Users will receive new conversation pop-up notifications, as long as they have permission to access the related Messaging Portal. These pop-ups make users aware of when new Messaging conversations are 'Waiting in queue', even if that user isn't registered for a messaging shift at that time.

Modern Notifications:

When Vol-Staff first go to the iCarol Messaging page, they will be presented with a popup asking for permission for iCarol to send notifications. If they do not see the popup, or ignored it they can change permissions at any time!

 

The “Notifications” field will identify if permission has been granted for iCarol.

• When “Not Set” is displayed, the user is not allowed to block or allow notifications.
  

 

To allow notifications, the user must allow notifications through the browser or browsers they use to access iCarol. This can often be configured from the address bar, or by accessing browser settings, depending on the browser.

 

When notifications have been allowed, “Allowed” will be displayed.

 

When not allowed, or when notifications have been blocked, “Browser permissions not allowed” will be displayed.

 

 

When notifications are allowed through the browser, users will be shown a notification on their main screen near the status bar.

Note: In Windows, the notifications may also show in the notifications tray, depending on your settings

 

 

In addition, iCarol will continue attempting to send Legacy notifications in traditional methods using both the new window popup, and browser popup. These notifications are always delivered as expected, and we recommend using browser-based permissions to improve delivery.

 

Troubleshooting:

• Notifications must be enabled in each browser used by the user.
  
• Notifications must also be enabled within the operating system to allow browser notifications. Operating systems may also provide additional notification options to customize how and when they appear.
  
• Please work with your IT team to ensure all permissions and options are enabled to utilize notifications from iCarol and your browsers.
  

 

Tip: Users may be able to modify their notification sounds through their operating system, often in “System Sounds,” to play a tone or sound that is more appealing to the user. Please work with your IT team, if you need assistance making these changes if desired.

 

Notifications can be paused for 1 hour, 4 hours, or all of Total. This can be changed using the drop-down “Pause notifications:” at the top of the Messaging queue page.

Legacy Notifications: 

How to Suppress Notifications

Users are able to suppress alerts when they receive a notification. When the pop-up notification appears, they can select how long they'd like to suppress the alerts for (Today, 1 hour, or 4 hours), and then press “Ok”, and the system will cease alerts for the time selected. 

How to Reverse Suppressed Notifications

If you suppress these notifications by accident, or if you want to change the selection then you'll need to clear the cookies from your web browser. Refer to your web browsers help section or contact your IT department for help with clearing cookies from your web browser. The cookie you need to remove is 'SuppressAlters'; removing this individual cookie will not effect any other settings you have for your web browser.

In addition to making sure pop-up blockers are turned off on your computer, read below for how to Install of Upgrade Java and HTML5 Audio Elements.

Google Chrome Users

Google Chrome has a policy against auto-playing any media (without user interaction), which explains why the notification sound doesn’t play automatically when the notification window pops up. In other words, Google Chrome wants you to be interacting with (aka clicking within) the pop-up window at the time the notification should chime, otherwise the noise won't play.

If you want the audio to play without user interaction, you may override this behavior by completing the following steps:

1. While logged into iCarol, click the three dots in the upper right hand corner of the browser
   
2. Choose 'Settings' from the menu
   
3. Choose 'Privacy and Security' in the left hand menu
   
4. From the center of the page, choose 'Site Settings'
   
5. 
   
6. Scroll down to the 'Permissions' section, and click 'Notifications'
   
7.          
   
8. Scroll down to the 'Allow' section, and click the 'Add' button
   
9. 
   
10. In the pop-up box that appears, type 'https://nao.icarol.com%27/, then click the 'Add' button
    
11. In the 'Allow' list, find the entry you just added, and click the 'Play' button
    
12. 
    
13. Next to both 'Notifications' and 'Sound', make sure the option chosen is 'Allow'
    
14. 
    
