that: your message will be sent to ALL contacts in Everbridge.

6.1. When adding individuals or groups, you can search by name to find the specific individuals or groups.

For individuals, the External ID will be their Campus-Wide ID (CWID).

individual contacts

7. Double check the list of contacts that will receive the notification. Then click OK.

If an individual is listed twice, they will only receive one notification. However, if a phone number is listed for two different individuals, the phone number will be contacted twice.

validate contacts
  1. Double check the list of contacts you have chosen. You can select a contact and click Remove to remove it.
  2. Click OK.

8. You should now see the number of individuals, groups, or rules in effect for your notification.

Click Preview contacts to view all of the individuals who will receive the notification.

contacts selected

9. Click Edit to change the settings for your notification.

settings

10. Validate the settings for the notification.

notification settings
  1. Sender E-Mail Display: this is the name that will be displayed along with the "no reply" email address for email notifications.
  2. Sender caller ID: this is the phone number that will display on notification phone calls. 657-278-2011 is the main campus phone number for CSUF.
  3. Request Confirmation: indicate whether or not individuals need to confirm that they received the notification. If you select yes, the individual will repeatedly get notifications until they acknowledge it.
  4. Delivery methods: choose which methods you want to use to notify users. At minimum, you should include the first three methods to cover the three main methods of communication (text, email, and phone call).

11. Review all of the fields for your notification to ensure accuracy. Choose your Send options and click Send. Or save as a template and click Save.

send and save
  1. Send: choose to send it Now, Later (specify a date and time to send it), or Recurring (specify the repeat pattern). Then click Send.
  2. Save: choose to save it as a notification template. Choose a category for the template and then click Save.

12. You will be taken to the Active/History page where you can monitor the notification. Click Refresh to update the results.

active notifications

Need More Help?

Faculty and staff can contact the IT Help Desk at [email protected] or 657-278-7777 for additional assistance.