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How do I pause touchpoints with Workflow Controls?
How do I pause touchpoints with Workflow Controls?

Understanding Workflow pauses and their technicalities

Steph Stevens avatar
Written by Steph Stevens
Updated over a week ago

There are a few reasons why you would want to pause a Workflow:

  • You may require amendments to be made to a Workflow and want to ensure students aren't receiving the communication while the content is being changed.

  • To ensure no correspondence is sent to students during the UCAS Embargo period.

  • Touchpoints are not currently required but may be needed in future.

Please Note: Although a paused Workflow prevents any correspondence being sent out, it will not prevent students from being added to the workflow. See below for more information.

How do I pause a Workflow?  

Go to Settings > Workflows. On the Workflow you want to pause, click the edit pencil. On Step 1 you'll find the "manage pause" button:

This will bring up a modal with the pause options:

The options to 'Pause At' are: 

  • Now - Selecting this will pause the Workflow immediately.

  • Future - Selecting this will require you to enter in a date and time at which the Workflow will be paused. 

The options for 'Resume At' are:

  • 'Future' - If this option is selected the Workflow will be resumed at the date and time you chose.

  • 'Never' - This will keep the Workflow paused indefinitely. If you change your mind at a later date, the Workflow can easily be resumed.

A pause or resume can be changed at any point by amending the above options and saving. The last save made is the data that will be applied to the Workflow. 

If a Workflow is set to pause in the future, there is the option to 'Unschedule Pause' if the pause will no longer be required.

For every pause or resume the 'Reason' field and tick box are mandatory. This is so that the logs will have an accurate record of why a Workflow was paused.

While paused, each workflow will display a summary of when it was paused and when it will resume:

Where can I locate the Workflow Logs? 

Every action on the Workflow will be recorded within the 'Logs' for reference. This can be located at the bottom of the modal within 'Manage Pause' of each Workflow.

How can I locate which Workflows are paused with an occurrence? 

Any paused Workflows within the occurrence are displayed in a message at the top right-hand side of the screen. This button will tell you how many Workflows are currently paused. When clicked on, it will display a pop-up of all paused Workflows, their pause and resumption dates, along with a link to the Workflows tab.

Although a paused Workflow prevents any correspondence being sent out, it will not prevent students from being added to the workflow.

When the Workflow resumes, students will receive any immediate touchpoints which have not already been sent, and any timed touchpoints which are still due to go out (based on timing conditions of the touchpoint). 

For example: 

  • A Bookings Workflow has been paused, but bookings are still being taken by the system. When the Workflow is resumed, an ‘immediate’ touchpoint will be sent to everyone who went on that Workflow while it was paused.

  • A touchpoint with the timing of ‘1 day after Status Change’ will be sent when the touchpoint resumes IF the status change occurred less than 1 day ago. If the change occurred 3 days ago (during the pause) then the student will not receive the touchpoint, as the scheduled time will have passed.

  • A touchpoint with the timing ‘3 days before Event date’ will be sent so long as the Event is still over 3 days away when the Workflow resumes. If it is less than that, the student will not receive the touchpoint, because the scheduled time will have passed.

  • A student will not receive a touchpoint if the workflow is paused before it is sent and then resumed after midnight. 

Please contact CRM Support if you need any further help.

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