Survey Solutions can send email notifications to the respondents to the web
surveys (CAWI). These notifications can be configured at the web interview
setup page: Menu → Survey Setup → Questionnaires →
YourQuestionnaire → Web interview setup.
Survey Solutions server automatically determines, which notifications need to be sent out to the respondents. Every hour the notifications of the type marked with ^ in the table below are sent out, if a bulk email service provider has been set up.
Notification emails may mention some of the text substitutions, which will be replaced with appropriate texts by Survey Solutions. They are mentioned in the descriptions below.
| Notification message | Message description |
|---|---|
| Invitation | An invitation message is sent to invite a respondent to participate in the survey. It contains a link that the respondent will follow to start an interview. The invitation message may mention %SURVEYNAME%, which will be automatically replaced with the name of the survey. The invitation message is sent out when the HQ chooses to Send invitations. (Click on the survey, select Send invitations from the context menu). If the bulk email service provider is not set, the links to web interviews can be downloaded in a form of a file from the Survey Solutions server, and custom invitations generated and send in an external system. |
| Resume | A resume message is sent to the respondents to deliver a message containing a link that the respondent will follow to resume an interview if his/her session is disrupted for any reason. The message may mention %SURVEYNAME%, which will be automatically replaced with the name of the survey. The resume message is sent out when the respondent specifies his/her email and a bulk email sender is configured, and the admin of the Survey Solutions server opts to allow such messages by setting the Web Interview Email Notifications flag in the server settings. |
| No response^ | A no response message is sent to the respondents if they haven't started a survey interview. This reminder message is sent after a certain period of time after the invitation was sent out if the respondent hasn't started the interview yet. The exact duration of time for the reminder is regulated by the Send reminder to people with no response parameter at the web interview setup page. The message may mention %SURVEYNAME%, which will be automatically replaced with the name of the survey. The message is sent automatically if the bulk email sender has been configured. |
| Partial response^ | This notification message is sent to the respondents that have started but haven't completed a survey interview yet after a certain period of time. The exact duration of time for the reminder is regulated by the Send reminder to people with a partial response parameter at the web interview setup page. The message may mention %SURVEYNAME%, which will be automatically replaced with the name of the survey. The message is sent automatically if the bulk email sender has been configured. |
| Reject^ | This notification message is sent to the respondents whos interviews have been rejected by survey supervisors. The respondent is invited to make corrections based on the supervisor's comments/feedback. The message may mention %SURVEYNAME%, which will be automatically replaced with the name of the survey. The message is sent automatically if the bulk email sender has been configured. |
| Complete | This notification message is sent to the respondents who has completed an interview immediately when they complete it. The message may mention %SURVEYNAME%, which will be automatically replaced with the name of the survey. It may also mention in %-% signs any variable name from the main interview level (not inside of any roster) of a type supported in text substitutions, such as for example, %address% the value of which will be automatically substituted with a value entered by the respondent in the interview. For the categorical single select questions the default survey language is used for the text label corresponding to the selected answer regardless which language was used by the respondent at the time of the interview. The date and timestamp answers are written using an invariant date format. In the rare occasion when a question with variable name specifically SURVEYNAME is defined in an interview, the text substitution %SURVEYNAME% is resolved to the name of the survey, not the value of this variable. Optionally, the variable name may be suffixed with :barcode or :qrcode, such as for example: %product:barcode% or %checksum:qrcode%. Then the value of the corresponding variable will be rendered as a barcode or a qrcode respectively. For linear barcodes the code 128 standard is used. For 2-dimensional qrcodes the QR-code standard is used. The message is sent automatically on completion of an interview if the bulk email sender has been configured and the flag Send email after web interview completion has been set. Otherwise it is not sent. Optionally, a transcript of answers to interview questions can be attached to this message if the flag Attach Pdf transcript is set. |
The templates for each survey can be specified in only one language. If invitations/notifications for a survey need to be sent out in different languages, such survey must be split into two (or more) Survey Solutions surveys and email templates for them configured separately.
Notification message structure
Each notification message consists of multiple blocks:
| Message block | Block description |
|---|---|
| - Subject | This is the email subject line that the respondent will see in his/her inbox when the notification message arrives. |
| - Main text | This is the notification's message main text that the respondent will see when he/she opens the notification message. |
| - Description for password | Block describing to the participant that a password must be used to access the interview. This block is only utilized if the access to interview is protected with a password. |
| - Start interview button | Specific text appearing on the button to start the interview. |