Operations
Alerts, announcements and messages in one place: the Message center
In facility teams, communication is scattered across e-mail, SMS and chat groups. EnaFeedback's Message center brings system alerts, announcements and person-to-person messages into a single inbox.
A facility sends a lot of messages in a day:
- A cleaning supervisor gets an alert when the second-floor restroom receives a low hygiene rating.
- A staff member whose check-in is still open gets a reminder.
- Visitors see an announcement while the lift is under maintenance.
- A shift lead writes to a cleaner: "Could you check the C block entrance?"
These messages usually end up in different places: some in e-mail, some in SMS, some in chat groups nobody archives. EnaFeedback's Message center collects all of them in a single, e-mail-like inbox. This post covers what lands where, who can send what to whom, and how messages are delivered.
Four kinds of message, one inbox
The Message center puts every message into one of four categories, which also work as filters in the inbox.
| Category | Comes from | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Alert | The system | An alert rule fired, a location you follow has a new rating, your check-in is still open |
| Announcement | An admin, to an audience | "Block B restrooms are closed for renovation on Saturday" |
| Message | One person to another | A short note from a shift lead to a cleaner, with the reply |
| System | Account and transactional messages | Welcome message, invitation, security code, request status for visitors |
The inbox uses familiar folders: Inbox, Starred, Archive, Sent, Drafts and Scheduled. Unread counts show per category. You can mark items unread, star, archive and search them.
The Message center works the same way in three places:
- the admin panel (bell icon and a full page);
- the staff web panel;
- the EnaFeedback mobile app, for admins and staff, from version 1.9.0.
Reports vs. messages
In EnaFeedback, a "report" is something a visitor or staff member sends in, such as a cleaning report or feedback. Everything the system or admins send out is a message: an alert, an announcement, a direct message or a system message. Keeping the two apart stops "my reports" and "my inbox" from getting mixed up.
Alerts are now stored and searchable
Alert rules and follows work as before. When a rule fires, an alert lands in the right person's Message center. If the rule includes them, the same alert also goes out by e-mail and SMS. The difference is that the alert now has a lasting record: a low-rating alert that came in overnight is waiting in the inbox in the morning, and you can star it to follow up.
Attendance reminders also land in the staff member's inbox as alerts, with two buttons: Check out and I'm still here. Staff answer with a single tap in the app or on the web panel. We cover how reminders work in digital attendance in hospitals.
Announcements: to an audience, on the right channel
Announcements are written by admins. Recipients can be:
- specific admins, admin roles or resolution teams;
- all staff, only cleaners, only controllers, or individual people;
- visitors: all locations or the locations you choose.
Before you press send, the audience preview shows how many people the announcement reaches and how many e-mails and SMS will go out. In-app delivery is always on. You add e-mail and SMS per announcement.
Each announcement gets a severity: Info, Important or Urgent. You can also:
- pin it to the top of the list;
- give it a visibility window (start and end);
- schedule it for later;
- keep an unfinished one as a draft.
If things change, for example the lift reopens early, you can take the announcement down before its end time. Our post on visitor announcements covers how they appear on QR pages and displays.
Messages: person to person, with replies
Messages don't get lost in groups; replies stay in the same conversation. Admins can write to users and staff and forward a message to someone else. Staff can write to their managers and colleagues and reply to messages they receive. Staff messages stay in the app, so personal phone numbers don't have to circulate in the team.
A message can carry up to 5 files of up to 15 MB each. Supported types are photos, PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TXT and CSV. Photos are shrunk automatically, converted to WebP, and stripped of EXIF data such as location. A "this sink is leaking" photo from a staff member uploads quickly and carries no needless personal data. Files that are uploaded but never sent are deleted automatically.
Who can send what?
Sending depends on three permissions:
| Permission | What it allows | Who has it by default |
|---|---|---|
| Send messages | Writing to people | All admin roles |
| Announcements and bulk sending | Announcements, sending to roles and audiences, messages to more than 20 people | Owner, admin, cleaning manager, page manager |
| External channels | Adding e-mail and SMS | Owner and admin |
This keeps SMS costs and visitor-facing announcements with a few authorised people, while everyday team messaging stays open to everyone.
How messages are delivered
Behind the scenes, each channel (in-app, e-mail and SMS) has its own queue. If a provider doesn't answer, the send is retried automatically with growing intervals. Every send shows in the delivery log: which channel, which provider, when, and with what result.
Two separate rules stop messages piling up at night:
- Admins can set their own SMS quiet hours. SMS alerts that arrive during that window are held and go out as a single summary SMS when it ends.
- Staff attendance SMS are not sent during the organisation's staff SMS quiet hours. The default window is 22:00–08:00 and can be changed in the attendance settings. In-app messages and e-mail still go out during those hours.
E-mail and SMS go through ENA's delivery gateway or through your own provider.
No push notifications yet
The mobile app refreshes unread counts about every minute. Push notifications on the phone's lock screen aren't available yet. For urgent matters, we recommend adding SMS to the announcement.
How long is data kept?
- Inbox copies are kept for 365 days; starred items are never removed.
- Message content in delivery records is cleared after 180 days. The record itself (status, time) stays.
- Sensitive content such as security codes is never stored in readable form, neither in the delivery log nor in the inbox.
- As with the rest of the product, all data stays in your organisation's own installation and database.
Frequently asked questions
What happened to the old "Announcements" page and "Alert center"?
Both are now part of the Message center. Announcements live in the Announcements category and alerts in the Alerts category. The old announcement severity called "Alert" is now "Important", so it doesn't clash with the alert category.
Do staff need to update the mobile app?
Yes. The Message center comes with version 1.9.0 of the mobile app and replaces the old "Alerts" screen. Once the server is updated, older versions can't show alerts, so make sure your team has updated the app.
Does the mobile app support drafts and scheduling?
In the mobile app you can write messages and announcements, attach photos, reply and (as an admin) forward. Drafts, scheduled sending and visibility windows are web-only for now.
Conclusion
When communication is scattered, the first thing lost is the answer to "who saw this, and when?" The Message center brings alerts, announcements and messages into one inbox, recorded and searchable, while channels and permissions stay under your control. See the alerts and notifications and field app pages for details, the Message center help pages for step-by-step use, or request a demo to try it in your own facility.