1. What is a Shift Notification Policy?

A Shift Notification Policy is a reusable set of notification rules that automates communication with users before, during, and after their shifts.

Instead of manually sending reminders, you configure a policy once and attach it to your shifts. Vome then handles the messaging automatically based on the rules you define.

Policies can include:

• Built-in default notifications (reminders at set intervals)
• Unlimited custom notifications with precise timing and targeting

2. Where do I create or manage Notification Policies?

You can access policies from any shift creation or edit popup.

1. When creating a new shift > You will see "Shift notification policy"
2. Click Manage Policies at the bottom of the dropdown
3. Click + New Policy to create a new one

From the Manage Policies dialog, you can also edit, duplicate, or delete existing policies.

3. What are the default notifications included in a policy?

Every new policy comes with three built-in default notifications that are turned on by default:

• 48-Hour Reminder -- sent 48 hours before the shift starts
• 1-Hour Reminder -- sent 1 hour before the shift starts
• 15 Minutes Before Shift Ends -- sent 15 minutes before the shift ends, reminding users to check out and log their hours

You can toggle each of these on or off individually within the policy.

Note: If no notification policy is attached to a shift, these three default notifications are still sent automatically by Vome. When a policy is applied, the toggle settings in that policy take over and override the defaults.

4. Can I create custom notifications beyond the three defaults?

Yes. Within any policy, you can add as many custom notifications as you need.

Each custom notification lets you define:

• A title (for internal identification)
• When it triggers
• Who receives it (based on attendee status)
• How it is delivered (email, push notification, or both)
• What the message says

Custom notifications are sent in addition to any default notifications that are enabled in the same policy.

5. When can a custom notification be triggered?

You choose a trigger timing for each custom notification:

• Once Reserved -- fires immediately when a user is added to the shift
• Before Start -- fires a set amount of time before the shift starts
• After Start -- fires a set amount of time after the shift starts
• Before End -- fires a set amount of time before the shift ends
• After End -- fires a set amount of time after the shift ends

For time-based triggers, you specify the offset in days, hours, and minutes.

6. How does the "Once Reserved" trigger work?

When you select Once Reserved, the notification fires as soon as a user is added to the shift.

You have additional options for this trigger type:

• Send when admin assigns the shift -- fires when an administrator manually assigns a user
• Send when the user reserves themselves -- fires when a user books the shift on their own
• Send once per bulk operation -- when an admin assigns multiple shifts at once, only one notification is sent instead of one per shift
• Delay notification -- adds a time delay after the reservation before the notification is sent

You can enable any combination of these options.

7. Can I control who receives a custom notification?

Yes. Each custom notification includes an attendee status filter. You can limit delivery to users who are in specific statuses at the time the notification fires.

Available statuses include Booked, Confirmed Attending, Active Check-in, Active Check-out, Hours Requested, Cancelled, and others. The statuses available to filter by vary depending on the trigger timing you have selected.

8. What delivery methods are available?

For each custom notification, you choose one of the following:

• Email only
• Push notification only
• Email and push notification

9. What email options do I have when sending via email?

You have two options:

Option 1: Use your integrated email domain

The notification is sent from your organization's own connected email address. You select a template from your email template library. You can also enable a fallback to Vome's server in case your integrated email is unavailable.

Option 2: Use Vome's email server

The notification is sent from Vome's servers. You write a custom subject line and body directly within the notification editor.

You can also choose whether the notification is sent from the shift coordinator's email or the email of the admin who created the policy.

10. Can I use dynamic variables to personalize notification content?

Yes. When writing notification content, you can insert merge variables that automatically populate with real data at the time of sending.

Available variables include:

• $first_name and $last_name -- the user's name
• $shift_title and $shift_description
• $opportunity_title and $category_title
• $shift_date, $shift_start_time, and $shift_end_time
• $shift_location

11. Can I attach the same policy to multiple shifts?

Yes. Policies are fully reusable. Select the same policy from the Notification Policy dropdown on as many shifts as you like.

If you update a policy, the changes apply to all shifts that use it.

12. Can I apply or remove a policy across many shifts at once?

Yes. Use the Mass Edit Shifts feature to select multiple shifts at the same time. From there, you can apply a notification policy to all selected shifts or check Remove Notification Policy to clear it from all of them at once.

13. What happens if I delete a policy that is already attached to shifts?

The policy is immediately removed from all published shifts that use it. Those shifts then revert to Vome's default notification behavior (the standard 48-hour, 1-hour, and 15-minute reminders).

14. Can I duplicate an existing policy?

Yes. In the Manage Policies dialog, click the copy icon next to any policy. A duplicate is created with "- Copy" added to the name, and it opens in the editor so you can make adjustments before saving.

15. Can I see which notification emails have been sent?

Yes. Navigate to the Emails section in Vome and select Shift Notifications from the left sidebar. This displays all automated notification emails sent via your integrated email domain.

Note: This view only shows emails sent through your integrated email domain. Emails sent through Vome's servers do not appear here.

16. Can users opt out of shift notifications?

Yes. Users can opt out of notifications from their personal account settings. This applies to both default and custom notifications.