Scheduling Messages for Future Delivery

When the appropriate fields are completed on a Message Systems record, a user can specify that the message system send bulk messages at a future date or time within the Aptify Messaging dialog. When a user specifies a future date and time for delivery, Aptify creates a Scheduled Tasks record that fires a process flow which sends the messages at the appointed time. This topic include the following:

• Configuring Message Scheduling
• About the Schedule Messaging Process

Configuring Message Scheduling

To support this functionality, an administrator must configure the Scheduling options for the applicable Message Systems used by the organization. Follow these steps:

1. Open a Message Systems record.
2. Select the Scheduling tab.
3. Enter an application server that will send the messages marked for future delivery in the Application Server field.
4. Enter Remote Scheduler in the Scheduled Task Service field.
   • You can also use Windows Scheduler as the Scheduled Task Service but in this case, all users who attempt to schedule messages for future delivery must have the necessary permissions on the Application Server to create Windows Scheduled Tasks.
5. With Remote Scheduler, all users can schedule messages for future delivery, regardless of their permission level (since the Application Server user will create the Windows Scheduled Task).
6. Enter a category in the Scheduled Task Category field. This is the category that will be assigned to the Scheduled Tasks records created to track the future delivery of messages.
7. Enter a Job Account Name for the Scheduled Task. This is the Aptify user account that will run the Scheduled Task to create a Process Flow Runs record.
8. Enter a Job Account Password for the Scheduled Task. This is the password of the specified Job Account user.
   • See Managing Scheduled Tasks for more information on these fields related to the Scheduled Tasks functionality.
      
9. In the standard Aptify installation, the Job Account Password is encrypted using the Generic Entity Encryption Key. By default, the sa user and members of the Accounting, Administrators, or Users group have access to this key. Only users who have access to the key can enter a value in this field. Also, any user who will use Remote Scheduling also needs access rights to this key in order save the scheduled message's corresponding Scheduled Tasks record.
   
   
   
   • Depending on the security model that your organization has implemented, you may want to create a new key to encrypt this field and allow only designated users access to that key. This is the recommended approach but you should use the same key to encrypt this field that you use to encrypt the Default Job Account Password field in the Application Servers entity. See Installing an Application Server for more information on this field.
   • The Default Job Account Password is used by the View Scheduling feature. See Enabling View Scheduling for more details.
   • See Enabling Field Level Encryption for more information on field level encryption.

   • Users who will use remote scheduling also need access to the Security Key that encrypts the Scheduled Tasks entity's Job Account Password field. See Creating a Scheduled Task for more information on this field.
     

     You must specify a Job Account Name and Job Account Password to enable delayed message delivery (even if the Application Server has a default Job Account Name and Password already configured).

      

10. Save and close the Message Systems record.

About the Schedule Messaging Process

The following is an overview of the schedule messaging process:

1. User creates a bulk message in the Aptify Messaging dialog and specifies a future date and time for delivery. The user clicks the Send Messages button.
2. Aptify creates a Scheduled Tasks record that stores the information about the message.
   • This Scheduled Task uses the Remote Scheduler service (since not all users will have the appropriate permissions to create Windows Scheduled Tasks on the Application Server).
      
3. The Remote Scheduler service creates a Process Flow Runs record to change the Scheduled Task's service from Remote Scheduler to Windows Scheduler.
4. The Application Server executes the Process Flow Run and updates the Scheduled Task's service to Windows Scheduler. This generates a Windows Scheduled Task on the Application Server that send the email message at the appropriate date and time specified by the user.
   • Since the Application Server's user account modifies the Scheduled Tasks record, that user account, which should already have the necessary permissions, creates the Windows Scheduled Task in lieu of the user who originally saved the view.
      
5. At the specified date and time, the Scheduled Task creates a Process Flow Runs record to send the email.
6. The assigned Application Server executes the Process Flow Runs record and sends the email message.