Sending a Message from the VMP Web Console

You can use the VMP Web Console to send a message to any user or Distribution List.

Note: If the message has more than 50 recipients, it is defined to be a Mass Notification. See About Mass Notifications for details.
  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 New Text to create a new message.

    You can also create a message using a message template. This enables you to send an emergency message quickly. For information on how to send a message using a template, see Sending a Message Using a Template.

  5. To add one or more message recipients, either type the recipient name in the To: field, or click the Add Recipient icon to select a Distribution List or user to add to the recipient list.

    As you type in the To: field, a list of all users and groups in your current site that match the text that you type are displayed in a popup window:

    This list includes all favorites that match your typed text, even if they are on a different site.

    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.

    When a message recipient is an individual user, the VMP Web Console indicates the user's availability. A green dot next to the user's name indicates that the user is available:

    An orange dot next to the user's name indicates that the user is available but is in Do Not Disturb mode.

    If a user is unavailable, the user's name is highlighted with a red background, and a banner indicates that the user is unavailable:

    If you are sending a message to multiple users, and one or more users are unavailable, the unavailable users are listed first.

  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. If your message has a subject, type the subject text in the Subject field.
  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. The message now contains a link to the patient information that you have selected.

      Note: If you have linked to patient information, and you have not specified a subject for your message, the VMP Web Console uses the patient name as the message subject.
  10. Click Priority to specify a priority for the message. Select one of Normal, High, or Urgent. The following table lists the notifications sent for each priority:
    Priority Notifications in VCS app
    Normal Single ring and vibration
    High Multiple rings and vibrations
    Urgent Multiple rings (overriding user's volume setting) and vibrations
    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.
  11. Do one of the following:
    1. To send a text message, type the message text in the field at the bottom of the screen and click Send.
    2. To send a photo, click Attach Media and select the image that you want to send.

      Attach Media is not available if you have disabled the Allow attaching pictures from a file configuration option in the VMP Administrator.

    3. To create a message that requires a response, click Responses. This displays the interface for sending a message that requires a response. See Sending a Message That Requires a Response for more details.