Creating broadcasts
Examples
The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator Allen wants to notify users in the Calbro Services office in Plano, Texas, of upcoming fire sprinkler system maintenance. Armando writes the corresponding message to the target Plano office location. Users who have mapped their home location to the Plano office in the settings receive the blue broadcast message in the feed and in-app notification with a blue megaphone icon.
The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator Allen wants to congratulate the colleagues with the successful release and notify them about the upcoming Family Day. Users receive the green broadcast message in the feed and in-app notification with a green megaphone icon.
The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator Allen wants to warn the employees of company A about the upcoming scheduled downtime of the system. Users receive the yellow broadcast message in the feed and in-app notification with a yellow megaphone icon. When the planned maintenance is finished, Allen can remove the message, and the employees do not see these messages.
The BMC Helix Digital Workplace administrator Allen wants to inform the employees of company A that they need to reset their passwords. He creates a critical broadcast message. Users receive the red broadcast message in the feed and in-app notification with a red megaphone icon.
To create a broadcast
The following video (3:28) describes how you can create broadcasts in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console.
- In the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console, select Broadcast > New broadcast.
Complete steps 1–3 by clicking Next (as shown in the following images):
Step
Display
Description
1. Create
Title —Enter the message that end users will see in their feed. This field is required.
(Optional) Turn the title into a URL—Include a site link to expanded details about the subject of the broadcast. This link will be available in the in-app notification.
Broadcast type —Broadcast types reflect the urgency level of the message. Depending on the different types, broadcast messages in the user's feed and the megaphone icon in the in-app notifications appear in different colors:
- Information (the default)—blue
- Success—green
- Warning—yellow
- Critical—red
For the examples of different broadcast types, see Examples.
2. Additional information
(Optional) Learn more —Enable this toggle key to give users additional information about the broadcast message. You can customize the additional text with:
- Fonts
- Colors
- Adjustment types
- Lists
- Links
3. Schedule
Send to —Select user groups that will receive the broadcast message. User groups can be set up as an LDAP group or Action Request System group. You can select several user groups. This field is required.
Note: These groups become available when the LDAP or the Group pluggable providers are enabled and configured.
With BMC Helix Digital Workplace Advanced, you can also send broadcasts to users based on the following options:
- Services
The broadcast is sent to end users who follow a particular service in My Stuff → Service Health. - Locations
The broadcast is sent to end users who has a particular location as a home location.
Sending broadcasts to members of a Computed group created in the Action Request System is not supported.
Note: As an administrator, you can search for groups created in BMC Helix ITSM only if you are a member of those groups. As a result, your ability to send broadcasts to all groups might be restricted. However, if you have any of the following roles assigned to you: AR System Administrator, AR Definition Administrator, or User Administrator, you can search for and send broadcasts to all groups.
Schedule —Determine the period when users will receive the broadcast message. This field is required. Select one of the following options:
- Send now to make the broadcast live immediately. Optionally, you can select an end date for a broadcast. By default, the expiration date is one week from the current date.
- Date range to make the broadcast live at a future time.
Review the details of the broadcast and click Schedule.
To remove the broadcast, click Cancel.
To manage existing broadcasts
BMC Helix Digital Workplace enables you to manage existing broadcasts. To work with broadcasts, go to the Broadcast section of the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console.
On the Broadcast page, you can review the following details about existing broadcasts:
Column | Description |
---|---|
Title | Displays the broadcasts. You can sort by alphabetical order or click a broadcast to see its details. |
Sent to | Shows user groups, services, and locations to which the broadcast is sent. |
Schedule (local time) | Shows the period when the broadcast is effective. |
Status | Shows the broadcast's status. Types of statuses:
|
Actions | Enables additional options for broadcasts. To see these options, click the Action button:
|
Search | Enables a search for a broadcast that exists in the list. |
You cannot edit an existing broadcast, only remove it or create a new one.
How BMC Helix ITSM and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT broadcast data corresponds to BMC Helix Digital Workplace data
The following table shows how data from BMC Helix ITSM is displayed in BMC Helix Digital Workplace:
Data in BMC Helix ITSM | Data in BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT | Corresponding data in BMC Helix Digital Workplace |
---|---|---|
Subject
| Subject
| Title
|
Broadcast Message
| Broadcast Message
| Learn more
|
Broadcast End Date | Broadcast End | Expiration Date |
Region | Not supported | Not supported |
Site Group | Not supported | Not supported |
Site | Not supported | Not supported |
Organization | Not supported | Not supported |
Department | Not supported | Not supported |
BMC Helix Digital Workplace does not support attachments from the BMC Helix ITSM and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT broadcasts.
According to the broadcasts schedule, the BMC Helix ITSM and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT broadcasts have the following correlation in BMC Helix Digital Workplace:
- BMC Helix ITSM and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT broadcasts before the end date are shown in the Active status in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console.
- BMC Helix ITSM and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT broadcasts after the end date are shown in the Inactive status in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Admin console.
To determine the source of broadcasts
To determine the source of broadcasts, check the Sent to field. For broadcasts that were created in BMC Helix Digital Workplace, the Sent to field always includes a value. For broadcasts that were created in BMC Helix ITSM or BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT, the Sent to field is always blank and the title always includes [ITSM]: