Managing Notification

Your library can send a variety of notices to patrons, staff, and third-party vendors. Polaris Administration settings determine which types of notices are automatically generated and how they are delivered. You can customize many notice elements in Polaris Administration, and use Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor) to customize notice text. In addition, because notices are generated with Polaris Reports, you can customize the standard Polaris notice formats and any system-generated information using Report Manager and Visual Studio.net. If your library uses a third party service for notices, you can export certain notices directly to the vendor.

You can set up notification options at the system, library, or branch level that specify the kinds of notices used, the library that generates the notices, the delivery methods, notice intervals, language, and other options. Additional Polaris Administration settings specify how long to keep notification history in patrons' records.

Based on the notification options your library has set, the patrons and items that should be included in the next notification cycle are identified and the notices are queued. When the next notification cycle runs, the notices in the queue are sent according to the specified delivery method. Once notices are generated, the notice queue is cleared and the process begins again.

You can track notifications using notification reports.

The following types of notices can be generated in Polaris:

• Overdue, Missing Part, Combined Notices and Bills
• Request Pick-Up, Second Pick-Up, and Canceled Request Notices
• Fine Notices
• Reminder Notices
• Serial Claiming Notices

Notices can be generated and sent in the following ways:

• Mail
• Email
• Text message
• Phone

This section covers the following topics:

• The Notification Library

  The notification library is the library responsible for producing and sending the notice and whose return address ordinarily appears on the notice. (If notices are generated for all libraries or branches from a central location, you can specify a central processing branch return address instead.) For overdue, bill, and fine notices, you can designate the patron’s branch, the item’s branch, or the lending branch as the notification library. This setting determines how patrons and items are identified for notification, based on the settings of the designated notification library.

  For example, the notification library setting affects which patrons should receive overdue notices in these ways:

  • Notification library is patron’s library - If the patron’s record includes one or more overdue items, and if the patron’s registered branch is the notification library, a notice is generated from the patron’s library for all the overdue items, regardless of the items’ assigned branches or where the items were checked out.
  • Notification library is item’s library - If the patron’s record includes one or more overdue items having an assigned branch that is the notification library, a notice is generated from the item’s assigned branch for those items. A patron can receive more than one overdue notice from different branches, each notice listing different items.
  • Notification library is lending library - If the patron’s record includes one or more overdue items having a lending branch that is the notification library, a notice is generated from the lending branch for those items. A patron can receive more than one overdue notice from different branches if the overdue items were checked out at different branches.

  It is also possible for branches to set the notification library for bills so that a patron can receive two bills for the same item. You may want to avoid this situation by coordinating the bill notification library settings among branches, even if you allow a patron to receive more than one overdue notice from different branches.

  Example:
  Library A sets the overdue notification library to loaning branch. That is, they send overdue notices to borrowers transacting at Library A. Library B sets the overdue notification library to patron’s branch. That is, they send overdue notices to Library B patrons. If a Library B patron borrows an item from Library A, and the item goes overdue, the patron gets an overdue notice from Library A and Library B. The Library B notice includes the overdue items transacted at Library A as well as any other overdue items the patron may have. If Library A and Library B set their notification library for bills in the same way, the patron may receive two bills for the same item.

  You can avoid the potential confusion of duplicate bills if all branches use the same setting for the bill notification library. However, even if the settings allow the patron to receive two bills for the same item, the patron’s account is charged only once. In this case, the Organization column in the Patron Status workform - Account view indicates System for the bill, rather than Library A or Library B.

  Bills are triggered when the specified number of overdue notices have been sent. If the notification library for overdues is different from the notification library for bills, it is possible that a patron will not receive a bill at all. To prevent this situation, libraries should coordinate their settings.

  Example:
  Library A sets the overdue notification library to loaning branch. That is, they send overdue notices to borrowers transacting at Library A. Library B sets the overdue notification library to patron’s branch. That is, they send overdue notices to Library B patrons. If a Library B patron borrows an item from Library A, and the item goes overdue, the patron gets an overdue notice from Library A and Library B. The Library B notice includes the overdue items transacted at Library A as well as any other overdue items the patron may have. If Library A and Library B set their notification library for bills in the same way, the patron may receive two bills for the same item.

• Notification History

  A staff member can view a patron’s notification history from the Patron Status workform - General view and the Patron Registration workform - Status view. Staff members can open or print a patron’s notices from this view, or link to the related item records for overdue, bill, overdue reminder, and hold notices. The illustration shows a sample Patron Status workform.

  Entries are retained in the notification history for periods you specify with two Polaris Administration Notification parameters, available at the system, library, or branch level:

  • Notice history: hold notices time threshold - Controls how long pick-up and canceled hold notices are kept in the notice history. The default setting is 90 days; the maximum value is 9,999 days.
  • Notice history: item and account notices time threshold - Controls how long overdue, fine, bill, and reminder notices are kept in the notice history. The default setting is 90 days; the maximum value is 9,999 days.

