Keyzapp offers you some pre-built templates to help you get started with Messages and Alerts. Sometimes you might want to put your own spin on the messages that are sent out, tweak the timing or even create a new message entirely.  That's where customizing and creating templates comes in.

You must be an Office Administrator to set up Email Confirmations

Customize an email template

1. If you can’t see the template you want to change, you’ll want to first apply a set of templates to customize. Click “Start Here” and select from the available list.
   
   
2. Choose the Email template you want to edit and click “Customize”. This takes you to the message customization screen.
   
   
3. Make the changes you want to the message and other fields (See Guide to Changing Email Fields below)
   
4. Click Save
   

Create a new email template

It’s almost always easier to customize an existing template than it is to create a new one from scratch.  However, there are times when the templates we provide simply don’t fit your needs.  In that case, follow the instructions below.

1. In the “email” column of the “Messages and Alerts” menu, click “Add Email Template”.
   
   
2. Use the guide Guide to Changing Email fields below to update the details of the message.
   

Guide to Changing Email Fields – What can I Customize?

There are 3 main parts to an email template:

1. The Triggering information: Tells Keyzapp when and how to send the message
   
2. The Sender/Receiver Information: Who should receive the email, and where it comes from
   
3. The Message Content: What information is send out in the email.
   

Updating Email Triggering Information

The email triggering information shows how and when Keyzapp will send the email message as well as giving you the ability to name and describe your templates.

Template Type - Can be set to either Automatic or Manual.  Automatic messages are sent by Keyzapp automatically, whereas manual messages must be triggered by you clicking a button.

Activity Type  - This defines the activity that triggers the message to be sent (e.g. Key Goes Overdue). (Only Shows for Automatic Messages) 

The Template and Activity Types can only be set when the message is created – after that, it is locked.  To change the type, you’ll need to delete this message and create a new message.

Time Offset - When you want the message to be sent at some point before or after the due back time, then select for the time relative to the due back time (e.g. +1 day means “ send the message 1 day after the key’s original due back time”). If the time offset you want is not available, we can add it for you- just contact support.  Time offsets are only available for the activity type: Overdue Reminder (Before or After)

Name: The template name that shows in the list of templates- keep it short and descriptive (e.g. Overdue + 1 Day)

Description:  A longer description that explains more about the template you are setting up.

Updating Email Sender/Receiver Information

The sender / receiver information tells Keyzapp who should get the message and how it is sent.

Warning:  Change these settings with caution! It is possible to make changes here that could result in your messages being marked as spam by the recipient.

From and Reply To: We recommend you either leave this as “Default” or whatever is in the template, to reduce the risk of these emails ending up in your spam folder.

If you uncheck “default”, then you’ll have the following options:

From / Displayed Name:  This is the Name that will show up in the email reader of the person receiving the email.  You can change this to whatever you like, but our recommendation is to use:

• EITHER [[OfficeCompany]] or [[KeyzappAccountName]] for messages going to people outside your company
  
• OR: “Keyzapp Notifications” for messages sent as notifications to your team
  

From / Address: This is what is sent out from the email server.  We recommend this is always set to [[FromAddress]], unless you have first discussed with us.

Reply-To: This is sent as the reply address.  If this is set, this email address will be used if someone replies to the notification.  You could set this to a specific email address of your choosing, or use one of the Keyzapp’s Placeholders. Here are some examples:

• [[OfficeCompanyEmail]] – The general email of the Company that is assigned to the key cabinet that the key is from.
  
• [[UserEmail]] – The email of the person who issued the key
  
• keyreminders@yourcompany.com (any email address you write yourself)
  

Send To:  Allows you to specify the person or people who will receive the messages.  The options you see here will depend on the Activity Type selected. Here are some common choices:

• Person Taking Keys – The person who is holding the keys when the message is sent
  
• Logged-In User – The Key issuer (The person who was logged in when the keys were issued)
  
• Specific Person – Any specific person selected by you
  

CC and BCC fields: Allow you to send a copy of the email to another mailbox and works just like the “cc” and “bcc” fields in your email software.  CC and BCC can be really useful if you always want to inform a certain other person when the message is sent, or just to keep a record of every email that was sent.

You could get your IT department to set up a “Key Alerts” mailbox to keep an email record of every message that is sent out.  This can be used to prove that you communicated with contractors who didn’t return your keys and may help you legally justify any further action you take.

1. CC – The email will be copied to any email address that you add to this field. The recipient of the email will see that the email has been copied to this person or mailbox. (If you didn’t know, CC stands for carbon copy)
   

• BCC – Like the cc field, but the person receiving the email will have no knowledge that this email is also sent to the address in bcc. (BCC stands for blind carbon copy)
  

Tip: You can add multiple email addresses by separating the emails with a comma.

The Message Content

The Message Content fields let you determine the style and text of the message that you send out. The fields are as follows:

Subject The subject of the email – it’s a good idea to make it clear in the subject what you want the person to do.  Is the email you are sending urgent, or for information?  Make this clear. Some examples of good subject lines are:

• Urgent: Please return key [[KeyringId]] immediately
  
• Information: Your key is due back in 2 hours
  

Pre-header The pre-header allows you to set a specific message that will usually be shown beneath the header of the email in the recipient’s email app.  This is usually very short text, that can add further detail.

Example: If the Subject is “Please return key [[KeyringId]] immediately”, then the pre-header “Other people are waiting for this key” might work well

Layout You can select a layout for the email.  This will add a splash of colour or branding to the email and is useful for making it clear of the urgency of the email.

You can also use our email branding service to add your own branded email templates.

Keyzapp provides you with 3 main layout options:

• Information – For messages that are giving information, but do not require an immediate action
  
• Urgent – For messages that require an action to be taken (e.g. returning a key)
  
• Warning – For very urgent messages that indicate a problem – perhaps a very late key
  

This box is where you can write the actual content of the message that you want to send.  You have access to some basic formatting like headings, bold and italic text.

Don’t forget that you can use text replacement values within the message, to give specific information about the relevant key, property, or person.

Here are some placeholders that you might find particularly relevant the content in messages:

[[KeyringSignOutDetails]]

This will be replaced with formatted list of information relating to when the key was signed out. It can save a lot of typing and formatting!

The details shown are:

• Keyring Id
  
• Reason for Sign-Out
  
• Due Back Time
  
• Issued By (Logged in user when the key was signed out)
  
• Property Address
  
• Property Notes
  

[[KeyringSignInDetails]]

Like the sign-out details but only includes details available on sign-in:

• Keyring Id
  
• Confirmed By (The person logged in who marked the key as returned)
  
• Property Address
  
• Property Notes
  

[[PolicyExpectations]]

Information about how you want the key to be treated whilst in the key holder’s possession.  By default, this just reads as:

“This keyring is your responsibility, please keep it safe”

Tip: If you are using our professional subscription and would like to write your own policy expectations, please send an email to support with the text you’d like added.

There are also a number of advanced placeholders and buttons that you can add to emails.

See also:

• Customizing Text Messages