15. Close the settings page, log out of iCarol and completely close the Chrome browser.  When you relaunch the Chrome browser, the settings changes will be applied

Troubleshooting: User isn't receiving new messaging pop-up notifications

If the user still isn't receiving pop-up notifications for new messaging conversations (after completing the Google Chrome specific steps, if appropriate), review the following:

1. Make sure the user is assigned to the Portal Program for the messaging portal they aren't receiving pop-up notifications from, as a user must be assigned to the Portal Program to receive these notifications; read this help article to review these settings
   
2. Make sure the user has closed out of old pop-up notifications for new messaging conversations; if an old pop-up notification is still open when a new conversation comes into queue, the user may not receive the new pop-up notification until the old notification is closed
   

New Message Notifications in Active Messaging 2.0 Conversation

1. Click the lock icon to the left of the website URL at the top of the screen
2. Click "Site Settings"
3. Find "Sound" setting, and select "Allow" from the drop-down menu (selecting "Automatic (default)" will cause the audio alert to not sound) 
   

1. Click the three lines button/icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen
2. Select "Options"
3. Select "Privacy & Security" in the left hand menu
4. Scroll down to the "Permissions" section
5. Select "Settings" button next to "Autoplay"
6. Select "Allow Audio and Video" from the drop-down menu
7. Click "Save Changes" button
   

1. this allows volunteers and staff who have this feature enabled to be away from their computers, but still responsive and available for your help seekers
2. this feature can allow them to sleep during quiet midnight hours, attend meetings, complete task work away from their desk, or generally be away from their computers but still responsive to your visitors.
   

1. Click 'Admin Tools' from the left side menu
2. Click the 'Messaging' tab
3. Select the checkbox next to the setting 'Enable Messaging Mobile Alerts'
4. (Optional) Configure Messaging Mobile Alerts Reminder Settings by choosing values from the configuration drop-down lists:
1. Mobile Alert Frequency: If you set the 'Number of SMS reminders to send' to anything other than 'Never', then this Mobile Alert Frequency setting will be used to determine how much time will pass between SMS reminders. Options are never, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes. If you want reminders to be sent (by configuring the setting 'Number of SMS reminders to send'), you must choose an option other than 'Never' for this 'Mobile Alert Frequency' setting. 
2. Number of SMS reminders to send: This setting identifies how many SMS reminders will be sent after the New Chat SMS notification. Reminders are sent to all volunteers signed up for Normal Messaging Shifts. Options are never, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 attempts. If never is selected, only 1 Mobile Alert will be sent per conversation, and no subsequent reminders will be sent. If any other option is selected, reminders will be sent to users who receive these alerts until the conversation is accepted and joined by any user. 
3. Escalate to On-Shift Supervisor after: This setting identifies at what SMS reminder the On Call / Support worker will be notified of the waiting visitor conversation.  Options are never, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 attempts
5. Click 'Save all settings'
   

1. From the main Vols-Staff page, find the vols-staff profile you wish to edit, and click on the first name to view the profile
2. Click 'Edit'
3. Go to the 'Contact Info' panel and complete the following:
1. Enter your cell phone number into the 'Mobile Phone' field
2. Select the checkbox next to the setting 'I permit SMS’s to be sent to this mobile phone'
4. Go to the 'Notifications' panel and select the checkbox next to the setting 'New Chat Alert SMS'
5. Click 'Save'
   

1. Users signed up for 'Type of shift: Normal' messaging shifts at the time the new conversation is started will receive the mobile alert, and sequential reminders
2. Users signed up for 'Type of shift: On Call/Support Worker' shifts, even if these shifts are not specifically messaging shifts, will receive escalations if you've configured the 'Escalate to on-shift Supervisor after...' setting

Important Notes

If your organization handles messaging conversations for portals that are hosted in another iCarol organization, at this time you're not able to configure the mobile alerts feature for conversations associated with those portals.

Also note, enabling this feature will generate SMS message traffic that will count towards your organizations monthly allotment of messages and may incur additional charges from iCarol. Also the recipient will incur normal per-message charges from their mobile phone service provider.