Broadcast App Overview
Deliver company-wide communications that reach every employee—with the Broadcast App, a multi-channel announcement platform featuring rich media, acknowledgment tracking, escalation cascades, voice calls, comment moderation, and real-time analytics that ensure critical messages are seen, read, and acknowledged.
What is the Broadcast App?
The Broadcast App is your organization’s central hub for internal communications. Whether you need to announce a policy change, share a critical safety alert, or distribute a company update, broadcasts are delivered across every channel—in-app, email, SMS, and voice—with full tracking so you know exactly who received, viewed, and acknowledged each message.
Core Value Proposition:
- 📢 Multi-Channel Delivery — Reach employees via in-app notifications, email, SMS, and automated voice calls simultaneously
- ✅ Acknowledgment Tracking — Require employees to confirm they’ve read critical messages, with automated reminders
- 🔔 Escalation Cascades — Automatically escalate unread critical broadcasts through progressively urgent channels
- 📎 Rich Media — Attach images, PDFs, and videos to make announcements visual and engaging
- 📊 Real-Time Analytics — Track view rates, acknowledgment rates, and engagement across your entire workforce
- 📱 Mobile Ready — Employees can view, acknowledge, comment, and react to broadcasts from any device
How It Works
Broadcast Lifecycle
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ BROADCAST LIFECYCLE │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │
│ │ CREATE │───▶│ DRAFT │───▶│ PUBLISHED │───▶│ ARCHIVED │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ Title & │ │ Add media│ │ Audience │ │ Auto or │ │
│ │ Content │ │ Select │ │ snapshot │ │ manual │ │
│ │ │ │ audience │ │ created, │ │ archival │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ notifs │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ sent │ │ │ │
│ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └───────────┘ └──────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ ENGAGEMENT TRACKING ││
│ ├──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬────────────────────┤│
│ │ Views │ Reactions │ Comments │ Acknowledgments ││
│ │ tracked │ 👍❤️😄🎉👏 │ threaded, │ required or ││
│ │ per user │ one/user │ moderated │ optional ││
│ └──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┴────────────────────┘│
│ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Multi-Channel Notification Delivery
┌──────────────┐
│ BROADCAST │
│ PUBLISHED │
└──────┬───────┘
│
┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐
│ STANDARD │ │ CRITICAL │ │ WITH ESCALATION │
│ DELIVERY │ │ DELIVERY │ │ ENABLED │
└──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘ └────────┬─────────┘
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ In-App + │ │ ALL four │ │ Step 1: │
│ Email │ │ channels │ │ In-App │
│ (per user │ │ forced: │ │ + Email │
│ prefs) │ │ In-App, │ ├─────────────┤
└────────────┘ │ Email, │ │ Wait N min │
│ SMS, │ ├─────────────┤
│ Voice │ │ Step 2: │
└────────────┘ │ SMS │
├─────────────┤
│ Wait N min │
├─────────────┤
│ Step 3: │
│ Voice Call │
└─────────────┘
Key Features
📢 Broadcast Creation & Management
Create, edit, and manage company announcements with a full lifecycle workflow.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create | Write a broadcast with title, rich-text description, and optional media |
| Save as Draft | Save without publishing; edit until ready |
| Save & Publish | Create and publish in one step |
| Edit | Modify draft broadcasts (published broadcasts are locked) |
| Clone | Duplicate an existing broadcast—including content, recipients, and media—into a new draft |
| Archive | Move published broadcasts to archived status (manual or automatic) |
| Delete | Remove draft broadcasts permanently |
Broadcast Options (set at creation):
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Allow Comments | Enable threaded commenting on the broadcast |
| Allow Reactions | Let employees react with emoji |
| Require Acknowledgment | Employees must explicitly confirm they’ve read the message |
| Mark as Critical | Triggers all notification channels regardless of user preferences |
📎 Rich Media Attachments
Attach up to 6 files to each broadcast to make announcements visual and informative.
| Media Type | Supported Formats | Size Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Images | JPEG, PNG, GIF | 10 MB per file |
| Documents | 10 MB per file | |
| Videos | MP4, QuickTime (MOV) | 100 MB per file |
Media files can be added during creation, modified during editing, and are automatically cloned when duplicating a broadcast.
