Communications, System Messages & Templates

Communications brings together RTObase-defined System Messages, reusable templates, and delivery History.

Access required

Choose the task you are doing. Each row is a separate action.

Opening a compose dialog from a student or enrolment also needs View access to that record. A force retry can send a duplicate and requires Email, SMS and notifications: Manage.

Accessing Communications

Open Communications. The section has three pages: System Messages, Templates, and History.

Configuration and History: Email, SMS and notifications: Manage is required, whether held by an administrator or a custom role.

Creating a template

Editing a template

Click any template row to open its detail page. From there:

1. Click Edit to open the edit sheet
2. Modify any fields (name, channel, category, subject, body)
3. Click Save to apply changes

To delete a template, click Delete in the bottom-left of the edit sheet and confirm.

Template types

Templates are labelled as Custom or Transactional:

• Custom: Templates you create for ad-hoc use (batch emails, manual sends)
• System: Seeded templates used by System Messages, including magic links and enrolment confirmations

Use the Type and Channel filters to narrow the template list.

Customise an email before sending

When reviewing saved messages, select an eligible email and choose Customise this email to change its subject and body for this send only. This needs Email, SMS and notifications: Edit. Insert only the merge tags offered for that message, then choose Use this email to update its preview. Select the email and choose Send selected when it is ready. Use the template restores the saved wording. SMS and calendar invitations keep their configured wording.

Choose Edit template when the change should apply to future messages too. This needs Email, SMS and notifications: Manage. Saving the template refreshes the review so you can check the new wording before sending.

Email settings

The Templates page also lets you configure:

Click Preview Email Layout to see how your emails look with your current branding, logo, and footer.

SMS templates

Set the Channel filter to SMS to create, edit, search, and filter SMS templates.

Who the message comes from

Outbound SMS is sent from the registered RTObase sender ID, so recipients see a named sender rather than an unknown phone number. Because the sender is a registered name and not a number:

• Every message body starts with your organisation's name (for example Acme Training:) so the recipient knows which RTO it is from. You do not need to add your own signature, and the segment counter already includes this prefix.
• Recipients cannot reply. SMS in RTObase is one-way; the composer and the SMS Log both say that replies are not monitored. Ask recipients to respond by email, phone or the student portal instead.

Batch SMS compose

When sending SMS from a class or enrolment list, the compose dialog includes:

• Recipient count: Shows how many students have phone numbers, with a count of students missing phone numbers in amber (e.g., "12 students with phone numbers (3 missing phone)")
• Merge tag resolution: Merge tags in your message are resolved per student with their individual data (name, class, course, etc.)
• Per-student preview: Expand the preview section to see each student's resolved message with their segment count and character length. Since merge tags resolve to different lengths per student, segment counts may vary.
• Cost estimate: The segment calculator shows the worst-case (longest) message length for cost estimation

System Messages

System Messages controls RTObase-defined messages sent after a product event or at a scheduled point in the learner journey. Organisations can configure existing messages and customise their seeded templates. New message rules cannot be created.

Staff send and resend buttons are disabled while the relevant message channel is off. Administrators see a link to turn it on; staff are directed to an administrator. Completion-document resends remain available when an enabled channel can reach the learner using their saved email address or mobile number. If no message can be queued, RTObase explains what needs checking. Failed bulk email requests appear in delivery history for each recipient.

Pause all System Messages

A member with Email, SMS and notifications: Manage can turn on Pause all System Messages at the top of this page and confirm the pause. It stops System Message emails and SMS, including queued messages when they become due. Sign-in links still send.

Messages skipped during the pause stay skipped when messages resume. Resend any messages that recipients still need.

Form Requests, Third Party Reports and the Standards sign-off reminders follow these controls. Form Request emails use the selected template and an Open form button. The template can include {{contact.name}} and {{form.expires_at}}. If a new request cannot be sent, RTObase withdraws it instead of leaving a request that its recipient never received.

Choosing messages during staff actions

Staff create, edit, assessment-review, issuance and employer-decision actions save first. An optional review then shows the saved recipients, email subject, full email or SMS and relevant calendar invitations. Every message starts unselected. Preview and select each email, SMS or calendar invitation individually, then choose Send selected. Clicking a message's row, such as its channel or address, ticks it and shows its preview. A message already sent only shows its preview. Choose Finish without sending to keep the saved changes without a message. Closing the review also sends nothing. Retrying a failed send does not repeat the saved action.

Booking saves keep payment requests unsent. Review a new retest request alongside the booking notices when offered, or use Payments to create a request and review its saved payer, amount and delivery channels. Notes-only booking edits finish without a notification review. Staff and trainer invitations also save before their optional email review.

Sending is unavailable when System Messages are paused, its usable channels are off, its template is missing, or its recipient has no contact details for the enabled channels. SMS needs a supported plan and an Australian mobile number. A preview failure keeps the saved record and lets you refresh the preview or finish without sending.

