This article introduces how administrators can send important announcements to all team members by using the Announcement app in Lark.
I. Introduction
Announcement is an official app provided by Lark Technology. Through this app, administrators can send an announcement to all employees or specific departments. The announcement appears as a notification card in Lark.
With the coronavirus outbreak, Announcement can now be used to broadcast important notices to employees such as back-to-work plans and coronavirus reports.
Administrators can leverage Announcements along with the Health Report app to monitor and report any abnormal health conditions and download the appropriate data to track existing employee health. Administrators can also use the Buzz, resend and I sign features to ensure that all staff has received an important announcement.
II. New features
We continue to hope that Announcements can help enterprises better convey information, so we've optimized Announcement with the following features:
- •Upgraded editor with richer content styles including adjusting text format, inserting links, etc.
- •The announcement detail page. Users can view more content in a separate pop-up window through the Bot message card.
- •Administrators can import employee data via Excel and send announcements to specific users.
- •Employees need to sign and confirm when notified.
- •Buzz users with unread or unsigned announcements by app alerts or phone calls as a reminder.
III. How to use Announcement
- 1.Activate Announcement app
Administrators click Workplace - App List, find Announcement app in the list, and click the Enable apps and configure available range at right.
Note: You can also deactivate the Announcement app on the Announcement configuration page.
- 2.Set the Announcement administrator
There are 2 types of administrative roles:
Role | Permission | How to set a role | |
Send, edit, manage announcements | Set administrator and manage a range | ||
Super administrator/app administrator | Full range | Yes | Admin |
Announcement administrator | Specified range | No | Need super administrator/app administrator to go to Announcement Admin to set |
2.1 Set the super administrator/app administrator
Super administrator/app administrator can send, edit, manage the announcements in full range. They can also set the announcement administrator and the announcement administrator’s administrative scope.
Super administrator, go to Settings - Administrator Permissions in Admin:
- •Set super administrator: on the Super administrator page, click Add Super Administrator at the top right corner, enter a name and click Confirm to complete the setting. If you need to delete, you can click delete in the super administrator list.
- •Set app administrator: on the Administrator page, click Add Administrator at the top right corner, enter a name, check App Management box, set Announcement as the specified application, and click Confirm to complete adding app administrators. If you need to delete, you can click delete in the administrator list.
2.2 Set the announcement administrator
Announcement administrators can send, edit, manage the announcements in a specified range.
(1) Go to the Settings page
Super administrator/app administrator can open the Announcement app and click Announcement admin setting at the top right corner.
(2) Add announcement administrator
- •Click Add announcement administrator at the top right corner.
- •Add specified members as announcement administrator and add the sending range.
- •Click Save to add, then the specified members can send an announcement.
Note:
- 1.Up to 10 administrators can be added at a time.
- 2.Announcement BOT will automatically send notifications to members after successfully added.
(3) Manage announcement administrator
- •Modify sending range: Click Modify in the administrator list to modify an administrator's sending range.
- •Delete announcement administrator: Click Delete in the administrator list to delete an administrator. Please note that the administrator can't send announcements and the announcements (including drafts) created by the administrator will be transferred to you after successfully deleted.
Note:
- 1.Announcement administrator can view own sending range on this page.
- 2.After successfully modified/deleted, the Announcement BOT will automatically notify the member about the changes.
- 3.Super administrator/app administrator can send announcements to all members by default. The sending range can't be modified. If you want to delete these 2 types of administrators, you need to go to Admin to set.
- 3.Creating announcements
3.1 Go to Announcement management page
There are two methods to enter Announcement management page:
Method 1:
Visit Lark Admin, enter App List - Announcement Configuration.
Click Go to Desktop Homepage.
Method 2:
From your desktop, select Workplace, and then click the Announcement app.
3.2 Select Announcement recipients
Step 1: Click New on the Announcement management page
Step 2: Click the input box next to To and select the recipients to be notified
Step 3: Select the appropriate Contacts, or all users within a specified department, or specified users.
You can also import an employee list to set recipients.
Step 1: Click the button on the right side of the input box to download the template
Step 2: Enter the employees' emails or employee IDs in the template and upload
Step 3: When uploaded, parse the results that will be shown. Successfully parsed ones will be added to the recipient list. Then click Confirm.
Note: Currently, you can only import employees' emails or employee IDs.
3.3 Edit announcements
You can edit the title and body of an announcement. The text format of the body can be adjusted, such as font, color, alignment, etc. You can also insert links, images, references, and other elements to enrich the content styles.
Announcement can be edited in both Chinese and English. Corresponding announcements will be sent to employees according to the language version of the Lark app they are using. (An employee using the Chinese version will receive the Chinese announcement, and an employee using the English version will receive the English announcement.)
3.4 Show Announcement creator
Click Show creator, and enter the creator's name. The name will be shown at the top of the message card and announcement detail page.
3.5 Require recipients to click I Signed
If you want employees to sign important announcements, click the box Need users to click "I Signed". Announcement recipients must then go to the announcement detail page and click "I Signed" to confirm. Employees' signed and unsigned status will be synced to the Announcement management page.
3.6 Set Buzz!
Click the box next to Buzz Now on the Announcement management page to send a Buzz! at the same time when the announcement is sent.
Otherwise, select Buzz at Set Time to send Buzz! if the announcement is unread within a given period. The two kinds of Buzzes can be set individually or simultaneously.
- •Buzz with app alert can be set in the following 13 time periods: 5 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins, 30 mins, 1 hour ... 96 hours.
- •Buzz with a phone call can be set in the following 10 time periods: 30 mins, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours ... 96 hours.
Note: If Buzz with app alert and Buzz with a phone call are set at the same time, then the period for a phone call should be longer than the period for app alert.
3.7 Send an announcement
Click Send, and an authentication code will be sent to the administrator's mobile phone.
Enter the verification code, and the Announcement will be sent to the recipients.
Note: It is recommended to click Preview before sending it.
You can also click Send at Set Time, edit the announcement in advance and set the time to send it.
- 4.Manage announcements
4.1 Check announcements' status
To check if an announcement is read or signed, you can enter the announcement list and click Reading Details or Download details.
You can resend an announcement to the users who haven't read or signed the document. This is done by selecting Send. You can further customize the prompt to remind unread or unsigned recipients of the announcement.
4.2 Withdraw an announcement
You can withdraw an announcement, check, and download the status of viewing or signing of the Announcement on the Announcement management page.
Note: Announcements can only be withdrawn before one hour has passed.
View Announcements as an Employee
- 1.Receive announcement notification
After the administrator sends the announcement notification, the employees will receive a Bot messages on the mobile app and PC app.
- 2.View announcement details
Click View Details of the Bot message card, to view more details in a separate window. Employees' signed and unsigned status will sync to the Announcement management page.
- 3.Check announcement feedbacks
If the administrator selected that they Need users to click "I Signed", the message card will remind employees to sign off. Employees can click View Details of the Bot message card and click the "I Signed" button at the bottom of the announcemen
IV. FAQs
1. Can I send attachments in the Announcement?
Attachments aren't supported yet. Our developers are trying their best to optimize the feature.
2. Can I send an announcement on my phone?
You currently cannot edit or send an Announcement on your mobile phone. You can do this from Lark Admin, or launch the Announcement app from your desktop. See creating announcements in How to use Announcements for more information.