Work with alerts

Article
05/15/2018
14 minutes to read

Applies To: Dynamics Marketing

Important

Microsoft Dynamics Marketing has been discontinued and is no longer available. All customer data related to this product has been permanently deleted from all Microsoft servers and is no longer available for extraction. This documentation is being provided for historical purposes only.

You can set Microsoft Dynamics Marketing to send you alert emails when selected contacts perform flagged tasks, like registering for an event, opening an email, or visiting a landing page. These alerts can help you track customer behavior to nurture leads and foster engagement. You can also create alerts to let you know when certain internal actions occur in Dynamics Marketing (like when you are assigned a new task).

Email alerts often include a hyperlink that takes you directly to the item that is the subject of the alert.

Note

You will only receive alerts that you specifically sign up for. None are enabled by default.
You won’t receive alerts for your own actions. For example, if you change the status of one of your own tasks to completed, you won’t receive an alert even if you normally get task status change alerts. However, contacts on your team who have signed up for an alert will still receive one.
Only users and contacts who are configured with a valid email address in the system can receive alerts.
Marketing contacts can't receive alerts.
Only registered users can receive watch-list alerts, but staff, client, and vendor contacts can all receive internal (other) alerts, even if they aren't also registered users.
Landing page registration alerts are sent only for landing pages that are configured with their Create lead or interaction check box selected.

Set up alerts for yourself, other users, or contacts

Many different types of alerts are available. You can sign up for as many alerts as you want, but, by default, you won’t have any. Usually you will just work with your own alerts, but you can also add alerts to any contact in the database. Administrators can view and disable all alerts that are set up in the system. To work with alerts, do one of the following:

To create or remove an alert for yourself, click the Settings button on the navigation bar, and then select Alert Settings from the menu.
To create or remove an alert for another contact or user, find the target contact record under Marketing Execution for clients and vendors or under SETTINGS for staff contacts, and then go to the Alerts tab of the maintain-contact page. (Note that even though marketing contacts also show an Alerts tab, you can't assign alerts to them.)
To see a list of all alerts that are configured in the system and to enable or disable any of them, go to Settings > Administration > Alert Settings. Note, however, that you cannot create alerts for other users or contacts here; you can only view and disable or enable existing alerts.

In each case, you will now see a list of alerts that are currently set up for you or your selected contact. This list page includes many of the common controls for searching, sorting, adding, editing, copying, and removing records. (See also Learn how to work and get around in Microsoft Dynamics Marketing). You can also enable or disable alerts here by using the drop-down lists in the Status column.

When you add or edit an alert, the settings described in the following table are provided.

Setting	Description
Alert Name	Enter an internal name for the alert, which identifies the alert in the alert list. Tip You can’t search or filter watch-list alerts by contact or entity name. If you’re using these types of alerts, consider an Alert Name that indicates these values (as needed) so that you can search for the alerts that use them.
Status	Set to active or inactive. Only active alerts are sent.
Website visits, Email opened, Email link clicked, and Landing page registration	Click one of these tabs to set up an alert for the named action. These are watch-list alerts. For each of these actions, you must specify one or more entities (websites, email messages, or landing pages) and/or one or more contacts. You can also leave either the entity or the contact blank (but not both) to set up a wildcard. For example: A Landing page registration alert with Landing pages = “Sales event signup” and Contacts on watch list = “Contact A, Contact B” sends alerts only when Contact A and/or Contact B signs up for the sales event. A Landing page registration alert with Landing pages = “Sales event signup” and Contacts on watch list left blank (wildcard) sends an alert each time any contact signs up for the sales event. An Email link clicked alert with Contacts on watch list = “Contact A” and Emails on watch list left blank (wildcard) sends an alert each time Contact A clicks any email. You can’t create an alert if both the entity name and contact fields are blank. Important Using a Contacts on watch list wildcard may restrict your choices for the Alert Frequency. See the next table for details. Important Landing page registration alerts are only sent for landing pages that are configured with their Create lead or interaction check box selected. This feature is enabled by default when you create a new landing page, but it can be disabled. More information: Create and customize landing pages
Other	Click this tab to set up internal event alerts. These alert you to events that occur internally in Dynamics Marketing, such as changes to tasks or jobs assigned to you. Use the drop-down lists here to choose a type and then a specific event of that type. See the next section for a description of each alert type offered here.
Fields to be included	For website, email, and landing-page alerts, you can include related field values (such as email subject) together with your alert message, which makes the message easier to recognize and understand. This setting is not available for alerts of type Other.
Alert Frequency	Choose whether to receive watch-list alerts instantly or to receive a collection of alerts in a daily or weekly email. Internal (Other) alerts are always instant. Your site administrator can set the schedule by which daily and weekly alerts are sent (see Configure site settings). Important Using a Contacts on watch list wildcard may restrict your choices for the Alert Frequency. See the next table for details.
Email	Shows the email address to which the alert will be sent. If your contact record includes more than one email address, you can select one of them here.

