Notification Usage Tracking

Notification Usage Tracking

The system tracks notification usage per funding period to help you monitor communication costs and identify unusual patterns. This is especially useful for budgeting and compliance.

Accessing Usage Statistics

1. Go to Admin > Notifications
2. Click the 'Usage' tab
3. View usage statistics for all funding periods

What's Tracked

The system tracks two types of notifications separately:

Parent Notifications

• Emails sent - Submission invites, reminders, confirmations to parents
• SMS messages sent - Text messages to parent mobile numbers
• Combined total - Total parent communications (email + SMS)

Report Emails

• Report emails - Scheduled report deliveries, export notifications

Soft-Limit Thresholds

Each funding period has configurable thresholds that help you monitor usage:

• Parent Notification Threshold - Expected maximum parent communications
• Report Email Threshold - Expected maximum report emails

Usage Display

The usage table shows:

• Funding Period - Name and date range
• Parent Notifications - Current count vs threshold with progress bar
• Report Emails - Current count vs threshold with progress bar
• Status - Visual indicator (green/amber/red)
• Over Threshold - Count of notifications exceeding the soft limit

Status Indicators

Soft Limits vs Hard Limits

The thresholds are soft limits - they do not prevent notifications from being sent. They serve as:

• Budgeting guidance
• Anomaly detection (unusually high usage may indicate issues)
• Audit trail for over-threshold notifications

Configuring Thresholds

Default thresholds are set in system configuration:

• Parent Notifications: 500 per period (default)
• Report Emails: 100 per period (default)

Contact your system administrator to adjust default thresholds.