  An entry is kept in the notification history if it falls within the specified period of time, the related item is checked out, claimed or lost by the current patron, and current charges are not resolved. The entry is kept under these circumstances even if the related item is purged or deleted from the database; in this case, the title is prefixed by [DELETED].

  Note:
  Additional text message notices, which are sent in addition to another method, do not appear in the patron’s notification history. For example, if both a printed notice and an additional text message notice are sent for an item, only the printed notice appears in the notification history.

  Calculating the Number of Days to Keep the Notice History

  The number of days to keep the notice history is counted from the date following the notice through and including the number of days you specify in Polaris Administration. The notice is then cleared from the history during overnight processing.

  Example:
  The Notice history: hold notices time threshold parameter is set to 10. A hold notice was generated on the 1st day of the month. The notice history will be cleared on the 12th when the overnight process runs after midnight, counting from the 2nd of the month (the date following the date the notice was generated) through the 11th.

• Notice Delivery Methods

  You can specify the delivery method for most notices as print, email, text message to mobile phone, phone (if you use outbound telephony software), or patron preference (print, email, phone, text message). Patron preference is set up during patron registration, when the patron selects a preferred delivery method for notices. The setting is available in the Notification option box on the Patron Registration workform Addresses view.

  Note:
  If the Notification option is set to None in a patron’s record, that patron will receive no notices at all.

  Also, you can optionally send text messages to patrons’ mobile phones in addition to print, email, or voice phone notification. A patron will receive the additional text message only if the Additional TXT notice option is selected in the patron record, the TXT box is selected for Phone 1, Phone 2, or Phone 3, and a carrier is specified for that phone number. If a patron registers or updates account information online through Polaris PowerPAC and supplies a phone number for text messages and a carrier, this option is automatically selected.

  If you select a delivery method for a particular kind of notice other than patron preference, the method you specify overrides the patron preference if the methods do not match.

  Example:
  A library decides to send overdue notices according to patron preference, but to send bills only as print notices. A patron who has specified a preferred delivery method of email receives overdue notices by email, but receives a bill as a printed notice.

  There are certain exceptions. If the delivery method is email or phone, but Polaris detects an email failure or a phone failure, Polaris generates a printed notice. (For more information about email failures, see Email Failure Detection). Also, if the delivery method is patron preference, and the patron’s preference is changed, notices are not duplicated. This means that if a notice is delivered by one method and then the patron record is changed to a different delivery method, Polaris does not deliver the same notice again by the new method.

  Hold Notice Processing for Email and Text Message Notices

  A separate SQL job, Hold Notice Processing, processes email and text message (SMS) first and second hold notices separately from print notices and phone notices. Designed to run multiple times per day, the job runs every four hours from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM by default. See Polaris SQL Jobs Reference.

  With this method, email and text message notices are not sent in the early morning when the print notification job runs. Patrons can receive their notices sooner because the notification can be scheduled to be more closely timed with your library’s workflow for filling the requests. If your library has self-pickup for requested materials and you stock the shelves at certain times during the day, you can time the notices to go out near the time the items will be ready for pickup.

  Delivery Methods for Serial Claim Notices

  For serial claim notices, you can specify a delivery method of print, email, or supplier preference. The supplier preference method is indicated in the supplier record. If you select a delivery method other than supplier preference, the method you specify overrides the supplier preference if the methods do not match.

• Notification Language

  If you have purchased the appropriate licenses for Polaris PowerPAC, you can send print and email notices in English and the licensed languages. Multilingual phone notification is available by separate license. Once set up, a patron receives notices in the licensed language if the Language field in the Patron Registration workform is set to that language.

  If a multilingual license is purchased, the option is available at the system, library, and branch levels. Because branches can determine a notification library for each notice type, a notice may be generated for any patron from nearly any branch (see The Notification Library). If the patron designates a preference for notices in Spanish, for example, the patron might receive some notices in Spanish and others in English depending on how the notification library option is set. For example, if the option is set to Lending branch, some branches may have enabled Spanish notices and others not. If the notifying library has enabled Spanish notices, the notice is sent in Spanish. For system-wide consistent results, you will need to coordinate branch settings.

  Polaris provides default English and multilingual text (if licensed) and support that text in the standard formats.

  Notes:
  Language options do not apply to exported notices. Text messaging does not support Unicode, so text message notices in languages with diacritics are not rendered accurately.

• Customizing Notice Text with Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor)

  You can customize the text of both English and multilingual notices in Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor.) You can add or customize language strings at the system, library, and branch levels. Branch settings override library settings; settings made at the library level override system-level settings.

  You need the Polaris permission WebAdmin access: Allow to use the WebAdmin. In Polaris Administration, this permission is available at the system level under the System Administration security node. For more information about setting Polaris permissions, see Granting Permissions.

  To access WebAdmin, open your browser and navigate to the site where WebAdmin is installed. You must supply your Polaris username, password, and domain to log in to WebAdmin. For detailed information about using the Language Editor, select the WebAdmin Help tab.

• Exporting Notices to LX Starter

  Note:
  Contact Innovative to inquire about LX Starter.