🎯 Audience Targeting
Control exactly who receives each broadcast using flexible recipient groups.
| Target Type | How It Works |
|---|---|
| All Staff | Every active employee in the business |
| By Department | Select one or more departments; supports multi-select |
| By Location | Target employees at specific office locations; supports multi-select |
| By Employee List | Target specific individuals via employee ID criteria |
| Custom Groups | Use notification recipient groups with custom parameters |
Audience Snapshot: When a broadcast is published, the system freezes the recipient list at that moment. This ensures consistent tracking—even if employees change departments or leave the company, the original audience is preserved for analytics.
✅ Acknowledgment Tracking & Reminders
Ensure critical messages are read with required acknowledgments and automated follow-up.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Required Acknowledgment | Employees see an “Acknowledge” button and must confirm they’ve read the broadcast |
| Automatic Reminders | Background job sends reminders at configurable intervals to employees who haven’t acknowledged |
| Escalating Urgency | Reminder subject lines progress: “Reminder” → “Second Reminder” → “Urgent Reminder” |
| Max Reminder Cap | Configurable maximum number of reminders per employee (prevents notification fatigue) |
| Author Notifications | Broadcast author is emailed each time a batch of reminders is sent, with a count of pending acknowledgments |
| Intelligent Delivery | Deduplication checks prevent duplicate reminders; 90-day cutoff for stale broadcasts |
Configurable Settings:
| Setting | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Reminder Frequency | 2, 4, 8, 24, or 48 hours | 24 hours |
| Max Reminders | Any positive integer | 3 |
🔔 Escalation Cascades
For critical broadcasts, configure a multi-step escalation that progressively uses more urgent channels until the employee responds.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ESCALATION CASCADE │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Step 1: In-App Notification + Email │
│ │ │
│ ├── Employee views broadcast? ──▶ STOP (acknowledged) │
│ │ │
│ ▼ Wait 5 minutes │
│ │
│ Step 2: SMS Text Message │
│ │ │
│ ├── Employee views broadcast? ──▶ STOP (acknowledged) │
│ │ │
│ ▼ Wait 10 minutes │
│ │
│ Step 3: Automated Voice Call │
│ │ │
│ └── Cascade complete │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Escalation Behavior:
- Each broadcast can define its own escalation config or inherit the business-level default
- Viewing the broadcast counts as implicit acknowledgment—the cascade stops immediately
- Wait times between steps are configurable per step
- Critical broadcasts override quiet hours for voice calls; standard broadcasts respect them
- Escalation statistics (in-progress, acknowledged, completed) are tracked in broadcast stats
📞 Voice Call Notifications
Reach employees by phone for the most urgent communications.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Automated Calls | Twilio-powered voice calls deliver broadcast content as spoken text |
| Quiet Hours | Non-critical broadcasts respect configured quiet hours; calls are rescheduled |
| Critical Override | Critical broadcasts bypass quiet hours and call immediately |
| Concurrency Control | Up to 10 concurrent calls per broadcast to prevent Twilio overload |
| Retry Logic | Failed calls retry up to 3 times with exponential backoff |
| Delivery Tracking | Call status (completed, failed, busy, no-answer) tracked per recipient |
💬 Comments & Discussions
Enable two-way communication on broadcasts with threaded, moderated comments.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Threaded Replies | Comments support parent/child threading for organized discussions |
| Auto-Moderation | Offensive content is automatically detected and redacted before posting |
| Moderation Flags | Flagged comments are visible to admins in the moderated comments view |
| Soft Delete | Deleted comments are hidden but preserved for audit purposes |
| Author Controls | Broadcast author and admins can manage all comments; users can edit/delete their own |
Moderation Service: When enabled at the business level, the comment moderation service scans content before saving and redacts offensive language automatically. Flagged comments are marked for admin review.
😀 Emoji Reactions
Let employees express sentiment quickly with one-tap emoji reactions.
Available Reactions: 👍 ❤️ 😄 😢 😮 🎉 👏 ✅
| Rule | Description |
|---|---|
| One Per User | Each employee can have one active reaction per broadcast |
| Toggle Behavior | Tapping the same reaction removes it; tapping a different one replaces it |
| Aggregate Counts | Reaction counts are grouped by type and displayed on the broadcast |
🌐 External Sharing
Share broadcasts outside your organization via secure public links.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Token-Based URLs | Each broadcast gets a unique, secure share token |
| Public Portal | External viewers see the broadcast on a branded public page—no login required |
| Enable/Disable | Sharing can be toggled per broadcast; disabling invalidates the link |
| Regenerate Link | Generate a new token to invalidate the previous URL |
| Business Branding | External pages use the company’s logo, colors, and portal branding |
| Iframe Support | External broadcast pages can be embedded with controlled CSP headers |
| Anonymous View Count | External views increment the broadcast’s view counter |
External sharing must be enabled at the business level in security settings before individual broadcasts can be shared.
