Send Referral Templates

Send Referral Templates

Understanding the Default Template used to 'Send Referrals by...'

If your organization chooses to use the 'Send Referrals by Email', 'Send Referrals by Text', or 'Refer to Chat' tools, the following default referral details templates are used for Agency and Program referrals, respectively:

If you save a referral to the Agency level, the default template used is as follows:
Agency Name; Agency Phone Number (first found custom-phone or all named phones); Loc: Agency Address Line 1, Agency Address Line 2, Agency Town/District, Agency City, Agency State/Province, Agency Zip/Postal Code
  1. Example: Elmdale Food Bank; 805-333-3333; Loc: 225 Simi Village Drive, Unit 2, Simi Valley, CA, 93065
If you save a referral to the Program level, the default template used is as follows:
Program Name; (first found custom-phone or all named phones); Loc: Program Address Line 1, Program Address Line 2, Program Town/District, Program City, Program State/Province, Program Zip/Postal Code
  1. Example: Food Hamper; 805-333-3333; Loc: 225 Simi Village Drive, Unit 2, Simi Valley, CA, 93065
How Phone Numbers are added to the default template
There are two ways that phone numbers will be added to your default template, dependent on how you have entered data into your resources, which are as follows:
  1. if you use the default named phone fields, all the default named phone number fields will be included in the SMS Referral, in the following order: Fax Number, Toll-Free, TTY, After Hours, Business Line, Hotline, Out of Area, without any commas. For example; 403-215-5454 403-5487-2485 800-5428
  2. if you use the Custom-named phones fields, only the first phone number field used will be included in the SMS Referral; all other Custom-named phones or default named phone fields will be omitted. For example, if you use the 3rd and 4th Custom-named phone fields, and all of the default named phone fields, only the 3rd phone number will be included in the SMS Referral

How to setup the 'Custom Referral Details Template' used to ‘Send Referrals by...'

In November 2018, updates were released to the functionality in the 'Custom Referral Details Templates'. The previous functionality was limited, as follows: Site level information couldn't be included in the templates, and these templates couldn't be created for the 'Send Referrals by Email' feature; these limitations no longer exist, as explained in more detail below. Note, the template can only be used to 'Send Referrals by Email' for contact records upgraded to report V5. 

If your organization has enabled the features to Send Referrals by Email, Send Referrals by Text, or Refer to Chat, when a referral is made in a call report, information will be populated into the respective text boxes under ‘Referrals made in this report’ on the Resources tab. Your organization may wish to setup a 'Custom Referral Details Template' to specify what information is populated into the text boxes under ‘Referrals made in this report’, instead of using the default template.

The following are important points to know before creating your 'Custom Referral Details Templates':
  1. The information can be changed by your vols-staff before it is sent to your help seeker in each individual call report
  2. Each Call Report in your system can have its own Custom Referral Details Template
  3. Your organization can create two separate Custom Templates per call report, depending on the features enabled in your system:
    1. one template to use when sending referrals by email (this is only supported in contact records upgraded to report V5), and
    2. one template to use when sending referrals by text or when using the 'Refer to Chat' tool in a Messaging conversation
    3. note, you may want these templates to differ slightly from each other since there are character limits for text messages, but no character limits for emails
  4. You can choose to include Agency, Site, and Program level fields in the Custom Templates
    1. if your organization saves referrals to the Program level, currently the only Agency level field supported for inclusion is 'Name'; if your organization wishes to include additional Agency level fields, ask the Support Team for additional information
  5. Custom Templates can include labels in front of any data (see below for examples)
  6. Custom Templates created to use with the 'Send Referrals by Email' feature can include HTML formatting
  7. Only one custom template can be created to 'Send Referrals by Text' and 'Refer to Chat', and a separate custom template can be created to 'Send Referrals by Email'; you may wish to do this because there are character limits for text messages that don't exist for emails
  8. If you’re creating a template to use with the ‘Send referrals by email’ feature, after the template is finalized you'll need to 'Edit the Template Used for Sending Referrals by Email' and add an '@Referral' placeholder to that template to indicate where you want the 'Custom Referral Details Template' information populated within that basic template

To modify your Referral Details Custom Templates

Contact iCarol Support by submitting a case through your Help menu. In your request make sure to include the following:
  1. The name of the Call Report(s) you would like the Custom Template to be used for
  2. Specify if the template should be used: (a) when sending referrals by email, or (b) when sending referrals by text and when using the 'Refer to Chat' feature
  3. Use the template and example below to specify: resource field names to include in the template, resource level where each field is entered, and labels you wish to include for any fields; keep the following points in mind when creating your Custom Referral Details Templates:
    1. create the template in Word or another program that allows you to use HTML formatting tools; do not create the template in the body of the message/email of your support case response because any formatting (ex. bold, colors, etc.) is removed from the body of your message
    2. the bold text in the template and example below is used to identify the labels and punctuation you wish to appear before or after the referral data; the text will not appear in bold when the referral information is populated and sent to the help seeker when using the ‘Refer to Chat’ and ‘Send referrals by SMS/Text’ features; *the text can appear bold and formatted further when using the ‘Send referrals by email’ feature
      1. *there is currently a known issue where HTML formatting (ex. bold text) isn't being respected when using the 'Send referrals by email' feature, so HTML formatting can be included in your template, but won't be respected until this issue is addressed
    3. include each field on a separate line and keep the labels bold, like in the template and example below; this will help clearly identify which fields, levels, and labels you wish to use
Sample Custom Referral Details Template that you can use to create your own template
The 'A', ‘S’, and ‘P’ in parenthesis (A = Agency, S = Site, and P = Program) after the field name indicates the level each field is pulled from: 
  1. “Name” (P) offered by "Name" (A);
  2. Provides the following services: “Description” (P);
  3. Eligibility requirements: “Eligibility” (P);
  4. Program Hours: “Hours” (P);
  5. Call for more information: “Phone Numbers” (S);
  6. Services are provided at: “Name” (S),
  7. “Location” (S);
  8. Site Hours: “Hours” (S)
Here is an example of how this template would auto-populates information when a referral is made to a program-record:
DEMO Domestic Violence Counseling Program offered by DEMO Autumn Creek Counseling;
Provides the following services: Facilitates domestic violence programs to help those that have experienced abuse. Various programs are available to help victims deal with abuse. Participants of programs are also connected with support groups. Child care is available to participants for their sessions and during support groups to help them take the most advantage of counseling;
Eligibility requirements: Must have referral from Domestic Violence shelter for DV counseling programs.;
Program Hours: Times and dates for programs are disclosed to participants only; Call for more information: 317-291-6360;
Services are provided at: DEMO Autumn Creek Counseling,
3500 Lafayette Rd. Suite 401, Dansville, NY 14437;
Site Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-6pm; Sat 9am-1pm. Closed Noon-1pm for lunch.
Important Notes about Admin Tools Settings When Site Level Information is Included in a Custom Referral Details Template
If your organization has chosen to include Site level information in your template, then you must have the setting 'Add the selected Site name to the Program's name in the Referrals made in a Call Report' enabled; this setting is found in Admin Tools on the Resources tab under the Referrals section

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