CMS utilizes several internal processing rules and triggers to generate outbound SMS text messages to various claim contacts during the life of the claim.   Delivery of most text messages is automated using preconfigured system SMS Text Messaging templates (similar to ClickClaims’ System Email templates) and requires no additional actions by the CMS user.   Additionally, manual text messages can be generated out of CMS by authorized users at the claim level to parties who have opted in to receive texts from ClickClaims.

Managing Phone Number for Text Messaging:

Outbound text message notifications can be sent to any contact affiliated with the claim once they’ve opted in to receive claim alerts from the ClickClaims CMS application.  Once a valid phone number is entered into the contact/user record and flagged for text messaging, a “Welcome” text message is automatically sent to the party where they can choose to “opt-in”, which subscribes their number to begin receiving claim alerts, or “opt-out”, to unsubscribe, by simply replying to the text.   

IMPORTANT: The FCC requires your company to obtain express written consent from the recipient as the first step in the opt-in process for outbound text messages. It is the responsibility of your company to obtain and track this consent. The second part of the opt-in process required by the FCC is provided in ClickClaims as outlined below.  ClickClaims does not prevent the recipient from starting the opt-in process that's specified below without written consent.

IMPORTANT: By default, text messages are sent out between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM Eastern so that recipients do not receive them during inconvenient hours.  If a message is triggered outside of these ho held in a queue until that time.  However, this timeframe can be modified if requested by an authorized person at your company.

1. To subscribe a user/contact phone number to receive text message notifications, navigate into the user/contact record:
   1. User Record: By default, users associated to the “Owner”, “Administrator”, or “Human Resources” user roles can access user records from the “Users” menu bar button.  Once in the record, select the “Contact Information” tab to access the “Phone Numbers” section.

1. NOTE:  When the “Display EDIT PROFILE Link for All Users” site setting is enabled in ClickClaims from Application Settings by a site administrator, users can manage their own phone numbers via the “Edit Profile” link, located within the blue page header, and select the phone number on which they prefer to receive text message notifications. 
2. NOTE:  Users may be excluded from the SMS Text Messaging functionality depending on your company’s preferred workflow.  Please check with your manager or site administrator if you are not certain of your company’s protocol regarding text messaging for users.

b. Contact Record:  Contact records can be managed by authorized users via the “Contacts” menu bar button or from the “Summary” tab located within the claim record.

i. From the “Contacts” menu bar button, search for and view the desired contact record to access the “Phone Numbers” section.

2. Next, from the “Phone Numbers” section, check the  checkbox next to the phone number record on which the user/contact wishes to receive texts. 

3. Click the page’s “Save” button to retain the change.

4. The initial “Welcome” text message will automatically trigger to the selected phone number and “Pending” will then display next to the phone number record in all applicable areas of CMS while awaiting their response.

1. The recipient will receive the “Welcome” SMS text message like the screenshot below.
   1. The message header, the sender phone number, message text and footer will vary based on the SMS Text Messaging feature’s configuration for your ClickClaims CMS site.

b. If the recipient chooses to continue receiving claim alert notifications from ClickClaims (opt in), they must reply to the message with YES.

1. For additional information, they may reply with HELP.
2. Once the recipient responds with YES, they will receive a confirmation text message notifying them that they’re now subscribed to receive claim alerts as (shown in the screenshot below) and  will display next to the phone number record again in all applicable areas.

c. The recipient may unsubscribe (opt out) from text messaging at any time by replying to the designated phone number with STOP.

1. If the recipient responds with STOP, they will receive one last text message notifying them that they have been successfully unsubscribed.

ii. “Opted Out” will display next to the contact’s applicable phone number record in all applicable areas of ClickClaims.

1. A phone number that has previously opted out may subscribe again at any time by replying to the designated phone number with START.
   1. Mouse over the  icon located next to “Opted Out” to display a tooltip containing this information and the phone number.

5. To manually resend the “Welcome” text message to an opted in phone number, ensure that the checkbox is selected next to the desired phone number record.

a. If sending to a different number, ensure to save the change to the  checkbox using the CMS page’s “Save” button before proceeding to the next step.

6. Once the desired number is selected and saved, click the  icon, located within the “Phone Numbers” section, to trigger the “Welcome” text message again.

1. NOTE:  This icon is not available while working within the contact record from the claim’s “Contacts/Claimants” tab.
2. NOTE: A phone number must be opted in to resend the “Welcome” text message.  If there is no opted in number, the  icon will be disabled.  
   1. Mouse over the disabled  icon to display a tooltip stating why the icon is inaccessible.

