Sending a Message Using a Template

Message templates enable you to send emergency messages quickly, as the text and recipients are defined for you in the VMP Administrator.

  1. Open the VMP Web Console from your Web browser.
  2. Select the Message tab.
  3. Click the Compose icon.

    The New Secure Message screen appears.

  4. Select the message template from the list of templates. If you have defined a large number of templates, type text in the template search field to display only the templates that match your search text. If you are looking for a template with a long name, expand the New Secure Text pane to view it.

    The message template appears.

  5. Your template may already have specified default recipients for your message. To add one or more additional message recipients, either type the recipient name in the To: field, or click the Add Recipient icon to select a Distribution List or user recipient.
    Note: If a recipient is having messages forwarded to another contact, that contact is automatically added to the list of recipients when the message is sent.
  6. If you have clicked the Add Recipient icon, the Select Recipients dialog box appears. Select the Favorites tab to display favorites only, or select the Contacts tab to display all contacts.
    Note: See Using Web Console Favorites for more information on creating favorites.
  7. Select the checkboxes of the users and Distribution Lists to include as recipients:

    Click > to add a recipient.

    Click < to remove a recipient.
    Click << to remove all recipients.

  8. In the Subject field, type or edit the message subject if it is needed. The message template may have provided this text for you.
  9. To attach patient information to this message:
    1. Click the Click to attach patient info link. The Select Patient dialog box appears:

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

    2. Click My Patients to view your patient list only, or click All Patients to view a list of all available patients.
    3. Type text in the search field to limit the patient list to patients whose name matches your search text.
    4. Select the patient whose information you want to attach to this message.
    5. Click OK to close the Select Patient dialog box.
  10. In the Message field, type or edit the message text. The message template may have provided this text for you.
  11. Below the Message field, your system administrator may have created additional fields in which you can provide information. One or more of these fields may be required. Contact your system administrator for more details.
  12. To specify an expiration time in minutes for your message, click one of the buttons in the Conversation Expiration row:
    • Never, which indicates that the message never expires (this is the default setting)
    • 2 min
    • 5 min
    • 10 min
    • Custom

    If you click Custom, a field appears in which you can specify the number of minutes before the message expires:

  13. Select the Do not deliver to off campus users checkbox if this message is to be delivered only to users who are on-campus. This ensures that emergency messages are sent only to those people who can immediately respond to them.
  14. Configure the following options.
    Option Description
    Priority

    One of the following:

    • Normal (the default)
    • High
    • Urgent

    See Sending a Message from the VMP Web Console for details on how these priority levels are handled in the VCS app.

    Important: On some devices, messages sent with High or Urgent priority may be spoken out loud to some recipients. Sending confidential patient health information with either of these priorities may violate privacy regulations.
    Notify if no one has responded

    Select this checkbox if you want to be notified when no one has responded within the number of minutes that you specify in the text field. If no one responds to this message during this time period, the Notify Me icon is displayed in the message link:

    • If you are logged onto a Vocera badge, the notification is sent as a message on the badge.
    • If you are logged into a badge and on to the Vocera Collaboration Suite, a tone notification is sent to the badge, and the Notify Me icon is displayed in the message link.
    • If you are logged into a badge and on to the VMP Web Console, a tone notification is sent to the badge, and the Notify Me icon is displayed in the message link.
    Response Expiration

    Specify the time period, in minutes, in which responses to this message are allowed. This time period is indicated on the sent message. Select Custom to specify a time period.

    Response Options

    If the communication requires a response, set multiple choice options to help the recipient respond quickly. When you type an option, a new field appears to enable you to type an additional option if necessary. To delete an option that you have created, click the Delete icon:

    .

  15. Click Send to send the message, or click Cancel to return to the message interface described in Sending a Message from the VMP Web Console.