As mentioned in the previous table, you can’t use instant alerts for some combinations of watch-list and Contacts on watch list wildcards. This prevents the system from flooding your inbox with alert messages. The following table summarizes available alert frequencies when you use Contacts on watch list wildcards. Entity name wildcards don’t restrict your alert frequency options.

Alert type	Alert frequencies available when “Contacts on watch list” is empty (triggered by all contacts)	Alert frequencies available when “Contacts on watch list” is not empty (triggered only by specified contacts)
Website visit	Daily, weekly	Instant, daily, weekly
Email Opened	Daily, weekly	Instant, daily, weekly
Email link clicked	Daily, weekly	Instant, daily, weekly
Landing page registration	Instant, daily, weekly	Instant, daily, weekly

As mentioned in the introduction to this topic, not all contacts can receive all types of alerts. The following table summarizes which alerts are available for different types of contacts and users.

Contact type	Can receive watch-list alerts (website, email, landing-page)	Can receive internal (other) alerts
Marketing contact	No	No
Client contact (not user)	No	Yes
Vendor contact (not user)	No	Yes
Staff contact (not user)	No	Yes
User (client, vendor or staff contact)	Yes	Yes

Internal alert types and events (“Other” triggers)

While some types of alerts let you know when contacts are interacting with your campaigns, internal alerts draw your attention to events that occur within Dynamics Marketing, such as changes to tasks or jobs that are assigned to you. Use the Other radio button on the maintain-alert page to set up an internal alert. Use the drop-down lists here to choose an Alert type and then a specific Alert event of that type. See the following table for a description of each of the various alerts offered here.

