Introduction
The Custom Pulse feature in the Workforce Experience Platform (WXP) offers a flexible and customizable tool to send surveys and notifications to your employees for gathering feedback and sharing important information. Unlike Sentiment Pulses, which are predefined and focused on measuring overall employee satisfaction with technology, Custom Pulses can be tailored to address specific topics, issues, or projects relevant to your organization.
With Custom Pulses, you (IT administrators) can include various types of questions, such as multiple-choice, rating scales, or open-ended questions and notifications. You can also decide the timing and target audience to ensure the pulse reaches the right audience. Custom Pulses are typically used as one-time feedback on specific initiatives, such as new software rollouts, changes in processes, or gathering insights on specific departmental challenges. They can also be used to send out notifications, informing employees of scheduled maintenances or outages.
This article provides a step-by-step guide to:
Note: Some features mentioned here are available only with select subscription plans.
Creating a Custom Survey
Follow these steps to create a new custom survey:
Log in to WXP. The Home page is displayed.
From the left menu of the platform, click Pulses. The Pulses page is displayed.
Click Create and select Custom Pulse from the dropdown. The Custom Pulse page is displayed with a default title, showing three tabs - Content, Schedule, and Audience.
Use the default Title that is suffixed with the creation date or enter a new title.
(Optional) Ensure the Company logo is correct. If required, use the Settings page of the platform to update the logo.
Use the toggle to turn off the option to display the logo.
In the Content tab, select New question to add different types of questions, such as Multi-select, Single-select, Thumbs up, 5-star rating, Comment box, and Net Promoter Score (NPS).
For detailed information, refer to section below — Building Your Pulse.
Go to the Schedule tab and select one of the options — Date-based or Event-initiated.
Date-based: Update the following details:
Duration: Enter the Start date and time as well as the End date.
By default, the Has end date toggle is enabled. Disable if you do not wish to specify an end date.
Priority
Standard: Default setting.
Pulse will appear once an employee finishes screen sharing, ends video/audio calls, exits full-screen apps, disables "Do not disturb" mode on their device.
Employees can snooze a Pulse up to 3 times before they must respond or dismiss it.
Adheres to employees only receiving a maximum of 1 pulse per day to avoid survey fatigue.
Urgent: Use selectively for critical information, as this may interrupt the audience's workflow.
Pulse appears regardless of screensharing, video/audio sessions, full-screen app usage, or "Do not disturb" mode on device.
The system will send pulse immediately regardless of other previously sent pulses.
Frequency: By default, the Repeat feature is turned off. To set up recurring Custom Pulses, turn on the toggle.
When enabled, you can specify the frequency of the survey by using the Every field, where you can set the Interval, such as Days, Weeks, Months, and Years.
For example, when the value for the Every field is 2 and the Interval is weekly, the survey is sent every 2 weeks.
Event-initiated: Select an event to trigger the pulse. The Event parameter section is displayed. Add the following details:
Length of platform device enrollment: the length of time a user's device has been enrolled on the platform.
Equals: Enter the value and select a duration from dropdown - Days, Weeks, Months, and Years.
For example, to trigger a survey for employees who have had their device enrolled in WXP for 2 years: Select the Event as Length of platform device enrollment where Equals value is 2 Years.
Go to the Audience tab, select the target audience using one of the following criteria.
Dynamic: Define the audience by using filter criteria based on device or employee properties. For example, you can create a filter where the Field is "Operating system," the Operator is "Equal to," and the Value is "Windows 11 Enterprise". This filter will ensure that only employees using Windows 11 Enterprise are targeted for the survey. You can add multiple filters to gather more focused feedback.
To leverage organizational hierarchy-based filters such as Employee department and Employee office location, set up the Entra ID accounts connector which can be found by navigating to the Integrations page in the left navigation. More information regarding the set-up can be found here.
