Setting up Location-Based Messages

In order to set up Location-Based Messages, you must first create all the messages within the DoubleDutch CMS and then configure the beacons within the content management system provided by your beacon supplier. Follow these instructions to set up your messages within the DoubleDutch CMS:

Log in to the CMS at http://cms.doubledutch.me and click “Setup” from the top menu.

Select “Location Based Messages” on the left and then click the “+Add Beacon” button at the top to create a new message.

1. From the “Beacon Message Type” dropdown select the type of message you would like to send.
   
   
   • Reference https://customersupport.doubledutch.me/hc/en-us/articles/206265927-Intro-to-Location-Based-Messages to learn about the differences between the messages.
     
     
2. Once you have selected your message type, next assign the name for the beacon that will be broadcasting the message.
   
   
   • We recommend using the name that is printed on the beacon you purchased so that it is easy to keep track of.
     
     
3. Next, using no more than 25 characters, provide the message title that will appear on the notification.
   
   
4. In the next message body field, use no more than 90 characters to compose the message in your notification.
   
   
   • If you are creating a welcome message, you can skip to step 9
     
     
5. If you are creating a survey/poll, content, or exhibit message, you will be able to customize the action button text in this box using no more than 12 characters.

• This is the button an attendee would press on the notification to take them to the linked item.

In the "linked ___" box, you will want to create the link to the item in the app that will open when the attendee taps the action button.

• For a survey/poll message, first select the type of item you want to link to, and then you will see a “select” box appear. Once that box has appeared, type the name of the survey or poll you would like to link to your message.
• For a content message, you will see a “linked item” box appear where you can link to any standard item in your app. Take note this can only link to a single item within an app section, and not the app section itself.
• For an exhibitor message, type the name of the exhibitor you’d like the attendee to be taken to within the app in the “Linked Exhibitor” box.

6 & 7.  Start and end time: it's possible to schedule a message to only trigger within a specific time frame. 

• If no start/end times are entered, then there will be no time restriction around when a beacon signal can trigger this message in the app.

8.  Minutes to trigger: for each type of beacon message you can adjust the time delay, i.e. how long an attendee has to be in the proximity of the beacon in order to receive the message. For example, if the time delay is set to 5 minutes, a user will have to be in the proximity of the beacon for 5 minutes or longer.

9.  Click Save Changes and you will be taken to the list of all your Location-Based Messages.

10.  Repeat steps 1-9 for all of the messages you’d like to create. Once all your messages have been set up, continue to the next step to configure your beacons.

As soon as you create and save a message, you will be able to see the UUID, Major and Minor by clicking on the name of the message in the CMS.   UUID stands for Universally Unique Identifier. This provides flexibility in setting up the messages, ability to work more easily with different beacon vendors, and to distinguish iBeacons configured for your event from all other beacons outside your control. 

You can simply use the numbers that are automatically generated by the CMS for the UUID, Major and Minor, or you can edit the numbers for the 3 fields to be whatever you would like for easier tracking. 

Using these IDs, you can assign multiple messages onto a single ibeacon as long as the times do not overlap (for example, if you have message 1 triggering between 2-4pm, you can have message 2 trigger between 4-6pm from the same beacon).

To do this, set the appropriate start/end times for each message, and simply make sure that the messages you want triggered from the same beacon have the same UUID, Major and Minor. 

Configure Your Beacons

Once your messages have been set up in the DoubleDutch CMS it is time to configure your beacons. The beacon configuration will take place in the content management system provided by your beacon supplier.  Below we will be using our recommended beacon provider, Kontakt.io, to explain how to set up the beacons. To learn more about Kontakt.io, please see the FAQ for info on recommended beacon providers.

1. Email the UUID, Major, and Minor values from the CMS to yourself.
   • From the Location Based Messages page in the CMS where you’ve set up your messages, select all of your messages using the check box on the top left
   • Then select the “actions” dropdown on the right, and from there select “email info”.
   • Once you receive the email, open it on your iOS device that also has the Kontakt iOS app installed on it to see all your beacon information.
   • Take note that when working with Kontakt beacons, you can only edit their information from their iOS app.
2. Log in to the Kontakt iOS app using your Administrator account, and from the settings page, scroll down and select "Enter Administrator Mode".
   
   
3. One by one, copy the UUID, Major, and Minor values from the email, and paste them into the respective fields for each beacon in the Kontakt app.
• For a quicker process, you can copy the UUID and Major value once and paste it into the correct field for all your beacons as these do not change.  Take note that the minor value will be different for all your beacons.
• Take note that the Kontakt app will only show you the beacons it detects as nearby so be sure to have all the beacons with you when doing the configuration.
4. Be sure to save your changes every time you paste a new value by tapping "Done" on the device keyboard.
5. Repeat this process for all your beacons and they will be set up to trigger messages in the DoubleDutch app.