Alert type	Alert event	Description (addressed to the alert recipient)
Activity	Activity Reassigned	An activity that's assigned to you has been reassigned to someone else.
Activity	Activity Reminder	An activity that's assigned to you is overdue.
Activity	Activity Status Change	The status of an activity that's assigned to you has changed.
Activity	New Activity	A new activity has been assigned to you.
Approval	Approval Reminder	A request for your approval on an item is overdue.
Approval	Approval Request Complete	An approval request that you made has been processed by all the contacts it was assigned to.
Approval	Approval Status Change	The status of an approval request that's assigned to you has been changed.
Approval	Approval Status Changed by Reviewer	A reviewer has changed the status of an approval that you requested.
Approval	New Approval Comment	A reviewer has added a comment to an approval that you requested.
Approval	New Approval Request	A new approval request has been sent to you.
Campaign	Campaign start date overdue	Alerts all users on a campaign team when the campaign start date arrives, and when the campaign’s status is something other than completed, canceled, or active.
Campaign	Campaign Status Change	Alerts all users on a campaign team that the campaign’s status has changed.
Campaign	New Campaign	You have been added to a campaign team.
Component	Component Expired	A component assigned to you has expired.
Component	Component Out of Stock	A component assigned to you is out of stock.
Component	Component Request Status Change	The status of your component request has changed.
Component	New Component Request	Someone has submitted a new request for a component that's assigned to you.
Contact	Contact Reassigned	You have been added or removed as a contact for a team.
Contact	New Contact Assignment	You have been added as a contact for a team.
Contract	Contract Renewal Reminder	A contract that you are managing requires renewal.
Email Marketing	Email Canceled	You are on the team for a marketing email that was scheduled for delivery, but the delivery has been canceled.
Email Marketing	Email Delivered	You are on the team for a marketing email that has been delivered.
Email Marketing	Email Scheduled	You are on the team for a marketing email that has been scheduled for delivery.
Equipment	Equipment Request Status Change	The status of an equipment request where you are the Requested By contact has been changed.
Equipment	New Equipment Request	A new equipment request has been submitted for you.
Event	New Event	You have been added to an event team.
Event	Event Status Change	You are on the team whose status has changed.
File	File Status Change	You are on the Alerts/Subscribe list for a file that’s status has changed.
File	File Version Change	You are on the Alerts/Subscribe list for a file that’s version has changed.
Financial	Client Quote Confirm By Date Overdue	A client quote that's assigned to you is overdue for confirmation.
Financial	New Client Quote	A new client quote that includes items has been created and you are assigned in the Rep field.
Financial	New Invoice	A new invoice that includes items has been created and you are assigned in the Bill To field.
Financial	New PO	A new purchase order has been created and you are assigned in the Vendor field.
Financial	New RFQ	A new RFQ has been assigned to you.
Financial	RFQ Response Tendered	A response has been returned for an RFQ where you are the Requested By contact.
Financial	RFQ Tendered by All	All required parties have responded to an RFQ where you are the Requested By contact.
Financial	Vendor Quote Complete Date Overdue	A vendor quote where you are assigned as the Vendor contact requires a response and is overdue.
Financial	Vendor Quote Request For Quote	A vendor quote has been requested on your behalf.
Financial	Vendor Quote Tendered	A vendor has returned a quote for you.
Job	Job Overdue	You are on the team of a job that is now overdue.
Job	Job Start Date Overdue	You are on the team of a job that’s scheduled start date has passed, but its status is still Not Started.
Job	New Job	You have been added to the team for a job.
Job	Status Change	You are on the team for a job that’s status has changed.
Lead Management	Lead Reassigned	A lead that's assigned to you has now been assigned to another user.
Lead Management	Lead Status Change	A lead that's assigned by you has changed status.
Lead Management	New Lead	A new lead has been assigned to you.
Media	Social Media Message Send Failed	A social media message that you created and scheduled for future delivery has failed to send. (This alert is not sent when you post the message “now”; in this case, you will see an error message right away.)
Media	Social Media Message Sent	A social media message that you created and scheduled for future delivery has been sent successfully. (This alert is not sent when you post the message “now”.)
Note	New Company Note New Contact Note New Job Note	You are on the team for a company, contact, or job (respectively) for which a note has just been added. (However, if the note is marked for Internal Use Only, web portal users will not receive the alert.)
Note	New File Note	You are on the Alerts/Subscribe list for a file for which a note has just been added. (However, web portal users will not receive the alert if the note is marked for Internal Use Only.)
Note	New Reply	Somebody has replied to a note that you added to a company, contact, file, or job.
Program	New Program	You have been added to the team of a program.
Program	Program Start Date Overdue	Alerts all users on the team for a program when the start date has arrived and the program's status is something other than completed, canceled, or active.
Program	Program Status Change	You are on the team for a program that’s status has changed.
Project Request	New Project Request	A new project request has been created, and you are the Assigned To contact.
Project Request	Project Request Need By Date Missed	A project request where you are the Assigned To contact is overdue.
Project Request	Project Request Status Change	A project request that's associated with you has changed status.
Task	New Task	A new task has been assigned to you. Note Sometimes, newly-created tasks begin in an inactive state, in which case the new-task alert is first sent to the assigned-to contact when the task becomes active. For example, a job that has a sequence of tasks will initialize all but the first task with a status of Not Ready to Start. As each task is completed, the next task in sequence is automatically updated from Not Ready to Start to Not Started. By default, Not Ready to Start tasks are considered inactive, while Not Started tasks are active, so you would first be alerted when your task enters the Not Started state. Most organizations use the system in this way, but your administrator can change this behavior so that Not Ready to Start tasks are treated as active right away. More information: Configure site settings
Task	Task Assigned By Reminder	You are the Assigned By contact for a task that’s reminder date has passed and that’s status is neither completed, nor canceled.
Task	Task Assigned to Reminder	The reminder date for a task that's assigned to you has passed and the task’s status is neither completed nor canceled.
Task	Task Due Date Change	The due date has been changed for a task where you are the Assigned By or Assigned To contact.
Task	Task Overdue	The due date has passed for a task where you are the Assigned By or Assigned To contact. This alert is not sent for a task that's status is completed, canceled, in progress, or not ready to start. Nor is it sent for tasks that are linked to templates.
Task	Task Reassigned	A task that's assigned to you has now been assigned to another user.
Task	Task Start Date Overdue	The start date has passed for a task that's assigned to you. This alert is not sent for tasks whose status is completed, canceled, in progress, or not ready to start. Nor is it sent for tasks that are linked to templates.
Task	Task Status Change	A task where you are the Assigned To contact has changed status.
Travel	Travel Reminder	Reminds you of upcoming travel plans: the “reminder date” for a travel item has arrived.

Work with alerts

Set up alerts for yourself, other users, or contacts

Internal alert types and events (“Other” triggers)

See Also