Static: Define the audience by uploading a CSV file with either email addresses or serial numbers of the devices. For example, to gather feedback from employees who participated in a pilot program, create a CSV file with their email addresses and upload it. This will ensure that only the selected individuals receive the survey.
Entra ID groups: Define the audience by leveraging pre-existing groups in Entra ID. To import your Entra ID groups into our platform go to the Groups page in the left navigation, click Add and select Entra ID. This will walk you through the one-time flow to set up your Entra ID groups connector. More information regarding the set-up can be found here.
All enrolled devices: Define the audience to include all employees who have enrolled devices.
In the Audience tab, use the Reach feature to calculate the estimated number of employees the survey will reach.
Click Publish. A confirmation message is displayed - Are you sure you want to publish <Title of the survey>?
Click Publish to proceed; otherwise, click Cancel.
The survey will be published as per the schedule to the selected audience.
Viewing Results of a Custom Survey
Follow these steps to view the results of a custom survey:
From the left menu of WXP, click Pulses. The Pulses page is displayed.
Click on a pulse title to view the following details:
Duration: The Start date, Start Time, and the End date of the survey.
Overview Metrics: The following details are displayed:
Delivered: Indicates the total number of survey invitations that were successfully delivered to the target audience.
Viewed: Shows the number of recipients who have viewed the survey invitation.
Total responses: Indicates the total number recipients who have completed the survey.
Unique responses: The number of unique devices which responded.
Response rate: The percentage of recipients who completed the survey out of the total number of recipients.
Results: Review the feedback for each question of the survey. It provides a visual indicator of the satisfaction levels, pressing issues, and challenges faced by employees.
Understanding Survey Question Types
You can add up to 30 questions when you navigate to the Content tab - see question types below:
Multi-select: Employees can choose one or more answers.
In the Question type dropdown, select the option Multi-select. A text box is displayed to enter the Question followed by three additional fields -Option 1, Option 2, and Option 3 - to enter answer choices.
Single-select: Employees select one of the given options.
In the Question type dropdown, select the option Single-select. A text box is displayed to enter the Question followed by three additional fields -Option 1, Option 2, and Option 3 - to enter answer choices.
Thumbs up: Employees choose thumbs up or thumbs down.
5-star rating: Employees rate between 1 and 5 stars, with customizable labels.
In the Question type dropdown, select the option 5-star rating. A text box is displayed to enter the Question followed by the option to Use default labels, such as 1 star (low rating) and 5-star high rating).
To specify your own label, turn off the toggle next to Use default labels and enter your preferred labels for 1 and 5 stars.
Comment Box: Employees provide written feedback.
In the Question type dropdown, select the option Comment box. A new field appears to enter the Question.
Net Promoter Score: Users rate their likelihood to recommend.
In the Question type dropdown, select the option Net promoter score. A question "How likely is it that you would recommend to a friend or colleague?” is displayed along with a text box to enter the name of the brand, product, or service.
Enter the name of the brand, product, or service.
Note: When designing questions, follow your organization’s best practices to avoid collecting personally identifiable information (PII).
Creating Custom Notifications
Follow these steps to create a new custom notification:
From the left menu of WXP, click Pulses. The Pulses page is displayed.
Click Create and select Custom Pulse from the dropdown. The Custom Pulse page is displayed with a default title, showing three tabs - Content, Schedule, and Audience.
Use the default Title that is suffixed with the creation date or enter a new title.
(Optional) Ensure the Company logo is correct. If not, use the Settings page to update it.
Use the toggle button to turn off the option to display the logo.
In the Content tab, select New notification.
A text box is displayed to enter your message.
(Optional) Include an external link if required, in the format - [External link] (https://www.example.com).
Go to the Schedule tab, and select one of the following options:
Date-based: Update the following:
Duration: Enter the Start date and time as well as the End date.
By default, the Has end date toggle is enabled. Disable if you do not wish to specify an end date.
Priority
Standard: Default setting.
