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Workforce 'Communications'
Workforce 'Communications'

Understanding the new 'Communications' feature

Bridget O'Hare avatar
Written by Bridget O'Hare
Updated over a week ago

Deliver important messages and announcements to your team in less time using the Communications feature.

How it works

Communications is a messaging tool for managers to broadcast important information to employees.

Managers send announcements by using the feature online and or on their Mobile App. Employees can receive and respond to these announcements both by logging in online and or on their Mobile App.

Send an announcement

  1. Log in to Tanda online at my.tanda.co

  2. Navigate to Communications on your Navigation Bar

  3. Select which locations or teams to broadcast an Announcement to

  4. Create a Group and give your group a name

  5. Create an Announcement

  6. If you would like staff to be able to respond to the announcement, select the 'allow replies' checkbox

  7. If you require acknowledgement of the announcement, select the 'require acknowledgement' option

  8. If you would like to attach additional information in the form of an image or document, select the 'Add file' button.

  9. Click Send

Depending on their notification settings, staff will receive a push notification on their device when an announcement is made.

Respond to an announcement

When an announcement is made with the 'Allow Replies' option enabled, all members of the communication room will be able to send and read other replies on the announcement. The number of replies already made will be shown on the announcement.

To respond to an announcement, staff can follow the below steps:

  1. Navigate to the Messages tab on the mobile app

  2. Select the specific communication group the announcement was sent in

  3. Click the Replies button in the bottom right corner of the message

  4. Enter your response and click the blue Send button

At this point, staff can also include an attachment to their response through the Add File button. Like announcement replies, all members of the communication room will be able to add attachments and access others on the announcement.

Require acknowledgement of an announcement

If you require staff to acknowledge that they have read an announcement, simply toggle the 'Require Acknowledgement' option when creating an announcement.

Announcements which require an acknowledgement will display an orange prompt to staff. Once the announcement has been acknowledged, the post will update with a green confirmation.

Admins and Managers will also be able to track responses under the 'Communications' tab on both desktop and mobile.

Pin an announcement:

To pin/ unpin an announcement, Admins and Managers can select the menu on the top right hand corner (three dots on the announcement) and select 'Pin/ Unpin.'

Once an announcement is pinned, a banner will display the pinned title to the top of the group's feed. To read the entire pinned announcement, click on the banner to expand the full announcement.

Archive a group:

Admins can archive a communications group which is no longer necessary. Archiving a communications group removes visibility of the announcements and the group to both Managers and Employees.

To archive a communications group:

  1. Open the group you want to archive

  2. Click Archive (located at the top right of the group)

  3. A warning message will display. Click Confirm to archive the group.

Archived groups can be viewed by toggling from 'Active Groups' to 'Archived':

Admins can un-archive a group by clicking the 'archive' button again. Doing so will restore the group and any associated announcements.

View "read receipts":

Admins and Managers can view who has read an announcement by hovering (click on mobile) over the 'eye' icon on the top right corner:

To simplify this visually/at a glance:

  • Grey eye = announcement has been read by some staff (read receipts available)

  • Grey eye with strike through it = announcement has not been read by any staff (read receipts unavailable)

FAQ and troubleshooting

Where can I read and create an ‘Announcement’?

‘Announcements’ can be read on the web-app and latest mobile app (Android and iOS). Employees will be notified of a new ‘Announcement’ via a push notification on their mobile device.

The total number of unread announcements will display as a badge next to the relevant 'group'. Once the announcement has been read, the badge will be removed:

Who can I broadcast an ‘Announcement’ to?

Communications permissions follow the same permissions which are already set in Workforce:

  • Admins can create, read and send an announcement to all employees

  • Managers can create, read and send an announcement to all locations & teams that they manage

  • Employees can read announcements for teams they are in

Permissions per role can be updated by navigating to Settings > View all Permission Settings > Advanced Settings > Customise Access & Roles

What is an 'Organisation-wide Announcement' Group?

An 'Organisation-wide' group is a default group which allows Admins to broadcast Announcements to all users within the organisation.

Can I edit a 'Communications' group?

Yes, users can make the following updates to 'Communications' groups:

  • To add/remove teams of an existing group (edit groups):

    • Add/remove teams to an existing group by selecting the '...' button > 'Edit Group Members' > select/unselect the desired locations/teams.

  • To edit the 'group' name

    • Update the name of the existing group by selecting the '...' button > 'Edit Group Name' and entering the new Group name in the field.

Can I insert URL's?

Yes, you can insert clickable URL's into the body of announcement as well as email addresses. Clicking on an email address will automatically open your email client (Outlook, Apple Mail etc) to send an email effortlessly.

Can I attach PDFs, images, documents etc?

Yes, you're able to add an attachment to any communications by clicking the "Attach a document" option. Documents greater than 5mb will not be able to be attached.

Can I create one-on-one chats?

No, 'Communications' does not currently have one-to-one chat capabilities.

Can I archive the 'Organisation-wide' announcement group?

No, this default group cannot be archived.

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