How Do I: Manage Groups of Numbers?

It's easy to send and receive messages from groups using AlertDispatcher Pro.  The basic concepts are:

1. Anyone that you want to send messages to or receive messages from must first be in the Address Book.  
2. People can be in as many groups as you want.  There is no requirement for people to be in any groups at all or they can be in many groups. 
3. The standard version of AlertDispatcher Pro allows up to five groups.  For additional groups contact [e-mail].
4. Each group is assigned a different phone number.  This is transparent to the dispatcher as all messages will be sent and received from the Message Inbox regardless of whether they are to groups or individuals.  When a message is sent to an individual as part of a group message it will come from a different number than a message between only the dispatcher and the recipient.  This is to allow the recipient (typically someone in the field) to respond to the group message separately from an individual message.  If all messages were sent/received using the same number there would be no way for the user to distinguish which message they were replying to.  
5. Individuals can be added to groups using either this Manage Groups page or the Manage Contacts window that appears when a new contact is added or an existing contact is being edited.  

The screenshot below illustrates all of the key functions of the Manage Groups page.  Numbered annotations are associated with the explanations below the screenshot.

Item descriptions are:

1. You can show all groups or use this dropdown menu to showing only the groups that are associated with one contact. 
2. Search by a group name, an individual name or any other text string.  This is very helpful if you have a long list and don't want to scroll through it to find an entry.
3. After entering your search criteria be sure to click "Show List" to refresh the list of entries that match your criteria.
4. This is the total number of records that match your search criteria after you click the "Show List" button.
5. The list of groups by group name.
6. The individuals that are assigned to that group.
7. Click the "gear" button to bring up the "Manage Groups" screen that will allow you easily add or remove individuals to the group. It looks like this:
   
8. When you want to add a new group click this button and a blank "New Group" screen will open allowing you to enter the name of the group and click a checkbox next to the names of people that you want to assign to that group.

Using groups to send and receive messages is a powerful feature of AlertDispatcher Pro.  If you need any further assistance beyond with this guide offers email [e-mail].