7. Instructions for opting back in to receive text messages can be sent to the contact’s primary email address by clicking on the  icon within the contact’s “Phone Numbers” section.

1. NOTE:  This icon is not available while working within the contact record from the claim’s “Contacts/Claimants” tab.
2. NOTE: The contact’s record must contain an email address and a phone number must be opted out before instructions to opt back in to receive text messages can be sent to the contact’s primary email address.  If there is no opted out number and/or if no primary email address has been entered in the contact’s record, the  icon will be disabled.
   1. Mouse over the disabled  icon to display a tooltip stating why the icon is inaccessible.

“Users” and “Contacts”:

Sending a Text Message

Outbound text message notifications can be manually or automatically generated at the claim level to notify a contact of important information regarding the claim.  Manually generated text messages can be created from the claim’s “Summary”, “Policy”, “Dates”, “Billing”, or “Review” tab at any point during the life of the claim and sent to any number of potential users and/or contacts.  Automated system text messages are triggered at a pre-defined point in the life of the claim when a specific event occurs and are sent to predetermined stakeholders of the claim, such as the insured and/or the assigned adjuster.  

Manually Send a SMS Text Message:

1. Navigate to the “Summary”, “Policy”, “Dates”, “Billing”, or “Review” tab of the desired claim record.
2. Click on the  button to display a list of available manual text message options from which to choose. 
   1. This action is available to all users with access to the claim unless the “Read-Only Access” special permission setting is enabled within the user record.
      1. NOTE:  This is an optional feature.  If your company’s workflow does not include manually generated text messaging, the  button will not display.   Please check with your manager or site administrator if you are not certain of your company’s protocol.

c. The “Reserve Needed” option is a pre-configured text message containing a default message and recipient (assigned Adjuster).  The availability of this option is dependent upon your site configuration.  Please contact your manager with any questions about this option.

i. IMPORTANT: Site administrators, this option uses text message template “SMS-1002 – Reserve Needed” which is marked as “Active” by default. (See the “Automated System SMS Text Message” section below.)

1. The name and availability of these options will vary based on your site configuration.  Please contact your manager with any questions about these options.
2. IMPORTANT: Site administrators, these options use text message templates “SMS-Generic-Text-01” – “SMS-Generic-Text-10” which are not “Active” by default. (See the “Automated System SMS Text Message” section below.)  
   1. When available, mouse over the name from the  button to display a tooltip containing additional information/instructions about this text message option based on the configuration by a site administrator.

1. The user/contact record will display within this list if:
   1. Their record includes an opted in phone number.
      1. If they are a contact/user affiliated with this claim, but their record doesn’t contain an opted in phone number, it will not be listed here.
   2. Their record is active (user).
   3. They are currently affiliated with the claim as a contact on the claim’s “Contacts/Claimants” tab.  These records will be sorted to the top of the list and highlighted in yellow.
   4. Their user account is associated to at least 1 of the following user roles (these records will display in alphabetical order following the claim’s affiliated contacts):
      1. Owner
      2. Administrator
      3. Company Examiner
      4. Claims Supervisor
      5. Team Lead
      6. File Reviewer
      7. Accounting
      8. Human Resources
      9. Sales and Marketing
      10. Custom Service

5. Check the box next to the contact(s) to whom you wish to send the text message.

6. Then click  to close the “Opted-In Phone Numbers” window and return to the “Send Text Message” window.   The opted in phone number of the contact(s) selected will be listed within the field beside the  button.

1. This is a read-only field.  Phone numbers cannot be manually entered here to ensure texts are only sent to contacts who have authorized the receipt of claim alert text messages from ClickClaims.

7. The small READ-ONLY field located between the  button and the large textbox will display a header if one is configured in CMS based on your company’s required workflow.  The header is typically comprised of the company’s name or acronym and a claim specific value, such as the Claim #, and will display as a prefix to the text found in the larger textbox.  If not configured in CMS, this field will be blank.

