Bonterra keeps track for you with Time-Based Alerts

Bonterra is excited to announce the arrival of a highly anticipated feature: Time-Based Alerts.

Our Time-Based Alerts feature allows nonprofit organizations and government agencies to create alerts for time-bound events. This means organizations using Bonterra Case Management [Enterprise] can schedule triggers to notify staff about key deadlines, follow-ups, and other time-based milestones, freeing up time and improving your team’s ability to manage their schedules.  

For example, a case manager could prepare to proactively intervene in a participant’s journey by setting a Time-Based Alert for a check-in. Time-Based Alerts can also be used for slightly more complex scenarios. That same case worker might set up another Time-Based Alert two days after their check-in to follow up on how the participant’s journey has changed. 

Here are a few other examples of how Time-Based Alerts can be used: 

• Compliance periods
• Birthdays
• Upcoming deadlines 
• Deadlines past due 
• Service milestones

In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of Time-Based Alerts and answer questions Bonterra customers may have about this feature. 

Benefits of Time-Based Alerts

Time-Based Alerts are all part of our effort to enhance processes within and between your programs in the following ways: 

• Automate communication to cut down time spent on emails and phone calls between staff members in different programs and departments. 
• Help workers act on the needs of participants exactly when they need it and build a stronger relationship with them. 
• Simplify the way staff work by providing workload visibility with alerts that help team members manage their days and set priorities. 
• Bolster compliance efforts by helping staff meet important deadlines and collect data for participants’ needs. 

Essentially, if you ever need to remind your team about a project, get their attention quickly, or help them organize their work, Time-Based Alerts can help.

Why is now the time to use Time-Based Alerts? 

The benefits of Time-Based Alerts affect many aspects of your organization, including your staff, your services, and your participants and community.  

Automation like Time-Based Alerts is a key solution that reduces manual labor and can lower stress. Automated Time-Based Alerts also reduce the risk of human error, ensuring your caseworkers and their participants meet due dates.  

Taking this administrative burden off your staff allows them to focus on measuring their impact, thereby expanding and improving programs within your organization. 

Ultimately, alerts help keep your participants on track, prevent them from slipping through the cracks, and ensure their holistic needs are noticed and met. 

Frequently asked Time-Based Alerts questions 

In February 2023, the Bonterra product team held a webinar to unveil its product roadmap for the first half of 2023. Of course, we spent some time covering Time-Based Alerts, and Bonterra customers had questions. Here’s the Q&A from the webinar: 

When will the new Time-Based Alerts be available for Bonterra customers? 

Time-Based Alerts are available to Bonterra customers now. 

With Time-Based Alerts, will I be able to create alerts for yearly recurring dates, such as birthdays? 

Yes! Birthday notifications are a great way to use “day of” events in the rule creation. 

What about Time-Based Alerts for something slightly more complex, such as three days before a birthday? 

Yes! When building the rule’s logic, for example, you can select the “Upcoming” event type and select three days before Use Record Date Field > Date of Birth. 

Will Time-Based Alerts consider the user’s time zone? 

Yes, Time-Based Alerts respect each Bonterra instance’s time settings. 

Will the Time-Based Alerts allow participants’ ages to auto-update? 

No, but it could prompt users when to make those updates. We recommend upvoting this submission in the Ideas Portal. 

With Rules & Alerts, will all staff members be able to create and set their own alerts? 

Not yet, however, this is a great idea. In this first iteration, all alerts are system-generated based on admin-defined logic. 

Can Rules & Alerts be structured to notify only the currently-assigned staff member once a case meets certain criteria? 

Great question. We are actively working on this. There are currently three popular ways staff are assigned to records: Staff Linking Fields, User List Fields, and Caseloads. Our plan is to start with User List Field. Reach out to Support to get started using User List Fields if that is currently not in your form design! 

When building Rules & Alerts, are there any tips you would recommend to ensure the best experience for my organization? 

We recommend starting slow and being very thoughtful when building new alert logic. Alerts should be targeted and timely to have the greatest effect. It is important to avoid creating more alerts than your staff can easily manage and avoid alert fatigue. Too many complex Rules & Alerts may unintentionally slow a workflow. 

Ready to be in the know with Time-Based Alerts? 

Discover how Bonterra’s Time-Based Alerts can create efficiencies and give staff peace of mind knowing that their case management software will remind them of important events and anniversaries so they can better serve and connect with their participants. 

Time-based alerts are a feature of Bonterra Case Management [Enterprise].