Automation Action: Wait For User Response

Waits for a user response before proceeding with the remaining actions for the Automation.

This action can be used to provide a human validation response in the form of a unique web form that must be completed before the Automation continues. This can be used to gather additional information from a user. ThinkAutomation will pause execution of the Actions for the current message until a user completes the web form. It will move on to process the next message whilst waiting for the validation of a previous one. A single Automation can contain multiple Wait For User Response actions. The web form can optionally contain Survey Fields. If any survey fields are specified then the user must complete the form before validating the message. The results of the Survey Fields are passed back to the Automation and can be used in subsequent actions

For each Wait For User Response request ThinkAutomation creates a unique Validation URL. You must send an email or SMS containing the %Msg_ValidationUrl% variable replacement to someone. When the recipient receives this email they click the URL to validate the message. Once validated the remaining actions setup on the Automation are then executed for that specific message. Validation URLs are secured using a one-way hash, so a user could not validate the wrong message by manually changing the URL.

You can either use a separate Send Email or Send SMS Action to send you own message containing the %Msg_ValidationUrl% variable (send before the Wait For User Response action itself) or enable the Send Request Via Email option to include the email sending within the Wait For User Response action itself. You can customize the email content. The Body text must contain %Msg_ValidationUrl% somewhere.

The Send Request Via Studio & Client Users option will send the validation request to any users running the ThinkAutomation Studio or ThinkAutomation Desktop Connector. Studio and Desktop Connector users can complete the validation request from there. You can specify specific Usernames or leave this blank to send to any ThinkAutomation Studio or Desktop Connector users (connected to your ThinkAutomation Server instance).

Show Accept Buttons

If this option is enabled then the validation page will show Accept & Not Accept buttons below the validation page message. The user must click the Accept button to validate the message. If the Do Not Accept button is clicked then the message is rejected and the Timeout/Not Accepted Action performed. If this option is not enabled then the user only needs to click the Validation URL to validate the message (unless survey fields are used - see below). You should adjust the Validation Page Message accordingly.

Continue On Timeout

If this option is enabled then the Automation will continue if the validate request has not been completed before time timeout. The Assign Result To variable will be set to 'expired'.

Max Wait Time (Mins)

This is the maximum number of minutes that ThinkAutomation should wait for the validation. It defaults to 2880 (48 hours).

Assign Result To

Select the variable to receive the validation result. This will be 'true', 'false' or 'expired'. Within your Automation you can then perform conditional actions based on the result.

Survey Fields

In addition to displaying a message, ThinkAutomation can optionally show a form containing any number of input fields. If any fields are specified then the user must complete the form before validating the message. The results of the form are passed back to the Automation and can be used in subsequent actions. Click Add to add a new input field.

Enter a Name and Label Text. You can also optionally specify Help Text that will display in a smaller font below the input field.

The Field Type can be:

• Text
• Number (numeric only)
• Date
• Boolean (check box)
• HTML Editor (a full featured HTML editor - returns HTML)
• Email (only a valid email address allowed)
• URL (only a valid URL allowed)
• Telephone
• Password
• Decimal
• Currency
• Time
• Range
• Label (displays the label text only - does not return a value)

For text field types you can specify the Max Length. The Max Lines option allows you to define the maximum lines.

The Attributes tab allows you to specify a default value, change case & validation rules. Enable the Validate option. When the web user completes the form they will not be able to submit it until all of the fields pass validation.

If you want the user to select possible values from a list, select the Must Be In List option and then enter the Choices. For example to show a list box showing 'Yes', 'No' & 'Not Sure', set the Field Type to 'Text', enable the Validate option, select the Must Be In List option and add Choices of 'Yes', 'No' and 'Not Sure'. The default value of the select list will be set to the Default Value entry.

You can arrange the order of fields on the form using the Up & Down buttons.

Assigning A Survey Field Value To A ThinkAutomation Variable

You must then select a ThinkAutomation variable to assign the entered value to. Select the variable from the Assign Value To list. Once a message is validated and the Automation continues execution, you will be able to make use of input values in subsequent actions.

A simple example would be a single field that asks 'Add customer %Name% to CRM?' - with a Y/N choice. The value can be assigned to a Variable called '%AddCRM%'. After the Wait For User Response Action you can add a conditional Action: 'If %AddCRM% Is Equal To Y Then ....'

The Wait For Used Response web page uses the ThinkAutomation Web API hosted in Azure, so it will work without requiring any local setup.