Overview
Email communication is a critical component of the ATS. Guaranteed delivery of messages is table stakes - our customers expect and demand this. Whether it's sending job offers, interview invitations, or notifications, understanding how the system handles email delivery is critical. At BrightMove, we take this responsibility very seriously, and our goal is to ensure smooth and reliable correspondence.
How To Send Emails
Communicate Dropdown
To send a an email to an applicant or a hiring manager, you can pick options from the Communicate dropdown on the left. From this dropdown, you can select to send a template, blank email or blank SMS (if texting enabled and permitted).
Email Triggers and Communication Templates
In addition to the ability to send out impromptu email messages using the Communicate drop down, BrightMove uses automated triggers to send emails based on specific submittal statuses and the submittal workflow. For example, when a candidate applies for a job, a confirmation email indicating receipt of their application can be automatically sent. Email communication templates are pre-defined and customized email and SMS messages, allowing recruiters and hiring managers to maintain a consistent tone across communication while reducing manual effort.
Examples of Common Email Triggers:
Job creation and approval
Job application submissions
Submittal workflow status updates
Email Delivery & Deliverability Tracking
This is a technical overview of how email delivery works within BrightMove. When an email is triggered within BrightMove, it follows a well-defined delivery process to ensure successful delivery:
Request Generation
When an action within the ATS requires email communication, the system generates an email request. This request includes all relevant information such as recipient addresses, email content (using the selected template), and any attachments. All outbound emails are logged in an audit table for analysis and reporting.
Queue Management
To avoid overloading servers, email requests are queued and sent in order. This helps balance the system load during high-volume periods, such as when multiple job openings receive applications simultaneously. Email queues are monitored and managed for throughput.
Third-Party Email Provider
BrightMove integrates with a third-party email service provider called SendGrid to handle the actual email delivery. This service ensures high deliverability rates and allows for tracking of important events and metrics like delivery rates, open rates and bounce rates. There are two types of events tracked within BrightMove: delivery events and engagement events.
Additionally, using this external service helps BrightMove to prevent emails from being flagged as spam.
Important Note for Office 365 Users: When using BrightSync, the Office 365 integration, there are settings that allow users to send email through their Office 365 accounts. This bypasses our third party email service provider. If "Send With BrightMove" is toggled off, emails will be routed through the user's Office 365 account. See the BrightSync configuration guide for more info or ask support for help.
Important Note for Offer Letter Users: When sending an Offer Letter using an integrated eSignature platform like Docusign, the email communication with the signers is managed via the signing platform, and is outside the control of BrightMove. See the Offer Letter configuration guide for more info or ask support for help.
Email Delivery Indicators
When you see the icons below next to email activities, they represent specific events related to that message. You can click the icon for more information about that specific message.
Event Name | Icon | Event Type | Meaning |
Sent | Delivery | Occurs when a message is sent. | |
Delivered | Delivery | Occurs when a message is delivered. | |
Opened | Engagement | Occurs when a message is opened. | |
Clicked | Engagement | Occurs when a link in message is clicked. | |
Bounced | Delivery | Occurs when a message can't be delivered. |
Email Authentication
To ensure emails are recognized as legitimate and not filtered out by recipient email servers, BrightMove uses Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) and Sender Policy Framework (SPF) authentication protocols. These methods verify that emails are coming from authorized BrightMove servers.
Update on DKIM and SPF: As of August 2024, BrightMove no longer requires users to setup and maintain SPF records within their DNS services to ensure email deliverability. Our infrastructure management has made the setup and management of DKIM and SPF obsolete for our customers. |
Tracking and Reporting
Once an email is sent, BrightMove tracks important delivery and engagement events. Users can view:
Delivery Status: Whether the email was successfully delivered.
Open Rates: If the recipient opened the email.
Click-Through Rates (CTR): If there were any links, the system can track which recipients clicked them.
These insights help improve communication effectiveness.
Error Handling
In the event of a "bounce" (delivery failures due to things like invalid email addresses or inboxes being full), BrightMove will log the delivery event. Users can then review notifications tied to bounced emails and take corrective actions, such as updating email addresses or resending the communication. If an email has bounced, this means that the receiving server couldn't process the request and there is no way to deliver the message.
Notifications will appear under the Bell icon in the top right of the screen, next to your Avatar. If you see bounces appear in the notification panel, you should update the recipient's email to be a valid value.
Summary
BrightMove’s email system ensures timely, reliable, and customizable communication through its automated workflows, third-party integration, and robust tracking. It balances speed and security, ensuring messages reach candidates and clients while adhering to best practices like DKIM and SPF.