[OPEN-ILS-DEV] Notification system design

[Josh Stompro]

I would like to chime in with the wishlist that I was working on when I 
asked about the notification system design, I think many of these points 
have already been hit on, but it cannot hurt to say them again.  I know 
this is getting into specifics, but I think some specifics need to be 
thought of to think about how the underlying design needs to function.

Also, it was mentioned that many of the forms of notification can be 
handled by email gateways with just template changes which makes sense.  
It might not be as simple for the customer to enter their information 
though.  The system would need to store the fact that they want SMS 
notices, phone number for those notices, provider of their phone 
service, and then keep a map of providers to email gateways to know 
where to send those messages.  I don't think that everyone with a cell 
phone knows what the email address of their cell phone is, but maybe it 
isn't a big deal.  I believe it is possible to hook up a cell phone to a 
server to send out SMS messages directly over the cell networks, does 
anyone have any experience with that?

Provide a powerful and flexible system for all types of Library -> 
customer and Customer -> Library communications. Be able to support all 
current forms of communication and make it easy to implement new forms.

The system should be flexible enough to be used by all types of 
organizations. Small library systems, Large consolidated systems, Large 
Federated Systems, Businesses, Academic libraries and Systems.


*Current Forms:*

    *

      Postal Mail

    *

      Email (basic and enhanced)

    *

      Instant Message/ Blackberry Gateway (email gateway)

    *

      Automated Phone

    *

      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)

    *

      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.  I think there is
      quite a bit of potential here.

    *

      RSS Feeds

    *

      Third Party Notification (Registrars Office, Department
      Supervisor, Library Elf, CRM Systems, Collections Agencies)


Future Forms:


Psychic Sending Services

Carrier Pigeons

?


The system should be able to handle feedback from each method, to handle 
errors and customer responses. For example, the postal mail module 
should have an easy way for a staff membe to add a flag to a customer 
record that their address was invalid and that a certain notice was 
returned to sender, maybe all mailed notices include a barcode (a key to 
that notices record) that can just be scanned to register that fact. 
Workflow would be, Staff member has the physically returned postal 
notices, opens up the evergreen client and changes to the 
Notices->Invalid Address function, scans in the barcode from the notice 
and adds a manual note. This marks the address as invalid in the patron 
record and may also trigger the notice being sent some other way, such 
as automated phone call, or staff phone call. Maybe it placed a block on 
the patron record so that the customer cannot check anything out, or use 
online databases, use public computers etc. until the address is updated.


Email module should be able to use dynamic unique senders, (each message 
sent out with a unique sender so that bounces are easy to deal with). If 
an email message bounces they system should have a reasonable chance of 
dealing with it. An over Quota message could result in the email address 
being flagged as invalid for a week, and other notification methods 
taking over. A no such user message could result in the email being 
marked permanently invalid, and fail over to another method. Perhaps it 
would trigger the sending of a postal postcard that just notifies the 
customer that they need to update their email address.  Bounce messages 
should be available for all staff to view, linked from the patron record.


*Patron Preference, Or not:*

* *Patrons should have the ability to customize their notification 
preferences easily, and libraries should be able to control what they 
offer as customizations and what is required.


*Notification Triggers:*

    *

      Checkouts

    *

      Checkins

    *

      Renewal

    *

      Almost Due

    *

      Due

    *

      Overdue (1^st , 2^nd , Nth overdue)

    *

      Billed (1st, 2nd, Nth Bill)

    *

      Customer Record Expired

    *

      Item placed on hold

    *

      Item available for pickup

    *

      Item Recalled

    *

      Fines Owed, over a certain amount(customer perference or Libraries)

    *

      New item by watched author, series, search.

    *

      Customer Record Changed

    *

      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.


*Timing of notification delivery:*

Library should be able to delay certain notices a variable amount of 
times. Don't notify immediately when a requested item is checked in at 
the pickup location, delay for 1 hour so that the item isn't still 
sitting in a cart when the customer stops by to pick it up. System 
should check after the delay to see if notice still needs to be sent 
out, if they have already come in and checked out the items after the 
delay, don't send the notice.  Another option would be to pick certain 
times for notice generation, like 11am (for those who might visit the 
library at noon) and 4pm, for users that come in after work.


*Grouping of notifications:*

Should be flexible, allow for grouping of notice triggers. Sort of like 
a digest mode. "Would you like one daily email of all changes, or would 
you like to know as soon as something happens, or both".


*Ease of Use:*
Staff Efficiency, don't force staff to take unnecessary steps. Notices 
should be automatic, staff should not need to take action for notices to 
be sent, except for those that require staff to do the work, such as 
staff placed phone calls.


*Testing:*

The system should allow for the sending of test messages when setting up 
the different notification types.


*Linked Destinations*: Allow parents to receive notifications for their 
children or spouse. This is probably a privacy issues, but I think it 
should be available to those that want it.


User input validation should also fit in here somewhere, when a  user 
enters a new email address, they should be sent a validation email that 
they need to respond to or click a link in to validate that the email is 
good.  The same with the other methods of notification, send out a text 
message and have them respone, or just look for a bounce.  Postal 
address, send out a postcard.

Josh

-- 
Lake Agassiz Regional Library - Moorhead MN larl.org
Josh Stompro               | Office 218.233.3757 EXT-139
LARL Network Administrator | Cell 218.790.2110	

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