Notification System

This page is intended to discuss the design of evergreens notification system. If you do _not_ have a wiki account, but would like to contribute, feel free to leave comments in the User Comments link (at the top of the page and open to anybody) or send an e-mail to the -dev list.

Open-ILS-Dev list discussion.

• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2006-December/000178.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2006-December/000179.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2006-December/000180.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2006-December/000192.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2006-December/000193.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2006-December/000194.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2006-December/000196.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2007-January/000204.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2007-January/000247.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2007-January/000248.html
• http://list.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2007-January/000249.html

Possible events where patron notification may be desired.

• Checkouts - Digital receipt type functionality
• Checkins - Digital receipt, those that want to know that the library really received their returned items.
• Renewal - Digital receipt.
• Almost Due - Reminder service, configurable by number of days/hours before item is due.
• Due
• Overdue (1st , 2nd, Nth overdue)
• Billed (1st, 2nd, Nth Bill)
• Customer Record Expired - or about to expire. Tied into online renewal form. "Please renew so your access to Library services are not interrupted"
• Item placed on hold - Digital receipt. Daily summary.
• Item available for pickup.
• Item available on shelf - Notify when hold placed on item that is at a customers library. Item is available on shelf, you can pick it up at any time.
• Item no longer available on shelf - Notify when item is no longer available on shelf, customer will be notified again when it is available.
• Hold Fulfillment issue - Item not being filled in a timely manner, suggest trying an alternative format.
• Hold canceled - Hold has been canceled for various reasons.
• Item Recalled - someone more important than you needs this item :)
• Fines Owed, over a certain amount(customer preference or Libraries)
• New item by watched author, series, search - might duplicate rss feeds.
• Customer Record Changed (Account Added=>Welcome Message, Account Expired=>Notification)
• Fines or Bills paid
• Notification method failed(Send email if SMS failed "We tried to text you, but we had a problem, please make sure we have your correct information".)
• Staff Placed email, both on individual patrons, and for groups of patrons.
• Item being mailed to customer, if library supports that method.
• Account Information change - Change in account information, address change, email change, etc.
• Stored balance change - if customer has a stored balance on their account.

Possible forms of notification.

Current Forms:

• Postal Mail - Postcards, secure mailers, press and seal.
• Email (basic and enhanced) - Much can be learned from Library Elf.
• Instant Message/ Blackberry Gateway (email gateway) - Shorter messages, handle replies in an intelligent manner.
• Automated Phone - Post on open-ils-dev http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2008-February/002443.html
• Staff Initiated Phone (Management for calls that staff place to coordinate the whole process, get a busy signal, mark it down and the notice will come up again in a couple hours, number out of service, mark the notice as undeliverable, flags the phone number as bad, tries to send a print notice instead…. etc)
• SMS (email gateway) - Because SMS messages usually cost the receiver money, there should be a way to set limits on the number of notifications sent this way. Notices also must be formated for a limited number of characters.
• Exchange Calendar Appointments/ Google Calendar / Scalix Calendar / Etc. (Email gateway) Automatically add due dates to customers calendar when they check something out. Automatically add other Library events and schedules. Add an event for the time period that a customer has to pick up their holds, etc.
• RSS Feeds
• Third Party Notification/Clone notification (Registrars Office, Department Supervisor, Library Elf(Push updates to them), CRM Systems, Collections Agencies, Library Staff, External Calling System).

The system should be be flexible on how the ordering of notification methods is handled. Per Org Unit settings, Per Patron Type, Per Notification Trigger type, Per Notification Method.