Custom templates for email and SMS

Custom templates will allow you to streamline your communication with your employees, whether by SMS or email, using templates will save you time. Next time you send an email or SMS to your employees, consider creating a template and saving it for future use to save yourself time!

Templates can be created at any time, allowing you to prepare communications in advance and personalise messages using tokens such as employee names.
 

To create a custom template:

1. Navigate to the main menu > Communication > Custom Templates. Here you will see a list of all your existing Custom templates available for use.
2. Select + New Template, and choose from:
   • Email

   • SMS (Only available for use if SMS is enabled on your platform)

     

3. Complete the following fields:
   • Template name - Provide a name for your template so it can be easily identified. 
   • 'Reply to' email address (email templates only) - Select an admin user's email address from the dropdown list. Any replies sent by employees will be directed to the selected email address and managed outside of foundU through your email service provider. 
   • Email subject - Enter the subject line for the email. This will be displayed to employees when they receive the email and should clearly indicate the purpose of the communication.
4. Personalise the email/SMS by selecting from available tokens. These will auto-populate with the correct data from your platform before your communication sends. Token choices include: 
   • + First name
   • + Last name
   • + Manager's full name
   • + Employee ID
   • + Employment type
   • + Operation
5. Fill in your email/ SMS content, while inserting the tokens in the appropriate areas in your content.
6. Add an attachment (email only) to your template. Select + Add Another to add multiple attachments.
7. Once you have reviewed the content you can Save template.

 Please note: Everyone has access to email templates, but you will only be able to use SMS templates if you have SMS enabled on your platform. This can be done from the Communication Settings page. 

You can access this page from 2 places:

• Navigate to the main menu > Communication > Communication Settings
• From Custom templates via the Settings cog (see below).

You may find you have Custom Email/SMS templates that are no longer of use to your business or may need a minor change to continue their active use.

You can edit and delete templates to keep your content in the Custom templates current and active.
 

Delete a custom template

If a template is no longer required, we recommend deleting it to keep your system clean and easy to maintain. Removing unused templates helps minimise confusion and ensures your team only selects from current, approved options when managing employees.
 

To delete a template:

1. Locate the template you wish to delete. Use the available filters to narrow your search by:
   • Entering the template name in the Search field.
   • Selecting SMS, Email, or All templates.
   • Choosing the admin who last edited the template.

2. Once you have located the template, select the ellipsis and then Delete.

   

3. Confirm that you would like to delete the template by selecting Delete, (this action cannot be undone) or Cancel to escape.

Edit a template

Editing a template allows you to keep it current for your business! Consider editing to change the subject heading (email), alter the 'reply to email' or change content or attachments.

  Please note: A template's type cannot be changed after it has been created. If you need to convert an email template into an SMS template (or vice versa), you will need to create a new template with the desired type and delete the existing template.
 

To edit an existing template:

1. Locate the template you wish to delete. Use the available filters to narrow your search by:
   • Entering the template name in the Search field.
   • Selecting SMS, Email, or All templates.
   • Choosing the admin who last edited the template.

2. Once you have located the template, select the ellipsis and then Edit.

   

3. Make edits to the selected content. 
4. Once complete, Save the template.

Once you have created your email and SMS templates, you can use them to communicate with employees individually or in bulk. The method you choose will depend on the size of your audience, with options available to send messages to:

• An individual employee
• A selected group of employees using filters or tag groups
• All employees

There are several places within foundU where you can send email and SMS communications, including:

• An individual employee's profile
• The People working today dashboard card
• Any of the People menus

  Please note: These templates are designed for manual communications and are not triggered automatically by system actions such as approving shifts or leave requests.  To edit communications that are sent automatically based on system events, refer to Personalise your email and SMS message templates. 

When sending an existing email or SMS template, you can make changes before sending, including:

• Adding additional tokens to personalise the message
• Editing the template content
• Changing the Reply To email address for email communications
• Updating the email subject line (email templates only)

  Below, we will look at sending communications from the People menus. For instructions on the other methods for sending messages, please refer to here for emails and here for SMS.  
 

Sending a bulk email using a template

Sending a bulk email using a template helps ensure your communication is consistent, professional, and aligned with your business messaging.
 

To send a bulk email to a group of employees, you'll follow the below process:

1. Select your group of people to send the email to.
2. Bulk or single send via Bulk Actions.
3. Apply the Template, edit as needed including adding more tokens, changing the reply to email, and adding more written content, and Send.

Follow along in the GIF below to see a demonstration of an email being sent in bulk to 2 recently terminated employees. We have also included the Exit Interview attachment.

Sending a bulk SMS using a template

Sending a bulk SMS using a template allows you to deliver clear, consistent messages to multiple recipients quickly and efficiently.

  Please note: Attachments, such as PDFs or images, can only be included in emails, not in SMS.
 

To send a bulk SMS to a group of employees, you'll follow the below process:

1. Select your group of people to send the SMS to.
2. Bulk or single send via Bulk Actions.
3. Apply the Template, edit as needed including adding more tokens, and Send.

Follow the GIF below to see a demonstration of an SMS being sent in bulk to all our casual employees.