📊 Analytics & Statistics
Track broadcast performance with comprehensive analytics at both the individual and aggregate level.
Per-Broadcast Statistics:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| View Count | Total times the broadcast has been viewed |
| Viewed Recipients | Count of unique recipients who opened the broadcast |
| Acknowledged Count | Number of employees who explicitly acknowledged |
| Reaction Breakdown | Counts grouped by reaction type |
| Comment Count | Total comments and unique commenters |
| Voice Call Stats | Attempted, delivered, acknowledged, and failed calls |
| Escalation Stats | Total, in-progress, acknowledged, and completed escalations |
| CSV Export | Download per-recipient data (name, email, department, location, view/ack status, reminders sent) |
Aggregate Analytics Dashboard (Admin):
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Total Broadcasts | Count by status (published, draft, archived) |
| Total Views | Sum of views across all broadcasts |
| Average Views | Mean views per published broadcast |
| Unique Viewers | Distinct employees who viewed any broadcast |
| Acknowledgment Rate | Percentage of viewers who acknowledged |
| Engagement Rate | Ratio of acknowledgers to viewers |
| Reminders Sent | Total reminders and users who received them |
| Email & SMS Counts | Estimated notification volume by channel |
| Monthly Trend | Broadcasts created per month over time |
Analytics support filtering by status, date range, and pagination.
📱 Mobile Experience
Employees can access all broadcast features from their mobile devices through dedicated mobile views.
| Mobile Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Broadcast Feed | Scrollable list of published broadcasts with infinite scroll |
| Filter Tabs | Filter by All, Unread, Acknowledged, or Critical |
| View Broadcast | Full broadcast detail with media, comments, and reactions |
| Acknowledge | One-tap acknowledgment directly from the broadcast view |
| Add Comment | Post comments and replies from mobile |
| React | Toggle emoji reactions with a single tap |
| Feed Stats | Quick stats showing total, unread, critical, and pending acknowledgments |
🏠 Dashboard Widget
Broadcasts appear on the main dashboard as announcements, keeping employees informed without navigating to the app.
| Widget Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Recent Broadcasts | Shows up to 10 most recent published broadcasts |
| Read Status | Unread broadcasts are visually distinguished |
| Priority Indicators | Critical broadcasts display with danger styling |
| Quick View | Click to read broadcast content inline |
| Type Classification | Broadcasts auto-categorized as Critical, Policy, System, Security, or General |
⚙️ App Settings & Configuration
Administrators configure the Broadcast app to match organizational communication needs.
Broadcast Settings:
| Setting | Description | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Archive Period | Automatically archive broadcasts after N weeks | 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 weeks |
| Auto-Close Comments | Comment threshold before auto-closing | 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 |
| Auto-Moderate Comments | Enable automatic content moderation | On / Off |
| Acknowledgment Reminder Frequency | Hours between reminder emails | 2, 4, 8, 24, 48 hours |
| Max Reminders | Maximum reminders per employee per broadcast | Any positive integer |
| External Sharing | Allow broadcasts to be shared externally | On / Off |
Permission Settings:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Allow Managers to Create | Grant all managers permission to create broadcasts |
| Allow Managers to Publish | Grant all managers permission to publish broadcasts |
Notification Settings:
| Category | Configurable Notifications |
|---|---|
| Broadcast Events | New broadcast published, acknowledgment reminder, comment added, broadcast archived/updated, urgent broadcast |
| Moderation Events | Comment requires moderation, comment approved/rejected |
| Analytics Alerts | Low engagement alert, acknowledgment deadline approaching |
| Channel Toggles | Email, SMS, In-App, Voice — each independently enabled/disabled |
| Timing | Acknowledgment reminder days, urgent notification delay, digest frequency, quiet hours |
Escalation Settings:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Turn escalation cascades on/off at the business level |
| Steps Configuration | Define ordered steps with channel type and wait time between each |
Background Jobs
The Broadcast app uses several background jobs to automate operations.
