Sending a Message

From the Secure Messages screen, you can send a new message.

  1. In the Secure Messages screen, tap the Compose icon at the top right of the screen.

    If message templates have been created for your environment, the New Text screen appears.

    Note: To skip this screen, tap and hold the Compose icon.

    For details on creating a message using a message template, see Using a Template.

  2. Tap New Text to create a new message without a template. The Select User / Group screen appears.

    Note: This is the screen that appears if no message templates have been created for your environment.
  3. Filter the recipient list using one of the following options, available at the top left of the screen:
    • Favorites: Show favorites only.

    • Contacts: Show all contacts.

  4. In the Search field, type the first few characters of the name of the contact to which you want to send a message. Each character you type performs an incremental search displaying a list of closest matching contacts.

    Details on the contact's current status are provided below the contact's name and title. These include the following:

    • The contact's availability status, corresponding to the colored ring around the user's photo or initials. This is one of Available, Do Not Disturb, or Not Available. For Do Not Disturb, the current status indicates whether calls, messages, or both or are not being let through.
    • Messages Forwarding indicates that messages to this contact are being forwarded to another contact.
    • Off Campus indicates that the contact is available but is not on the corporate network. An example of this is when the contact is logged into the VMP Web Console.
    Note: If a message recipient is having messages forwarded to another contact, that contact is automatically added to the list of recipients when the message is sent.

    If you are in the Favorites screen and the contact is an individual user, the color of the ring around the contact's photo or initials indicates the contact's availability:

    • Green: The contact is available.
    • Yellow: The contact is in Do Not Disturb mode for voice, text, or both.
    • Red: The contact is unavailable.

    Groups and distribution lists have a gray ring.

  5. Tap on a contact name to include the contact in the message. If the contact is an individual user, the colored dot next to the contact indicates whether the contact is available. The colors are identical to those used in the Favorites screen:
    • Green: The contact is available.
    • Yellow: The contact is in Do Not Disturb mode for voice, text, or both.
    • Red: The contact is unavailable.

    For groups and distribution lists, the dot next to the contact is gray.

    To remove a contact from the message, tap the contact name in the To field to select it and tap the backspace key. If you have selected a contact for removal, tap the space bar to cancel the remove operation and continue with the message.

  6. To add additional contacts, from the New Secure Message screen, tap Add Contact.

    You can also type the start of a contact name. A list of matching contents then appears. From this list, you can select the contact that you want to add.

  7. In the Subject field, type the subject of the message.
  8. If your system administrator has implemented the Engage patient context adapter, you can add a link to information on a specific patient to the message. See Real-time Situational Awareness for details. To add patient information:
    1. Tap the Tap to attach patient info link. The Select Patient screen appears.

      If no patient information is available, this link does not appear.

    2. Tap My Patients to see a list of patients assigned to you, or tap All Patients to view a list of all patients for which information is available.
    3. Type text in the search field to limit the patient list to patients whose name matches your search text.
    4. Tap on the patient whose information you want to add.

    A link to the patient information is now displayed in the message.

  9. For additional message options, tap More.

    Additional options appear:

    Tap Close to hide the additional options.

  10. Do one of the following:
    1. To send a text message, type in the text box.

      To specify a priority for your message, tap More to display the additional options, and then tap Priority. In the Priority screen, select one of Normal, High, or Urgent. The following table lists the notifications sent for each priority:

      Priority Notifications
      Normal Single ring and vibration
      High Multiple rings and vibrations
      Urgent Multiple rings (overriding the phone's volume and mute settings) and vibrations

      Tap Send to send the message.

      Important: On some devices, messages sent with Urgent priority may be spoken out loud to some recipients. Sending confidential patient health information with this priority may violate privacy regulations.
      Note: If you send a message to a badge, the badge user is automatically asked whether to respond to the message on the badge or whether to call you.
    2. To send a picture, tap Attach Media. From the menu that appears, select the attachment operation that you want to perform. The available options are:
      • Select Picture
      • Take Picture

      Tap Cancel to cancel sending the picture.

      Note: When attaching or creating a picture, the Vocera Collaboration Suite uses the photo interface provided by your device.
    3. To request a specific response from the recipients of your message, tap More to display the additional options, and then tap Responses. This displays a separate screen on which you can create a message that requires a response. See Requesting a Response for more details.
Note: If the message is not sent successfully, Vocera Collaboration Suite will attempt to resend the message for two minutes before giving up.