TransForm - mailer - payment requests & links

Included Below

 

About TransForm Mailer

 

Use TransForm Mailer to send a request for an online payment or authorization to specified email address(es), or to create a series of requests for payment installments.

The emails include a Go> button the recipient uses to access your payment page and submit their payment and/or authorization. The submission page will be pre-populated with the details you specify when you create the payment request.

You can also program up to 20 automatic reminders to be sent at specified intervals if the payment is not made within a specified period of time. Reminder emails consist of a copy of the original request, with the addition of a headline which reads "a friendly reminder".

 

TransForm Mailer Listings


Step 1: Log into the b4 Admin Site.
Step 2: Select "TRANSFORM" from the page header panel.
Step 3: Select "TRANSFORM MAILER". 

The Mailer Listings table will appear, displaying previously created payment requests.
To search for existing request emails, select the applicable filters.



Filters in TransForm Mailer


Filters initially default to show you all future Scheduled Installments. You have the following options to change the Search:

a)  Status - select from All, Scheduled, Delivered, Failed or Unknown (Manual Links) - default is Scheduled. Links are listed as a Status 'Unknown' because TransForm is not being used to send the email and therefore cannot record details about when the link is sent.

b)  Type - once the Status has been changed from Scheduled, you can then select from All, Independent or Installments. Independent means those emails created to send individually and immediately, as distinct from those that are part of an installment series.

c)  From and To Dates - you can select any date range desired. If you have selected to view only Independent emails, only past dates will be available, as Independent emails are sent when they are created, and therefore always in the past.

Search>> - You must select the Search button to apply the filters you have selected.

Column Sort

Sort your report results by selecting the column heading you wish to sort by. Selecting the column heading a second time reverses the order of the sort.

Column Search

The results of a search can be narrowed further by entering additional filters in the Search field that appears below most column headings.

Details View

The full details of each email or installment series can be viewed by selecting the Details icon located in the last column of the table.

Creating Your Emails or Links


Requests for payment or authorization that are 'Independent' are not part of a series of installments, but a request for a single payment transaction.

You may also define and request a series of installments, which will trigger a series of future emails to be sent on the dates you specify, requesting the amounts you specify for each send date.

For both single requests and for installments, you can also opt to create payment links only, without emails, should you wish to send the payment links through other means, such as emails from your desktop, text messages, or on contracts created in your sales or catering or similar systems.

 

  1. Select "TRANSFORM", then select "TRANSFORM MAILER". 



  2. The Mailer dashboard displays. Select "+ ADD NEW".



  3. The 'Create Requests' page appears.



  4. Select EMAILS if you want to create payment request emails to be sent by TransForm.

    Select LINKS to create a link to send by an alternate means. For example, you many wish to send your request for payment or authorization in an email message from your desktop, or by text message, or include the link on the booker's contract form, using a sales or catering or similar system.

  5. Transaction Category - You can select any Transaction Category (revenue types, such as reservations, groups, gift cards, lost and found, miscellaneous, etc.) that have been configured and set to Active in TRANSFORM → TRANSACTION CATEGORIES.

    The displayed fields on the remainder of the page will vary depending which fields are configured to display for each Transaction Category you have created.

  6. Select how many payment requests you wish to create. You can choose either a single payment or a series of installments.



  7. Select NEXT.



  8. Special Note: If you have transaction categories configured to let you do so, TransForm can also let you create payment requests for more than one reservation in a single transaction.

  9. If you select Transaction Category of Reservation or Group, fields appear asking you enter a confirmation number or an Inventory Block Code (Group ID), to pull the Group Name or Guest Details from the PMS. You may also type in a First Name and Last Name, or Group Name, but they must exactly match the PMS data in order for the payee's submission link to work, so the pull feature is preferred to ensure they are spelled and formatted exactly as in the PMS.

    1. Special Note: If using Maestro, you will not have the pull feature as an option. Confirmation number, first and last name must be entered by property.

  10. Amount - enter the amount you are requesting to be paid or authorized.

  11. Lock Status - any field displaying a lock icon can be left locked or unlocked, depending on whether you wish to allow the payer to edit those fields.

  12. Transaction Type - this field appears only if you are using both payments and authorizations in TransForm. If so, this permits you to specify if the payer should be offered the option to choose, or if you are requesting only a payment or an authorization.

  13. Email To - enter valid email address(es); multiple addresses may be included by separating them with semi-colons and no spaces.

  14. BCC Email - Internal address to be blind-copied on the outgoing email. Multiple addresses may be included by separating them with semi-colons and no spaces. The BCC email address set in the Property record auto-populates, but may be replaced or other addresses can be added.