8. Enter/modify the text for the message within the large textbox provided.

1. If a pre-configured manual text message option was selected, the template’s default text will display in the textbox.  
2. If the text entered contains 124 characters or less, it will be sent as a single text.  Text exceeding this will be separated into multiple texts.  
   1. This number may vary depending on your company’s configuration of this feature.
3. A character count is provided beneath the textbox.
4. The maximum message length (415 by default) also displays beneath the textbox.  Once met, the textbox will no longer accept the entry of additional characters. 
   1. The maximum text message length can vary based on your company’s configuration of this feature.  Please contact your manager with any questions about the maximum length allowance.
   2. IMPORTANT:  Site administrator, if the site’s maximum number of characters is reduced after the initial configuration of this feature, any text message template containing a character length exceeding this new limit must be modified from the “Manage System SMS Text Messaging Templates” page to prevent validation issues caused by the message’s text exceeding the revised limit.   (See the “Automated System SMS Text Message” section below.)

10. An activity note will be automatically created on the claim’s “Notes” tab, within the “System” note type and “Text Message” sub-type, to log that the text message was generated.

1. Applicable to both manual and automated text messages.

Automated System SMS Text Message:

Automated outbound text message notifications are generated from a library of standard templates that have been preconditioned to trigger when a specific action occurs within each claim.   While each template has been pre-configured, a site administrator (a user associated to the “Owner” or “Administrator” user role) has the authority to customize aspects of these templates to reflect your company’s needs. 

Default Text Message Templates:

Managing System SMS Text Message Templates:

1. From the “Manage System SMS Text Messaging Templates” page, highlight the desired template and click the  button to be redirected into the “Body” tab of the template.
2. The small, READ-ONLY field located directly above the large textbox will display a header (typically containing the company’s name or acronym) if one is configured in CMS based on your company’s required workflow.  If not configured in CMS, this field will be blank.
3. Enter the preferred text within the “Body” tab’s textbox incorporating replacement fields as desired.
   1. Messages containing up to 124 characters will be sent as a single text.  Longer messages will be separated into multiple texts.
   2. To insert replacement field tokens into the message, place your cursor into the desired area of the textbox and then double-click on the preferred token from the “Replacement Fields” section.  When the text message is generated to the recipient(s), the value located within the claim’s equivalent field will automatically populate.
      1. A character count is provided beneath the textbox.
         1. The character count does not account for replacement fields since those values can vary from claim to claim.
      2. The maximum message length (415 by default) also displays beneath the textbox.  Once met, the textbox will no longer accept the entry of additional characters. 
         1. The maximum length may have been customized by your company during the configuration of this feature.
            1. IMPORTANT:  If the site’s maximum number of characters is reduced after the initial configuration of this feature, any text message template containing a character length exceeding this new limit must be modified by a site administrator from the “Manage System SMS Text Messaging Templates” page to prevent validation issues caused by the message’s text exceeding the revised limit.

1. Name:  The SMS Text Message template’s name (read-only).
2. Friendly Name: A required field available only for templates “SMS-Generic-Text-01” – “SMS-Generic-Text-10” and “SMS-1002 – Reserve Needed”.  The value in this field displays within the drop-list of the  button (located on the claim’s “Summary”, “Policy”, “Billing”, “Dates”, and “Review” tabs) only when the template is active, allowing users to choose the template to manually generate the text message as needed.   

d. Recipients: A system text message can be configured to send to one or more of the claim’s contacts (insured and/or stakeholders). Simply select the checkbox for the role(s) to whom the text message should be automatically sent when generated.  For templates “SMS-Generic-Text-01” – “SMS-Generic-Text-10” and “SMS-1002 – Reserve Needed”, the “To” field of the “Send Text Message” window will autofill with these default recipients if populated in the template, or this field can be left blank allowing the user to manually select the desired recipient(s) upon creation of the text message.

e. Active:  If checked, the text message will be generated and sent to the recipient(s) when the applicable trigger point occurs within the claim.  If checked for templates “SMS-Generic-Text-01” – “SMS-Generic-Text-10” and “SMS-1002 – Reserve Needed”, the template will display within the claim  button’s drop-list allowing users to select the template to manually trigger the text message as needed. 

5. Click the  button to retain any changes made to the template or click the  icon to return to the “Manage System Text Messages” page without saving. 

6. When an automated system text message is generated on the claim, such as template “SMS-26 – Adjuster Notification of File Reassignment”, an activity note is automatically created on the claim’s “Notes” tab within the “System” note type and “Text Message” sub-type capturing the activity.

Related Videos/Articles

• SMS Text Messaging Training Course
  
• SMS Text Messaging Configuring Contacts Video Tutorial
• SMS Text Messaging Configuring Users Video Tutorial
• Sending Text Messages Video Tutorial
• Managing Text Message Templates Video Tutorial