System messages can be used when an agency wants to send a message to all citizens who have a citizen account. For example, if an agency wants to provide information and help line numbers to citizens who have been affected by a natural disaster e.g. floods, hurricanes or earthquakes. System messages can be configured in the UA Administration Application using the New System Message page.
The Title and Message fields allow an administrator to define the title of the message and the message body that will be displayed to a citizen in the My Messages panel. The message can be defined as a priority using the Priority field which means that the message will appear at the top of the messages listing. Note: if there are multiple priority messages the effective date of the message and the message type will be used to dictate the order. See Ordering and Enabling/Disabling Messages below. The Effective Date and Time field allows an administrator to define an effective date for the message i.e. when the message will be displayed in the citizen account. The Expiry Date and Time field allows an administrator to define an expiry date for the message i.e. when the message will no longer be displayed in the citizen account.
When the message is initially saved, it has a status of In-Edit. Before the message will be displayed in the citizen account, it must be published. Once published the message is active and will be displayed in the citizen account based on the effective and expiry dates defined.