Meeting Notes: OpenLMIS Notification requirements

Date: 2018-09-25

Attendance: Alpha, Hassan, Mary Jo, Ashraf

• Type of notifications

  • Requisition (R&R) notifications

    • Approver would want email for pending R&R for approval

    • When the R&R is rejected (by LMU, district persons), the facility/district would like to be informed about that through email

  • Reminders

    • In eMIS Reporting report provides email to facility feature, but in practice is not used so much in eLMIS

  • UI to maintain the notification messages

    • eLMIS had screens to manage text bodies of the email with placeholder for database values

    • Ability to provide customized email body: One was an one of activity for Tanzania. From sustainability perspective, ministry folks may want to be able to update the text without having to go to a programmer.

      • Almost the same experience with VIMS as well, in Tanzania

      • In actual practice, user does not trigger/push notifications manually in VIMS

      • In VIMS context, SMS capability would have been useful, specifically for the communication between facility/district and district/region related to requisition/orders

    • Mode of notifications

      • Email

        • A must have feature. Most important mode for the notification

        • Using email server such as gmail could be unreliable because of daily email limits Google put on bulk email. For bulk email, it will also involve additional cost.

        • Also spam filtering used by google on number of allowed bounced email (email to invalid/out of date email addresses) can violate google spamming policy and can deactivate the account

      • “In application” (e.g., OpenLMIS showing notifications to the logged in user)

        • Good option to have

        • In VIMS context, in-application notifications was useful – e.g, to notify on pending IVD form submission, expiry messages

        • Such feature will allow consolidated repository of messages

        • Daily digest would be useful

        • Dashboard can display consolidated notifications and will be able to keep records of various notifications send earlier

        • VIMS does not have snooze or disregard options

          • VIMS keeps track of “read” message and does not display them, once read

          • Would be a very useful feature to have

        • Alpha: when you say "respond" do you mean the must approve and until then the notification is there? Alpha: Yes

      • SMS

        • Optional notification mode to have. Would be use more for VIMS, if made available

        • It Involve cost. If MoH will have to pay, it may not be sustainable since SMS messages may cost between $0.03 - 0.10/per SMS

      • User control

        • Consolidating messages (e.g., daily digest)

          • Useful feature to have

        • Opting out

          • Useful feature to have

        • Subscribing to notification by name or type would be useful

      • User Registration

        • Send email to newly registered user with temporary password and asking the user to login and change password

        • Verify email for first time registration or notification on password changes to verify authorized access