Message Digests for Recipients (parents and students)

If your organization sends out multiple informational emails and/or text messages to you each day, there may be times when it seems like you're getting so many messages that they become difficult to manage. Instead of needing to worry that a message might get missed, you can enroll to receive "Digest" messages so that all of your emails and/or text messages come to you at a specific time each day in one convenient message.

An administrator from your organization will need to set up the feature with BrightArrow before you can use it, so feel free to reach out to the organization to request the feature if it is not already enabled for you in your ParentHub > Menu > Settings. 

If you are an administrator wanting to set up Digests for your organization, see here. 

What are message Digests?

Message Digests are summary texts or emails that send at a specific time each day. Instead of sending each text message or email right away, BrightArrow will essentially hold the day's messages and send them all at once as one convenient message. This way, you can easily read through and "digest" the information your organization has sent throughout the day. Note that all messages will still post to your ParentHub Feeds page, so you will always have immediate access to the messages even though they won't receive the email and/or text version until the Digest time. There are also certain message types that will always be delivered right away (like emergency messages), and we'll cover that in more detail later in this article. 

Your organization will determine the preferred time for the summary messages to send, but you can decide if you want to receive the consolidated messages or not. As a ParentHub user you will have the option to enroll to receive the consolidated Digest message that will contain all of the "informational" email or text messages each day instead of receiving each message as soon as they are sent by your organization through BrightArrow. You will have the option to receive email Digests, text message Digests, or both. You can opt to use the Digest feature at any time, and it's just as easy to turn it off if you decide you don't like it. 

Exceptions

Even if you enroll to receive message Digests, some message types will still send to you as a text or email right away instead of waiting for the Digest time set by your organization. In some cases, you will receive the alert right away and you will also receive it in your daily Digest email and/or text message. 

• Voice calls will send right away. Voice calls are never included in the message Digests, so any phone calls that are sent to you will still come through right away as they normally do. 
• Emergency messages will send right away. If your organization/school sends an Emergency message by text or email, you will receive the text/email right away. When the Digest summary goes out, it may also include the emergency message so you may receive it again at that time. 
• Report emails like report cards and fee statements will send to you right away. Due to the confidential nature of these messages, they will not be included in your Digest summary.
• Chat invites and messages will send right away. You will receive your BrightChat messages right away like you normally do. When the Digest summary goes out, it may also include the Chat message so you may receive it again at that time. 
• Attendance related messages will send right away, so you will get the notification of your child's absence or tardy right when the school sends it. When the Digest summary goes out, it may also include the attendance message so you may receive it again at that time. 
• Your organization might set up additional exceptions, so there may be other messages that you still receive right away. In general, those messages will also be included in your Digest summary, so you may get the message again at that time. 
• All messages will still post to your ParentHub Feeds page right away, so if you need to view a message before the Digest time you can still do that through the app. 

How to enroll in Digests (Recipients)

Once your school/organization has set up the Digests feature on their end, you will see the option to enroll in Digests in your ParentHub app Menu settings. Each ParentHub user can enroll to receive Digest emails and/or Digest text messages and will be able to change their enrollment at any time through the app. The Digest messages will be sent at the time of the organization's choosing. Note that voice calls are excluded from Digests, so you will receive the phone calls from your organization when they are initially sent out. 

1. Login to the ParentHub app. 
2. Tap the Menu tab. 
3. Tap Settings > Digest

4. The Digests window will show the time that the Digest messages will begin sending each day so you will know when to expect to receive your messages. 

5. Under Digest Message Type, select the corresponding checkboxes for the message types you would like to receive in Digest form. 
   1. With the Email box selected, all informational email messages (with the exception of any excluded message types) will send at the specified time in one email message. 
   2. With the SMS box selected, all informational text messages (with the exception of any excluded message types) will send at the specified time in one text message. 
   3. If you check both boxes, you will receive one email message Digest summary that contains all of the emails that were sent to you that day AND one text message Digest summary that contains all of the text messages that were sent to you that day. 
   
6. Use the dropdowns to select the email and/or phone number where you would like to receive the Digest summary messages. 
   1. If your preferred email or phone is not listed as an option, see here for help adding additional phones/emails. 
   2. If you already have multiple phones or emails linked to ParentHub, you will have the option here to determine which phone or email you would like to use to receive your Digest messages. 
   