| Job | Purpose | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| BroadcastAcknowledgmentReminderJob | Sends reminders to employees who haven’t acknowledged | Runs periodically (every 2 hours) |
| AutoArchiveBroadcastsJob | Archives published broadcasts older than the configured period | Runs periodically |
| CleanupBroadcastDataJob | Archives broadcasts older than 1 year; cleans up snapshots and statuses for broadcasts archived 3+ months | Runs periodically |
| BroadcastVoiceCallJob | Initiates Twilio voice calls for individual recipients | Enqueued per recipient at publish time |
| BroadcastEscalationJob | Processes escalation steps for legacy escalation records | Enqueued per escalation step |
User Roles & Permissions
| Role | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Employee | View broadcasts targeted to them, acknowledge, comment, react, view on mobile and dashboard widget |
| Manager | All employee capabilities + create broadcasts (if permitted), view own broadcast stats |
| HR Admin | All manager capabilities + create/publish/archive broadcasts, view analytics dashboard, manage settings |
| System Admin | All HR capabilities + app-level configuration, external sharing settings, escalation configuration |
Permission Matrix:
| Action | Employee | Manager | HR/Admin | System Admin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Broadcasts | ✅ (targeted) | ✅ (all) | ✅ (all) | ✅ (all) |
| Acknowledge | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Comment & React | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Create Broadcast | — | ✅ (if permitted) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Publish Broadcast | — | ✅ (if permitted) | ✅ | ✅ |
| View Stats | — | ✅ (own broadcasts) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Analytics Dashboard | — | — | ✅ | ✅ |
| Manage Settings | — | — | ✅ | ✅ |
| External Sharing | — | — | ✅ | ✅ |
Getting Started
For Employees
- Navigate to Apps → Broadcast to see broadcasts targeted to you
- Broadcasts requiring your attention appear at the top—unacknowledged first, then critical, then unread
- Click a broadcast to read the full content and view attached media
- If acknowledgment is required, click the Acknowledge button to confirm you’ve read it
- Use emoji reactions to express your sentiment and comments to ask questions or share feedback
For Managers
- If your organization grants manager broadcast permissions, click New Broadcast to create one
- Write a clear title and description, attach relevant media, and select your target audience
- Choose whether to require acknowledgment and whether to mark it as critical
- Save as Draft to review later, or Save & Publish to send immediately
- After publishing, visit Stats to see who has viewed and acknowledged your broadcast
- Use Clone to reuse a successful broadcast format for future announcements
For HR Administrators
- Go to Settings to configure auto-archive periods, comment moderation, and reminder frequency
- Set up escalation cascades for critical communications that must reach every employee
- Enable external sharing if you need to share announcements with contractors or partners
- Use the Analytics dashboard to monitor engagement across all broadcasts
- Export CSV reports to share view and acknowledgment data with leadership
- Grant manager permissions to decentralize broadcast creation across your organization
Best Practices
For Creating Broadcasts
- ✅ Use clear, specific titles—employees scan titles to decide what to read first
- ✅ Keep descriptions concise—link to detailed documents rather than pasting full policies
- ✅ Attach visual media (images, PDFs) to increase engagement
- ✅ Only mark broadcasts as Critical when truly urgent—overuse causes alert fatigue
- ✅ Use Require Acknowledgment for compliance-critical communications (policy changes, safety alerts)
For Targeting & Delivery
- ✅ Target the narrowest relevant audience—don’t send department-specific news to the entire company
- ✅ Use escalation cascades for safety-critical broadcasts that must reach everyone
- ✅ Schedule critical broadcasts during business hours to maximize immediate visibility
- ✅ Enable voice calls only for truly urgent communications to respect employee boundaries
For Tracking & Follow-Up
- ✅ Monitor acknowledgment rates within the first 24 hours and send targeted reminders
- ✅ Export CSV reports for compliance documentation and audit trails
- ✅ Use the Analytics dashboard to identify engagement trends and optimize timing
- ✅ Enable comments to create a dialogue—employees may have important questions
- ✅ Review reaction data to gauge overall sentiment toward announcements
For Administrators
- ✅ Configure auto-archive to keep the broadcast feed clean and relevant
- ✅ Enable comment moderation to maintain professional discussion standards
- ✅ Set reasonable reminder limits (3-5 max) to avoid notification fatigue
- ✅ Use external sharing sparingly and regenerate tokens when access should be revoked
- ✅ Review escalation statistics to ensure the cascade is effective without being excessive
Related Resources
- Forms App Overview — Advanced form building can complement broadcast feedback collection
- Workforce Bots App Overview — Automate broadcast creation and delivery through bot workflows
The Broadcast App ensures your most important messages reach every employee, on every channel, with proof of delivery. From routine updates to critical safety alerts, communicate with confidence.
