Sending a Call Blast From Directra

You can record your own message or use text-to-speech technology to send a call blast to members of your Group.

Creating the Call Blast

1. From the Comms tab, click the Send a Blast button, then select Send a Call Blast.
2. Click Recipients, then on the Select Recipients box, select the tags and/or individuals who will receive the blast. Uncheck individual names to remove them from the blast list.
3. Select the method for composing your message:
   • Select Call me so I can record a voice message from my phone to record the message from your phone. Enter your phone number and Directra will call you. Follow the prompts to record your message. This method is preferred if your message contains people's names or terms that may be mispronounced by the text-to-speech convertor.
   • Select Convert this text message to speech and enter the text of your message. This method is very handy for brief, simple messages. These tips will help make your message as clear as possible. Click the Listen to Message button to preview what your blast recipients will hear. You can try different voices and specify the voice that will be used by default when you use this text-to-speech feature.
4. You can specify the length of time for which Directra will attempt to complete the call to a number that is busy or rings without being answered. Note that if an answering machine is detected Directra will leave the blast message immediately, not using this time setting.
5. You have the option of scheduling a time for Directra to send the blast. If you do not check the Begin at: box and set a time for the blast, Directra will send the call blast immediately.
6. Click Preview if you want to see who will receive the blast and by what method. Directra will, of course, attempt to call everyone you specified in step 2, above. But if a member has not specified a phone number then Directra will send that member an email message containing a recording of the message in a file attachment (.mp3).
7. Click Start the Blast and Directra will either send the blast immediately, or send the blast at the scheduled time.
8. You can cancel a scheduled call blast. From the Comms menu select View Blasts. To get call blast information make sure that Call Blast is selected at the top of the log window. In the list of blasts on the left, click the blast you want to cancel. You'll see a panel with details for that blast. Click the Cancel Blast button on that panel.

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