Configuring status updates and notifications

BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrators configure status updates and notifications so that end users quickly see the status of important services and can determine whether a problem is local or system wide.

Types of notifications

BMC Helix Digital Workplace users can receive the following notifications when important events occur:

In-app (bell) notifications
Click here to view how the approver is notified about a new request...
Email notifications
Click here to view how the requester is notified about the request status...
Push notifications (sent to mobile devices)
Click here to see how password expiration push notifications are sent to Android devices...
Click here to see how approval push notifications are sent to iOS devices...

For information about which notifications are sent for particular events, see Notification events and types of notifications.

The following email clients can receive BMC Helix Digital Workplace email notifications:

Microsoft Outlook (both desktop and web clients)
Gmail

If the BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator rebrands the application, the email notifications are automatically rebranded with the new logo, product name, and global navigation style. For more information, see Rebranding BMC Helix Digital Workplace.

Related topics

Configuring email notifications

Creating broadcasts

Before you begin

For end users to receive email notifications, the system administrator must configure the email server information of the company and verify that the users have valid email accounts with the specified server. The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator must provide the Backend URL—host server, for example, https://serverAddress:port/dwp. For more information, see Configuring email notifications.

To receive push notifications, users must be logged in to BMC Helix Digital Workplace. They must also enable push notifications in the general settings of their mobile device.

To set default notification settings for end users

After a BMC Helix Digital Workplace installation, all notifications are disabled. The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator can set default email and push notification settings for:

Approvals
Requests
Surveys
Social activity

Default notification settings apply only to new users. To enable or disable email and push notifications:

In the BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator console, go to Configuration > Email & Notifications.
Select Settings > User settings.
Configure the notification settings for end users created after BMC Helix Digital Workplace configuration.

End users can still change the notification settings in their preferences; for more information, see Configuration options for the end user console.

The following video (2:01) shows how the BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator sets default notification settings for new users:

Important

The Templates tab shown in the video is available only in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced.

https://youtu.be/80n1lm18IsY

The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator can also rebrand notifications; see Customizing email, push, and in-app notifications.

To enable notifications for service health items

Select My Stuff > Service health, and then navigate to a specific service page.
On the service health item page, select the notifications that you want to receive for the particular item.

Language notification settings

For the following requests, email and push notifications are available only in English:

Service health
Appointments
Social

End users receive email and push notifications in the languages given in Supported languages and locales. The following table shows the options the BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator can use to set the language of push and email notifications:

Selection option	End-user experience	Example
The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator disables the Language toggle key.	An end user receives email and push notifications in the language selected for their browser settings.	An end user Mark has the German browser's locale and receives an email in German. If Mark wants to change the language, he must select another language in the browser settings and log in again.
The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator enables the Language toggle key and selects a language.	An end user receives email and push notifications in the specified language.	An end user Mark has the German browser's locale, but the BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator selects French. If Mark logs in again, he receives emails in French regardless of his browser settings.
The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator enables the Language toggle key, selects a language, and allows an end user to override it.	An end user selects a preferred language, logs in again, and receives an email in the specified language.	The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator selects Greek. An end user Mark receives push notifications in Greek, but wants to read them in Japanese. He selects Japanese as a preferred language, logs in BMC Helix Digital Workplace again, and receives a push notification in Japanese.

If an end user requests a service with a browser locale that is not supported by BMC Helix Digital Workplace, email notifications are sent in English.

For information about how to set a language for a BMC Helix Digital Workplace end user, see Setting a language for your end users.

Notification events and types

The following table describes the events for which notifications are sent to end users and the types of notifications that can be sent for each event:

Notification event	Description	In-app notification	Push notifications	Email notification
Request status change BMC Helix Digital Workplace supports notifications for the following types of requests: Requests from BMC Helix ITSM Requests from BMC HR Case Management Requests from BMC Helix Business Workflows Requests from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog	Users who request a service receive notifications when the status of the service changes, for example, from In Progress to Completed. Note: Users do not receive notifications if the request is created by an agent in BMC Helix Business Workflows.
Delegation rule	Users who are specified as delegates receive notifications when the original approver creates, edits, or cancels a delegation rule.
Request comment	End users receive a notification when an approver or a service request agent adds an activity log or a comment to the service request they raised. Requesters receive push and email notifications when a new comment or attachment is added to an approval for a BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog or BMC Helix Business Workflows service. Users do not receive notifications if an agent adds comments in BMC Helix Business Workflows.
Approvals	Users receive in-app notifications when the following events occur: As approvers, they receive a notification when a new change approval request or service approval request is created. As requesters, they receive a notification when the change request or service request they raised is approved or rejected. Users receive push and email notifications when the following events occur: As approvers, they receive notifications about their new approvals (single and grouped requests) and when a new comment or attachment is added to an approval. As requesters, they receive notifications when a single request, group order, or bundle is submitted. Note: To approve or reject an approval request from a push notification, an end user must disable pop-up blockers.
Broadcasts	Administrators can use broadcasts to notify users about events, updates, and important information. These broadcasts appear in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace end user console for users. Users cannot disable broadcast notifications.
Social activity	Users receive notifications when the following events occur: A user is mentioned in a post created by another user. Another user comments on a post in which the current user is mentioned. Another user comments on the post of the current user.
Feedback survey	Users get feedback notifications for their recently completed: IT service requests HR requests Requests from BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog Notifications are sent when the following conditions are met: The service request has a survey mapped to it. The service request status changes to Completed. The user has enabled survey notifications. Notes: Survey notification settings are available in the user preferences only if this feature is enabled in the Admin console. For information about how to enable surveys, see Mapping satisfaction surveys to service requests in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. Users cannot disable survey notifications that they receive under the bell icon.

The following table describes the events for advanced features for which notifications are sent to end users and the types of notifications that can be sent for each event:

Notification event	Description	In-app notification	Push notifications	Email notification
Service health status change	Users can get automatic status updates for services they are interested in, such as email and SharePoint. Users can enable or disable the notifications of services that they follow by navigating to the specific service page.
New appointment	Users receive notifications about new appointments that they create in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. Users cannot enable or disable these notifications because they are part of in-app and email notifications.
Cancelled appointment	Users receive notifications about canceled appointments in BMC Helix Digital Workplace. Users cannot enable or disable these notifications as they are part of in-app and email notifications.
Shared request	Users receive enhanced email and push notifications when their requests are shared with other users.

For more information about the types of notifications that requesters, OBO users, and collaborators receive, see Business request processing.

For more information about the types of notifications that requesters and OBO users receive, see Business request processing.