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How do I send messages with Buzz?

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Buzz provides multiple ways to email individuals, select groups, an entire class, or students across all courses.

If your school allows messages to be sent from Buzz, they are sent in one of two ways:

  • Email: This delivers mail to the recipient's external email address. When sending email:
    • All recipients receive an individual email.
    • You are able include Observers with a verified email or send email only to Observers.
    • You can send a copy to yourself.
    • Recipients cannot reply directly to the email.
  • Buzz Inbox: This delivers messages to the recipient's Buzz Inbox. When sending an Inbox message:
    • You can choose to send each recipient an individual email or create a group thread where recipients can see each others' replies.
    • Recipients can reply directly to the message from their own Buzz Inbox. Replies are delivered to your Inbox.
    • You can review, edit, and/or delete your sent message in your Inbox > Sent folder.
    • You cannot message Observers directly, but they can access their students' Inbox.

Your school can use only one of these methods.

If you are unsure about whether your school uses Email or Inbox messages, contact your administrator or Agilix support.

Email vs Inbox messages

If the paper airplane icon appears in your course, you have either email or Inbox messages enabled.

  1. If, when you hover over the tool, it says Send mail, your school uses email. The message you send will go to the recipient's external email.
  2. If, when you hover over the tool, it says New message, your school uses Inbox messages. The message you send will go to the recipient's Buzz Inbox and you can find your message by navigating to your Inbox and looking at your Sent folder.

Messaging with Email enabled

If email is enabled by your administrator, you can Send mail from the following locations:

Email with the People and Announcement tools

To send email using the People or Announcement tools:

  1. Open the tool from the Main Menu.
  2. Click Send Mail in the toolbar.  
  1. Click the To field to see a dropdown of potential recipients. You can only message members of the course you have selected.
  2. Click the dropdown below the To field to choose to:
    • Send to recipients
    • Send to recipients and observers
    • Send to observers only, which will send the email to only the observers of the chosen recipients.
  3. Indicate whether you want a copy sent to yourself.
  4. Compose your message and Send.

In the People tool, you can select recipients using student checkboxes, so when you click Send Mail, those students are already in the To field. Follow the same steps outlined above.

Email with the Clipboard

To email using the Clipboard:

  1. Open the Clipboard from the toolbar (or Main Menu).
  2. Select the Messages tab.
  3. Add the intended student(s), Quick Lists, and/or Groups using the panel on the left. Select a course to limit recipient options to that course.
  4. The Send to dropdown allows you to choose Recipients (the selected students), Recipients and observers, or Observers only ("observers" means observers observers of the selected students).  
  5. Indicate whether you want a copy sent to yourself.
  6. Compose the message in the Send Mail panel on the right and click Send.

Message with Inbox enabled

If Inbox messaging is enabled by your administrator, you can create and send New messages from the following locations:

Messages sent from with Inbox are subject to data limitations.

Send Inbox message from People tool

To send an Inbox message using the People tool:

  1. Open the People tool from the Main Menu.
  2. Click New message in the toolbar.  
  1. Add recipients to the thread in the To field. Messages are organized by course, so if you choose recipients from two different courses, separate messages are created for each course.
  2. Create a Subject that will be displayed in the message header.
  3. Compose your message.
  4. Attach any files.
  5. When sending to multiple recipients, use the Send as a group message (makes recipients and replies visible to everyone) checkbox to determine the type of thread you want to start:
    • When disabled: All recipients receive the message as though it were sent only to them and can reply only to the sender.
    • When enabled: Recipients can see who else received the message and their replies are seen by all other recipients.
  6. Send.

You can review, edit, or delete your sent messages in your Inbox.

In the People tool, you can select recipients using student checkboxes, so when you click New message, those students are already in the To field. Follow the same steps outlined above.

Send Inbox message from the Clipboard

To send an Inbox message using the Clipboard:

  1. Open the Clipboard from the toolbar (or Main Menu).
  2. Select the Messages tab.
  3. Add the intended student(s), Quick Lists, and/or Groups using the panel on the left. Select a course to limit recipient options to that course.
  4. Compose the message and attach files.
  5. When sending to multiple recipients, use the Send as a group message (makes recipients and replies visible to everyone) checkbox to determine the type of thread you want to start:
    • When disabled: All recipients receive the message as though it were sent only to them and can reply only to the sender.
    • When enabled: Recipients can see who else received the message and their replies are seen by all other recipients.
  6. Send.

You can review, edit, or delete your sent messages in your Inbox.

Additional articles

Tips

  • You and your students must have valid external email addresses linked to your Buzz account to send messages; you can verify your email in the User Menu. Contact your domain admin if you need help with this.
  • The Clipboard is the only place that allows you to message students across multiple courses.
  • Using Quick Lists can save you time while still enabling you to provide the personalized attention your students need.
  • Email signatures for messages sent from Buzz automatically read "Sent from Buzz..."
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