7. At the bottom of the page, tap Save to save your changes.

What to expect

If you completed the steps above to enroll in message Digests, you will start receiving informational messages each day at the time your organization has set. You can enroll to receive email messages in Digest form, text (SMS) messages in Digest form, or both. If you enroll in Digests for both email and text, you will receive one Digest email and one Digest text message each day at the specified time. 

Text (SMS) Digest

If you enrolled to receive SMS digests, you will receive one text message at the specified Digest time that contains a link. Click the link within the text message to see all informational texts that were sent to you that day. Note that some message types, like emergency messages and attendance messages, will send to you right away but may also still be included in the Digest summary. 

The Digest text message you receive each day will look something like this: 

Click the link within the text message to see all of the texts your organization sent to you that day: 

Email Digest

If you enrolled to receive email digests, you will receive one email message at the specified Digest time that contains a list of each email that was sent to you that day with a link to view the messages in full. Click the link within the email to see each message in it's entirety. Note that some message types, like emergency messages and attendance messages, will send to you right away but may also still be included in the Digest summary. 

The Digest email message you receive each day will look something like this: 

Click the link to "View All Full Messages." A new BrightArrow webpage will open where you can see each message. Some longer messages may be truncated but you can use the "View full message" link as needed to open the full message. 

A window will pop-up where you can view the message in its entirety. Click "Close" at the bottom of the pop-up window to return to viewing your other messages. 

Turning off Digests (Recipients)

If you had previously enrolled to receive message Digests but would now like to go back to receiving each message right away, you can do that through the ParentHub app. If you want to receive all text messages right away but still use the Digest summaries for your email messages (or vice versa), you can do that too. ParentHub users can change their Digest preferences at any time, so you can change your preferences as many times as you want until you find what works best for you. 

Important note: If you turn off Digests before that day's Digest message summary sends, you will not receive the email or text messages that were sent earlier in the day. If that's the case, be sure to check your Feeds tab in the ParentHub app to make sure you don't miss a message. 

Turning off your Digests completely 

1. Login to the ParentHub app. 
2. Tap the Menu tab. 
3. Tap Settings > Digest


4. To completely turn off Digests so that you will start receiving text and email messages as soon as they are sent by your organization, go to the bottom of the page and tap Turn Off Digests.

5. A pop-up window will appear to confirm that you successfully turned the feature off. Tap OK. 

6. Notice that the Email and SMS boxes are now deselected. You will start receiving future messages at the time your organization sends them. 
7. Note that any messages that were sent from your organization that day PRIOR to you turning off Digests will not be sent to you via email or text. You will not receive a Digest summary for the messages sent to you before turning of the Digest feature. To see your messages, go to your ParentHub Feeds tab and view your messages there. 
   

I want to receive text messages right away but use Digest for email messages

If you want to receive Digest message summaries via email but still receive text messages as soon as the organization sends them, you can do that through the ParentHub app.

1. Login to the ParentHub app. 
2. Tap the Menu tab. 
3. Tap Settings > Digest
4. Mark the check box for "Email" to enable Digests for your email messages only. 
5. In the email drop-down, choose the email address you would like to receive your Digests in.
6. Tap Save.
7. A pop-up window will appear to confirm that you successfully enrolled in email Digests. You will now receive a summary email at the specified time that includes any informational emails that were sent to you that day. Your text messages will be delivered to you at the time they are sent from your organization. You will not receive a summary text message. 

I want to receive email messages right away but use Digest for text messages

If you want to receive Digest message summaries via text but still receive email messages as soon as the organization sends them, you can do that through the ParentHub app.

1. Login to the ParentHub app. 
2. Tap the Menu tab. 
3. Tap Settings > Digest
4. Mark the check box for "SMS" to enable Digests for your text messages only.
5. In the phone number drop-down, choose the phone number you would like to receive your Digests on.
6. Tap Save.
7. A pop-up window will appear to confirm that you successfully enrolled in SMS Digests. You will now receive a summary text message at the specified time that includes any informational texts that were sent to you that day. Your email messages will be delivered to you at the time they are sent from your organization. You will not receive a summary email message.