The Automated Contact List feature is a customization option that allows you to send scheduled dashboards and reports to specific contacts and companies without selecting multiple recipient email addresses. It eliminates the inconvenience of manually updating the list when a new contact is added or removed from your Professional Services Automation (PSA) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. This article provides instructions on how to use the Automated Contact List feature when sending reports.
What are the functions of the Automated Contact List?
The Automated Contact List connects to a widget where users can set conditions that recognize data like full name, email address, company name, and contact type to help you send reports to targeted audiences. This feature addresses needs such as the following:
- Sending email to a dynamic contact list, constantly changing due to set conditions
- Excluding email addresses and company names that should not receive the report
- Preventing sending dashboards without data
- Discontinue sending reports to inactive users or members
- Send reports to the leaders of the company
Required integrations, permissions, and prerequisites
The Automated Contact List is only available when creating a scheduled dashboard or report with a company slicer and widgets with a contact list tag.
You can set up dashboards and reports for all MSPbots apps, BI packages, and applicable integrations. Only users with admin permissions can create dashboards and reports. If you don't have enough permissions, contact your administrator for help.
How to use Automated Contact List to send my report to a custom list
Follow these steps:
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Create a scheduled report. Refer to How to Create Scheduled Reporting for Dashboards and Reports for instructions.
Ensure that your dashboard has a company slicer and the widgets have a contact list tag.
- Enable the Automated Contact List switch.
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Next, select a widget from the Contact List dropdown menu. Choose a custom widget or select from the templates.
Once you have selected a contact list widget, it will display the total number of contacts within that widget, indicating how many times this report will be sent. For instance, "60 contacts in list" means that 60 reports will be generated and sent to the corresponding 60 recipients for each schedule.
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After you've selected a widget, click the Edit icon to open the Widget Builder and further customize the widget's settings and conditions. See How to Create a Contact List Widget.
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Next, go to the To field and select one or more tokens. This selection will send the report to the email addresses that meet the conditions set in the widget in Step 4.
You can also manually enter email addresses in the To, CC, or BCC field to send this report to recipients like internal company personnel.
For example, if you want to send the report to the individuals in the Default Email column of the Contact List widget then send a copy to abc@mspbots.ai and a blind copy to an internal recipient like def@mspbots.ai, for example, select Default Email in the To field, then type abc@mspbots.ai in the CC field and def@mspbots.ai in the BCC field.
- Select Company Name from the Contact Company Name dropdown menu. This will filter the widget's data according to the recipient's company.
- Customize the subject to include the company name. To customize your email's subject automatically per recipient, click the token icon and select {{Company Name}}.
- Next, type your message and add a custom greeting. To customize your greeting automatically per recipient, click the token icon for the message and select {{Full Name}}.
- To send the report in a customized PDF attachment, scroll down to the Attachment section and select the Include PDF attachment checkbox. Selecting the {{Company Name}} token in Step 8 will automatically add the company name to the report's filename.
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Click Save when done. Your report will be sent to the recipients based on the widget settings and the specified schedule. Below is an example of an email sent to a recipient in the Automated Contact List. Notice how the token selection customized the email subject, message, and attached report.
How to Create a Contact List Widget
The following example involves sending a report to the decision-makers in a company using ConnectWise Manage. For the creation process, see Creating a Grid Widget.
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Navigate to Widgets on the MSPbots app menu and click New Widget.
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Choose the Grid widget type on the New Widget window.
- When the Widget Builder window opens, go to the Basic Setting tab. Provide name, description, role, and tag, then click Apply.
Don't forget to add Contact List in the Tag option so that the widget will appear in the Contact List list of Schedule Report.
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For Dataset
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Go to Dataset on the Widget Builder. Click the Add button, then select New Layer to open the Dataset window.
- Select ConnectWise Manage / ConnectWise Manage Contact Data from the Dataset dropdown menu.
- Under Columns Display, add columns for full_name, default_email, contact_type, and company_name as shown below.
- Then go to the Filter section and add a condition with the parameters contact_type > Equals > Decision Maker.
- Click Save when done.
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Go to Dataset on the Widget Builder. Click the Add button, then select New Layer to open the Dataset window.
- To modify the settings in the Config tab, you can see Creating a Grid Widget for instructions.
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Click Apply to keep the settings.
The image below is an example of the contact list that applies the filters.