When there is a outage it is sometimes necessary to send a mass message to customers. You should only send a message about an outage to customers after getting approval from network engineering and after verifying the scope of the outage.
How to Send a Message
To send a mass email in Powercode you go to Accounts -> Communication -> Send Mass Notification
You can either send just an email (recommended for planned outages), SMS texts (only if customers have opted in), or Both.
For a subject line it is highly recommended to use “Network Impacting Event“, “Planned Network Maintenance” or “Unplanned Network Impacting Event”. Use the recommendations further below for how to craft the email and SMS message. If you are sending both email and texts there will be separate boxes for each.
Usually outages are limited to only a few towers. Since we only want to send the message to customers who are impacted by the outage it is important to know which towers are impacted and limit it to those customers. The sites that are impacted by the outage should be available in the network-outages Slack channel.
You can most easily filter to just the customers on the impacted towers by selecting “IP Address Range”, searching for the site name and adding each IP pool. Note that some sites can have multiple IP pools. It can be a good idea to add both Customer (Router) DHCP & SM DHCP pools since customers with a Static IP address will not have a Router IP address and some site owners hard-wired to the tower may not have an SM IP address. It is then highly recommended that you also filter by “Status: Active” so that the message only goes out to active customers rather then Delinquent or inactive customers whose equipment has not yet been retrieved.
After you have added the necessary filters it will show the number of contacts that will receive the message at the bottom of the page. It is good to use common sense to fix any errors. If there are 2 medium size towers down but the number of contacts is over 1000 then that is a good indication that something is not set up properly. Conversely if there are 0 contacts then that is also an indication that the message isn’t filtered properly. You can always click the “Export” button to check the list of contacts before clicking “Send”
It may take a couple of minutes to prepare to send the message. Only click the send button once.
Message Templates
Unplanned outage template – no ETR:
Hello, this is <<COMPANY NAME>>. We’re sorry to inform you that we are experiencing an emergency interruption of service on the site from which you receive your internet connection. Our network engineers and tower crews are aware of this and are putting in their best efforts into restoring service as quickly as safety will allow. We do not have an estimated time of restoration at this moment. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this temporary interruption might cause. We will pass along any more information as it becomes available to us and thank you for your patience and understanding.
<<COMPANY NAME>>
Unplanned outage template – Power related with an ETR:
Hello, this is <<COMPANY NAME>>. We’re sorry to inform you that we are experiencing a power related emergency interruption of service on the site from which you receive your internet connection. Current estimates from the utility company estimate that power will be restored at approximately <<TIME>> though this is subject to change. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this temporary interruption might cause. We will pass along any more information as it becomes available to us and thank you for your patience and understanding.
<<COMPANY NAME>>
Service Restored template
Hello, this is <<COMPANY NAME>> with an update on your internet service. Our technicians were able to restore service to the site from which you receive your connection at approximately <<TIME>> and your internet service should be restored. If you are still without service please try powercycling your equipment by unplugging it from the electrical outlet for 30 seconds and then plugging it back in. If you are still without service after this please give us a call at <<PHONE NUMBER>>. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this service interruption caused and thank you for your patience and understanding.
<<COMPANY NAME>>
Planned Network Maintenance – Detailed, Replacing Site Box or Power Infrastructure
Hello, this is <<COMPANY NAME>>. We are reaching out to alert you to mandatory maintenance that we will be performing on <<DATE & TIME>> which will result in an interruption in your internet service on that date. Starting at <<TIME>>, we will briefly take the entire site offline for about 30 minutes to install a backup system.
After that, you may experience short, temporary interruptions throughout the day as we update and move equipment.
These brief outages will happen one section at a time. Our network uses multiple antennas to provide full coverage, and we’ll be rebooting each antenna individually to reduce the impact as much as possible.
This work is necessary to improve long-term reliability and performance. We understand service interruptions are never ideal, and we appreciate your patience as our team works safely during daylight hours.
Thank you again for bearing with us,
<<COMPANY NAME>>
Planned Network Maintenance – Ahead of Time
Hello, this is <<COMPANY NAME>>. We are reaching out to alert you to mandatory maintenance that we will be performing on <<DATE & TIME>> which will result in an interruption in your internet service on that date. While our network engineers and tower crews will be working to restore service as quickly as safety will allow we do anticipate that this will result in an extended interruption in service. We will pass along any more information as it becomes available to us on the day in question and thank you for your patience and understanding.
<<COMPANY NAME>>
Network Maintenance – Last Minute
Hello, this is <<COMPANY NAME>>. We are reaching out to alert you to emergency maintenance on the site that you draw service from that will result in an interruption in your internet service shortly. While our network engineers and tower crew will be working to restore service as quickly as safety will allow we do not have an estimated time for when service will be restored. We will pass along more information as it becomes available to us and thank you for your patience and understanding.
<<COMPANY NAME>>