  The Library Experience (LX) Starter package provides an intuitive, web-based interface for your library to design and email automated circulation notices. LX Starter includes professionally designed email templates, which you can customize using a visual email editor. For example, you can add custom branding, free stock photos, and cover images for items in your collection.

  LX Starter integrates seamlessly with Polaris. Your library selects which notice types to send using LX Starter. Once enabled, Polaris uses your existing notice jobs to transfer notices to LX Starter, where they are sent based on the schedule your library defines.

  LX Starter works with the following types of notices:

  • Overdue notices
  • Request pick-up notices
  • Bill notices
  • Fine notices
  • Almost overdue/Auto-renew reminder notices

  For more information, see the LX Starter Administration help.

• Exporting Notices to a Third-Party Notification Service

  You can set up notification in Polaris Administration to export both print and phone notices to a third-party service. If your library has a contract with a service such as Unique Management Services (UMS) to send printed notices, you can export overdue, bill, fine, request pick-up, and request cancellation notices directly to the vendor. You can export notices at the system or library level.

  Important:
  Contact your Polaris Site Manager if you need assistance updating your export configuration.

  The following information from the patron record is included in the exported notices file:

  • Last name, first name, middle name, title, suffix
  • Patron barcode
  • Patron code description
  • Registered branch name
  • Address for notices and bills (if none has been defined, the home address is used; if there is no home address, the first available address is used)
  • Phone numbers
  • Email addresses, primary and alternate
  • Preferred language

  The following additional information is included for each notice type:

  • Overdue notices and bill - Item title, author, material type, barcode, due date, check-out location, check-out date, and overdue notice number. Bills also include any replacement cost, processing fee, overdue fine, and the patron account balance.
  • Fine notices - Fee reason, author, title, call number, check-out date, amount, patron’s account balance, patron’s last activity date.

  Note:
  If the charge is not linked to any item, the item data fields are blank.

  • Request pick-up notices - Item title, author, material type, barcode, date held, held until date (unclaimed date), pickup branch ID, pickup branch name.
  • Request cancellation notices - Item title; item author; item material type (item-level request only); item barcode (item-level request only); request creation date; cancellation reason.

  Tip:
  If the patron record is set to receive notices by email, print, or text message, or if the notice type is set for email or print only, these notices are sent as designated and are not exported.

  The vendor determines the notice text.

  Your library may have a contract to use TALKINGtech’s i-tiva for telephone notification. You can export overdue, fine, request pick-up, and request cancellation notices to i-tiva. TALKINGtech generates the telephone notices and sends an update back to Polaris via SIP (Standard Interchange Protocol), which updates the patrons’ notification history. If a telephone notice fails, Polaris sends the notice in print. Polaris supports TALKINGtech’s Format B and Format C. Format B is the default setting. If your library uses Format C and you upgrade Polaris, you must specify Format C with a command line parameter in the Notice Processing Job. Contact your Polaris Site Manager for assistance.

  Exporting Text Messages to i-tiva

  You can export text messages for patrons without carrier information to the i-tiva SMS service. The text messages are exported to a notice file report that is sent to i-tiva for processing, and i-tiva then sends back a success notice after each text message goes out. The incoming success notice updates notification information in the patron record.

  1. Select the Export checkbox for this option.
  2. Complete the Txt Message export section to provide the FTP Server URI, Username, and Password for where the notice file report will be exported.
     
     
     
     When the Export option is selected, a warning note about disabling text receipts is displayed. Select OK to close the message.
     
     

  Unspecified is an option in the carrier list in Leap, the staff client, and PowerPac. Carrier information is required for patrons with a Notification preference of Txt Message. When the Export Txt Message option is selected, Unspecified is the default carrier when the patron has selected a text message phone number but has not selected a carrier.

• Notification Statistical Reports

  Polaris offers two reports that track notification statistics—the Notification Summary and the Notification Detail Report. To access these reports, select Utilities > Reports and Notices on the Polaris shortcut bar, and select the Notices folder.

  The reports offer statistics for print, email, and phone notices by language, and summarize and compare statistics across three fiscal years.

  Notification Summary Report

  This report summarizes the total number of print, email, and phone notices produced by fiscal year and notification language, and provides comparative statistics for the two previous fiscal years. The report also includes a summary total of all notices produced by language. Success and failure statistics are included for email and telephone notices as well. You can filter this report by branch, and set the fiscal year by ending month. (Because telephone notices run at the server level, they are not included if you choose to filter the report by a branch.)

  Notification Detail Report

  This report provides detailed statistics on the number of notices produced by notification method and notice type, each with a separate count by language. You can filter this report by branch, and set the fiscal year by ending month. (Because telephone notices run at the server level, they are not included if you choose to filter the report by a branch.)

  Note:
  In the Notification Detail Report, combined notice statistics are reported as individual notice types. For example, a combined notice that includes an overdue notice and a hold request pick-up notice is reported twice -- once as an overdue notice and once as a hold request pick-up notice.