  15. Email Subject - Subject line to appear on the email. 

  16. Email Body - Compose the body of the email, including instructions for completing the desired transaction.

    1. A starter email template can be created for each Transaction Category, which can be pulled into the Compose screen using the "Starter Template" button. (Create templates from TRANSFORM -> EMAIL TEMPLATES).

    2. You may also use any of the buttons to the right of the Compose box to insert various details into the body of the email at the location of your cursor, whether editing a starter template or composing your email from scratch.

    3. You must insert the "Go Button" into your email body in order to create a valid email request.

  17. # of Permitted Transactions - This field appears just below the Compose box when creating an Independent email, and appears in the Installment table when creating Installments. Enter the number of times you will permit the payer to use the Go button from the received email. Limiting the number of possible submissions helps prevent submissions by any potential fraudster.

  18. Send - This button appears only when creating an Independent email. The Send button triggers the email to send immediately.

    After sending an Independent email, you may re-set the page with new criteria or re-use the previous data if you need to another similar request.



Overdue Reminders


If you want TransForm to automatically send reminders when payments are not made within a specified number of days, turn on Overdue Reminders. A fill-in-the-blanks statement will appear for you to complete the details:


If submission is overdue by _____ day(s), send reminder(s) every _____ day(s) to a maximum of _____ reminder(s).

 

To stop overdue reminders, go to the Mailer and search for the payment request by date:


Once you find the request, select the Pencil icon in order to edit:


Once in edit mode, to stop future reminder emails, turn on Is Paid and then Save.

 

Installment requests

 

When creating a new payment request that can be paid in installment, under ‘How many payments’, select ‘Installments’ instead of ‘Single’.

 

Enter the confirmation number or booking details, and then complete the message details as you would for a single payment request.

 

Complete the ‘Installments’ section to define the expected payments by amount and due date.

 

  1. Select “+Add Installment” repeatedly, only until you have the desired number of installments. Note: Do not create extra installments, as unused installments cannot be deleted.

  2. Enter the Amount of each payment expected; each installment can be for equal or differing amounts.

  3. # of permitted transactions – if you would want to allow the links to be used more than once enter the number of times here. For example, changing the number of permitted transactions from one to two would enable the payer to make two submissions rather than only one submission using each link.

  4. Remind Date – enter the date the request email is to be sent to the payer.

  5. Remind Time – enter the time that the request email is to be sent to the payer.

  6. Overdue reminders – activate if you want overdue reminders to be sent when payments have not been submitted; you will be asked to specify the frequency of reminders and the number of reminders.

  7. Be sure to select Save once you have created all of the installments you require from the payer.

  8. When the payer selects the Go button from within the received email, they are taken to your payment page with all details pre-populated.

  9. If needed, installments can be removed using the the trash bin icon.

 

Payment requests for multiple bookings

 

See https://b4checkin.atlassian.net/l/cp/MxW11Ufz

 

Creating Email Templates

  1. In the b4 Admin Site, select TRANSFORM from the page header panel.

  2. Select 'Email Templates'

  3. All configured Transaction Categories are listed, with options to Edit (pencil icon), View (page icon) or Delete (trash bin icon).

  4. To create a template select Edit for the desired Transaction Category.

  5. Use the Compose box to create your template. Do not forget to include the "Go" button.

  6. Select 'Save'. Your template will now be available to pull in by using the Starter Template button when Creating Emails.

    Note: only one template can be created for each Transaction Category. If you need different verbiage for different market segments within the same revenue type (such as, for example, weddings versus graduations), you can create multiple transaction categories for groups, naming them for their market segement. This would enable you to have a different template for each market segment.

Using Payment Request Links

  1. If you created payment LINKS, you can access the link for any given request from the Mailer Listings in the column called "Link ID".



  2. 'View' lets you preview the payment page created by the link, which your payer will access with the Go button.

  3. 'Copy' will copy the link to your clipboard, so it can be pasted elsewhere. You may, for example, wish to include the payment link on the contract you create in a different system or to send it to the payer in a text message or email.

Deleting Emails or Links


In the opening table that lists your created emails and links, in the final column labelled Actions, there are check-boxes which can be used to select emails or links for deletion, including a Select All check-box at the top of the final column.

All emails or selected emails can be deleted using the Delete button at the top of the Actions column, which becomes active after at least one check-box has been selected.

Beware that there is no Recycle Bin and no way to recover deleted records. Once a record is deleted, the Go button on any received email will no longer work. No record of the deleted items will exist.



Video Run-Through
on sending & scheduling Payment Requests


Video Run-Through
on Triggering a Re-Send from the Email Log



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