Pulse will appear once an employee finishes screen sharing, ends video/audio calls, exits full-screen apps, disables "Do not disturb" mode on their device.
Employee can snooze a Pulse up to 3 times before they must respond or dismiss it.
Adheres to employee only receiving a maximum of 1 pulse per day to avoid survey fatigue.
Urgent: Use selectively for critical information, as this may interrupt the audience's workflow.
Pulse appears regardless of screensharing, video/audio sessions, full-screen app usage, or "Do not disturb" mode on device.
System will send pulse immediately regardless of other previously sent pulses.
Frequency: By default, the Repeat feature is turned off. To set up recurring Custom Pulses, turn on the toggle. When enabled, you can specify how often the survey should be sent out using the Every field, where you can set the Interval, such as Days, Weeks, Months, and Years.
For example, when the value for the Every field is 2 and the Interval is weekly, the survey is sent every 2 weeks.
Event-initiated: Select an event to trigger the notification. The Event parameter section is displayed. Add the following details:
Length of platform device enrollment - the length of time a user's device has been enrolled on the platform.
Equals: Enter the value and select a duration from dropdown - Days, Weeks, Months, and Years.
For example, to trigger a notification for employees who have had their device enrolled in WXP for 2 years: Select the Event as Length of platform device enrollment where Equals value is 2 Years.
Go to the Audience tab, select the target audience using one of the following criteria.
Dynamic: Define the audience by using filter criteria based on device or employee properties. For example, you can create a filter where the Field is "Operating system," the Operator is "Equal to," and the Value is "Windows 11 Enterprise". This filter will ensure that only employees using Windows 11 Enterprise are targeted for the survey. You can add multiple filters to gather more focused feedback.
To leverage organizational hierarchy-based filters such as Employee department and Employee office location, set up the Entra ID accounts connector which can be found by navigating to the Integrations page in the left navigation. More information regarding the set-up can be found here.
Static: Select the audience by uploading a CSV file with either email addresses or serial numbers of the devices. For example, to gather feedback from employees who participated in a pilot program, create a CSV file with their email addresses and upload it. This will ensure that only the selected individuals receive the survey.
Entra ID groups: Define the audience by leveraging pre-existing groups in Entra ID. To import your Entra ID groups into our platform go to the Groups page in the left navigation, click Add and select Entra ID. This will walk you through the one-time flow to set up your Entra ID groups connector. More information regarding the set-up can be found here.
All enrolled devices: Define the audience to include all employees who have enrolled devices.
In the Audience tab, use the Reach feature to calculate the estimated number of employees the notification will reach.
Click Publish. A confirmation message is displayed - Are you sure you want to publish <Title of the notification>?
Click Publish to proceed; otherwise, click Cancel.
The notification will be published as per the schedule to the selected audience.
Viewing Responses
To view response related metrics surrounding a Custom notification:
From the left menu of WXP, click Pulses. The Pulses page is displayed.
Click on a pulse title to view the following details:
Delivered: Indicates the total number of survey invitations that were successfully delivered to the target audience.
Viewed: Shows the number of recipients who have viewed the survey invitation.
Click-through rate (if a link was included in the notification): The percentage of recipients that viewed the pulse, who clicked on the link.
Note: In the Pulse list for notifications, Responses are displayed as N/A because responses are not expected from notifications.
Ending a Survey or Notification Early
To end an existing survey or notification manually:
From the left menu of the Workforce Experience Platform, click Pulses. The Pulses page is displayed.
Click on the title of the survey that you want to end. The survey/notification details page is displayed.
Click End from the top right corner. A confirmation window is displayed - “Are you sure you want to end <title>?”
Click End to proceed; otherwise, click Cancel.
The selected survey or notification will no longer appear for the users.
Related Resources
For additional information about the Pulses feature, refer to the following articles:
Contact Us
For any assistance, create a support case or email `[email protected]`.