Session calendar invitations

Session Calendar Invitations sends one calendar event per upcoming booking or class session. It is enabled by default and has its own email switch and editable template. Turn it off in System Messages if your organisation does not want calendar emails. No invitation response is recorded as attendance.

After a booking, class, enrolment or learner change is saved, the optional review offers the relevant calendar changes separately from ordinary email and SMS. Select the learner's calendar choice to publish the saved timetable. Finishing without sending leaves their earlier calendar intact, including when a staff action cancels or archives a booking. Hard deletion still cancels an event that can no longer be reviewed.

Calendar invitations do not wait for the learner to complete the skills check. They still follow the organisation pause, enabled message, linked template and saved email address. They appear in History and use the usual delivery retry handling. Attendance marks and trainer-only class changes send no calendar email. Dates without a confirmed time are offered only for future days.

The email includes the readable full schedule and a calendar invitation file. Calendar apps decide how to display or add it, based on the learner's settings. Reschedules and cancellations refer to the same event.

Event messages

Trainer schedule changes

Trainer Schedule Changed is listed under Trainers and staff. Its email is on by default. Edit its template or turn it off like other System Messages.

RTObase collects changes the office makes to a trainer's upcoming class days and booked sessions: assigning the trainer, taking them off, rescheduling, moving to another site and cancelling. Ten minutes after the first change, the trainer gets one email listing each affected session. A change to a session starting within two hours goes out once edits have been quiet for two minutes. Changes the trainer makes themselves are left out, and so is a session assigned and removed again before the email goes.

Scheduled messages

Each System Message shows:

• Email: Whether email is enabled and which template is linked
• SMS: Whether SMS is enabled and which template is linked

Editing an event message

Editing a scheduled message

Open System Messages, find the message under Scheduled messages, then click the message row. You can:

• Pause or activate the message
• Change the timing offsets
• Choose email or SMS and select a compatible template

RTObase keeps the message's eligibility rules and recipient routing fixed. This prevents a compliance reminder from being changed into a different workflow by accident.

History

History combines scheduled and event-based System Messages, authentication messages, and direct-send delivery records. Safe provider rejections can be queued for retry.

An SMS with ambiguous provider acceptance is blocked from ordinary retry because sending it again may create a duplicate. A member with Email, SMS and notifications: Manage can use Force retry only when RTObase has no provider message ID, after confirming that duplicate delivery is possible. The forced action is recorded in the audit history. Secure authentication messages, including sign-in links, cannot be replayed.

Using merge tags

Templates support merge tags, placeholders surrounded by double curly braces that are replaced with real data when the message is sent.

Student category tags include organisation details ({{org.name}}, {{org.portal_url}}) and student details ({{student.first_name}}, {{student.last_name}}, {{student.email}}, {{student.usi}}, etc.).

Enrolment category tags include all student tags plus enrolment details ({{enrolment.completion_status}}, {{enrolment.payment_status}}, {{enrolment.parchment_number}}, {{enrolment.parchment_date}}), class details ({{class.name}}, {{class.start_date}}, {{class.end_date}}, {{class.start_time}}, {{class.end_time}}), location details ({{location.name}}, {{location.address}}), and course details ({{course.program_id}}, {{course.program_name}}).

Click a tag badge in the merge tag picker to insert it at your cursor position.

Email compose dialog

When composing an email from any entity page (student, enrolment, or class), the compose dialog includes:

• Template selection: Choose from your custom and transactional templates, filtered by the appropriate category
• Merge tag preview: Tags in the subject and body are resolved per-recipient before sending
• Confirmation dialog: A confirmation prompt appears before sending, showing the recipient count and asking you to confirm

Batch emails (class view)

When sending from a class, the compose dialog shows a recipient checklist:

• Select/deselect individual students: Check or uncheck each student
• Archived students: Students who are archived or have withdrawn enrolments appear greyed out and are unchecked by default
• Secondary emails: If a student has a secondary email address (from their contact records), it appears as an additional unchecked option below their primary email. Secondary emails are not selected by default, check them explicitly to include them
• Select all / Deselect all: Quickly toggle all recipients including secondary emails

Single-recipient emails (student/enrolment view)

When sending from a student or enrolment page:

• The primary email is pre-filled in the recipient field
• If the student has a secondary email in their contact records, it appears as an optional checkbox below the primary email (unchecked by default)
• When checked, a separate email is sent to the secondary address with the same content

Viewing sent messages

Email logs

Navigate to Email Logs in the sidebar. Click any row to open a detail dialog showing:

• Recipient, subject, and email type
• Delivery status timeline (Sent → Delivered → Opened → Clicked)
• The full rendered message body

SMS logs

Navigate to SMS Logs in the sidebar. The log lists every SMS your organisation has sent; replies are not monitored, so there is no inbound direction to filter by. Click any row to open a detail dialog showing:

• Phone number and message type
• Delivery status and timestamps
• The full message body

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