Communication Lifecycle

This document outlines the Communications Lifecycle and what each Status means.

Communications Lifecycle

Communications progress through different statuses during their lifecycle. A typical “happy path” looks like this:

Processed → Sent → Delivered → Opened → Clicked

The other statuses can also occur along the way:

Queued: When a communication has to wait before it is sent.
Failed: When a communication cannot be delivered. This can follow Processed, Queued or Sent.
Spam Report: When an email is reported or filtered as spam.
Human Answered: Recorded alongside Delivered when a call reaches the customer.

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Multiple Statuses
Note: Each status is recorded as a separate event, so a single communication will usually have several statuses over its lifecycle.

Statuses by Channel

Not all statuses applies to every channel.

Status	Email	SMS	Phone	Letter
Processed	✅	✅	✅	✅
Queued	✅	✅	✅	✅
Sent	✅	✅	❌	✅
Delivered	✅	✅	✅	❌
Opened	✅	❌	❌	❌
Clicked	✅	✅	❌	❌
Failed	✅	✅	✅	✅
Spam Report	✅	❌	❌	❌
Human Answered	❌	❌	✅	❌

Note: The statuses recorded can also depend on the delivery provider that is set up for the account. For example, some providers do not report Sent or Queued as a separate step.

Detailed Status Description

Processed

The platform has built the communication from the template and submitted it for sending. Processed does not mean the communication has been sent or delivered.

All Communications will record Processed, even failed ones.

Queued

The communication has not been sent yet. Queued is recorded in one of the following situations:

Waiting to be sent: The SMS is waiting with the carrier, the call has been requested and is waiting to be dialled, or the letter is waiting to be lodged.
Email deferred: The customer's mail server has temporarily refused the email. Delivery is retried automatically.
Rescheduled: The platform has placed a hold on the communication and rescheduled it for a later time.

Sent

The communication has been accepted for delivery, i.e. the email has been accepted by the email service, the SMS by the mobile carrier, or the letter by the mail house. Sent does not confirm that the customer has received it.

Delivered

The platform has received confirmation of delivery. What this means depends on the channel:

Email: The customer's mail server has accepted the email.
SMS: The carrier has confirmed delivery to the customer's handset.
Phone: The call attempt was completed. This includes calls where nobody was spoken to, for example when a message was left on an answering machine, there was no answer or the line was busy.

Note: Delivered does not confirm that a conversation took place on a call. Refer to the Human Answered status for this.

Opened

The customer has opened the email. Opened is only applicable to Email.

Clicked

The customer has clicked a link in an email, or has opened the payment link from an Email or SMS.

Failed

The communication could not be delivered to the customer.

The platform also records Failed without attempting delivery when the customer's contact details are known to be invalid, for example a disconnected mobile number, an invalid email address.

Spam Report

The customer has marked the email as spam, or their mail provider has filtered it as spam. Spam Report is only applicable to Email.

Human Answered

The call was answered and the customer spoke to an agent. Human Answered is only applicable to Phone and is recorded in addition to Delivered.