Reminder Notices

You can send email reminder notices to any qualifying patrons with a valid email address, regardless of the patrons’ preferred notification method, and optionally send an additional text message. If a patron's record does not contain an email address, but does contain a phone number and carrier for text messaging, reminder notices will be sent via text message. See: Setting Up E-mail Reminder Notices.

The following email reminder notices are available:

• Almost overdue notice/Auto-renew - A notice is sent a specified number of days before a patron’s item becomes overdue. If automatic renewals are enabled, and the patron has items out that were renewed, the notice also includes these items. The notice also lists other items that the patron currently has checked out. Polaris supplies the item title, call number, volume, due date, format, check-out branch, and number of renewals left for each item. When an Almost Overdue reminder notice is sent regarding an item, the date is recorded in the item record. The default setting in the Notification options parameter is to exclude integrated eContent titles in reminder notices, but your library can change this default setting.
• Patron record expiration notice - A notice is sent a specified number of days before a patron’s registration expires. The notice alerts the patron to contact the library. Polaris supplies the patron’s home address, telephone number, and email address for verification.
• Inactive patron notice - A notice is sent to a patron whose account has had no activity for a specified number of days. The notice advises the patron to visit the library or call to update the patron’s registration. Polaris supplies the patron’s home address, telephone number, and email address for verification.
• Missing part notice - A notice is sent to a patron if an item was checked in using the Special Item Check-in function, and the Missing part: block & notify option was selected.

Note:
The Last Activity Date field in the patron record tracks patron activity. It is updated in the following circumstances. Staff client: item check-out; renewal; quick-circ item check-out; a claim is made on an item. PAC: log-in to patron account; placing and modifying hold and ILL requests; online renewal; patron information updates; payments; access to remote databases that require log-in. Polaris ExpressCheck, SIP self-check units: check-out and renewal; patron account access; payments. Time and print management applications: log-in. Inbound telephony: Access account information and renew items.

Reminders are sent according to the settings for the patron’s registered branch (not the item’s assigned branch or the loaning branch).

Reminder notices are sent only once. The notice processing program runs daily so that reminder notices are not re-sent to the same patrons. You can modify the subject line and introductory text of all reminder notices using Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor). See Customizing Notice Text with Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor).

Reminder notices are not exported to outside vendors.