Automation - Blackout Periods To 'Queue' or 'Suppress'

Automation - Blackout Periods To 'Queue' or 'Suppress'

For certain automation settings it may not be desirable to trigger either internal or external notifications outside of business hours.  In 20.8.1 we have introduced the concept of 'Blackout Periods'.  This allows dealerships to set up the time ranges when they do not want any automation action to trigger (for example you would not want a customer to be emailed after 10pm until 9am).

There are two types of Blackout Periods;
  1. Queue - Any automation action that is tirggered during a blackout period will be queued to send at a user controlled nominated time when business hours resume
  2. Suppress - Any automation action that is triggered during a blackout period will not be sent - even when normal hours resume  
When setting up your Blackout Periods you can set them by Weekday, Saturday or Sunday if you have different hours.  To add multiple Blackout Periods for each of those click on the green 'ADD' button.

When selecting 'Queue' you will need to specify;
  1. Start Time - the time that your blackout period starts - any automation action triggered BEFORE this time will be completed, whilst any automation action triggered AFTER this time will be queued to send after the End Time
  2. End Time - the time that your blackout period ends - any automation action triggered AFTER this time will be completed, whilst any automation action triggered BEFORE this time will be queued to send after the End Time
  3. Requeue For - the time that you wish for any action/communication to be sent after the Blackout Period ends


When selecting 'Suppress' you need to specify;
  1. Start Time - the time that your blackout period starts - any automation action triggered BEFORE this time will be completed, whilst any automation action triggered AFTER this time will be suppressed and will not ever send - even when normal business hours resume
  2. End Time - the time that your blackout period ends - any automation action triggered AFTER this time will be completed, whilst any automation action triggered BEFORE this time will be suppressed and will not ever send - even when normal business hours resume



Remember to set your 'Brakes' as well when using Blackout Periods.  Brakes allow you to specify actions that will interrupt the automation workflow for a lead.  They will come into play if using the 'Queue' Blackout Periods as there is a delay between the trigger and any actual action/communication, you want to make sure something essential hasn't changed on the lead in the interim (for example if the lead triggers a SMS to the customer at midnight, and you have it queued for 10am if the lead is Closed Won at 9am you will likely not want the SMS to be sent - in which case set a Brake of 'Lead Closed Won' and this will be checked for, before any SMS is sent).



If your account has multiple Yards that exist in different timezones (i.e. Sydney, Victoria, WA etc), then you may need to set up your Automation blackout periods to utilise different timezones - the default used will be the Company Timezone if this is not specified in each individual Automation setting.  You can read more about how timezones are handled within AutoPlay Automation HERE.


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