Acknowledgment Tracking on Announcements

1. What Acknowledgment Tracking Is

Acknowledgment Tracking is the feature that turns an Announcement from a one-way broadcast into a compliance record. When acknowledgment is required on an announcement, each recipient must actively confirm they've read it — by tapping an Acknowledge button, adding a digital signature, or both — before the announcement is considered seen by that person.

The result: you know exactly who has confirmed the announcement and who hasn't. Not just whether the notification was delivered — whether the person actually opened it and explicitly confirmed.

Use acknowledgment tracking for:

• New SOPs that all employees must formally confirm they've received and understood
• Policy changes with compliance implications
• Safety alerts that require documented awareness
• Limited-time offer rollouts where stores need to confirm they're ready to execute
• Training material distribution where sign-off is required

Don't require acknowledgment for routine informational announcements where a read receipt isn't necessary — it adds friction for lower-stakes communications. 

2. Configuring Acknowledgment on an Announcement

During announcement creation:

1. Find the Acknowledgment or Require Acknowledgment setting
2. Toggle it on
3. Configure acknowledgment type:
   • Tap to Acknowledge: Recipient taps a button confirming they've read the announcement. Simple, low-friction. Good for most SOP and policy updates.
   • Signature Required: Recipient draws or types a digital signature before the announcement is considered acknowledged. Higher-friction but creates a formal signed record. Good for HR documents, legal notices, or compliance-critical communications.
4. Optional: add a custom acknowledgment message — the text the recipient sees on the confirmation button or above the signature field. "I have read and understood the new closing procedure." "I confirm I have received this safety notice."

3. What the Recipient Sees

When a recipient opens an announcement that requires acknowledgment:

1. The announcement content is displayed — they read the full text and any attachments
2. At the bottom, the acknowledgment prompt appears — an Acknowledge button or a signature field
3. They tap or sign to confirm
4. The acknowledgment is timestamped and recorded

On mobile, this takes about 5 seconds for a tap acknowledgment. A signature requires the recipient to draw on the screen — about 15–20 seconds. Neither requires any additional login or verification.

4. Viewing Acknowledgment Tracking Data

From Communications → Announcements → [Announcement Name]:

The acknowledgment tracking view shows:

• Acknowledged: The count and list of users who have confirmed, with timestamp for each
• Pending: The count and list of users who have received the announcement but not yet acknowledged
• Filterable by location — "Show me who hasn't acknowledged at Store 12 specifically"
• Exportable as a list for compliance records

This data is available in real time — as each person acknowledges, the count updates immediately. You can check status an hour after publishing, a day later, or a week out.

5. Following Up on Pending Acknowledgments

When acknowledgments are pending, there are two approaches:

Send a reminder: From inside the announcement, look for a Remind Pending or Follow Up option that sends a push notification to all users who haven't yet acknowledged. The reminder references the original announcement so recipients go directly to it.

Escalate through a manager: If specific stores or roles have high pending rates, contact the relevant store manager or shift lead. They can prompt their team to complete the acknowledgment during a shift briefing or handoff.

Set a deadline: Some announcement configurations allow setting an acknowledgment deadline — a date by which all recipients should have confirmed. After the deadline, unacknowledged recipients are clearly flagged in the tracking view.

Acknowledgments as a Compliance Record

The acknowledgment tracking data is exportable. From the announcement view, export the acknowledgment list as a CSV or PDF showing:

• Employee name
• Role and location
• Acknowledgment timestamp (or "Pending" if not acknowledged)
• Signature image (if signature acknowledgment was required)

Best Practices for SOP Distribution via Announcements

For organizations using Announcements as the primary SOP distribution channel:

1. Name announcements with effective dates: "Closing Procedure v2 — Effective 01/15" makes historical tracking clear
2. Require signature acknowledgment for high-stakes SOPs: The extra friction is worth it when the record matters
3. Set a 48–72 hour acknowledgment window: Give employees time across shifts to complete it, but maintain urgency
4. Follow up at the 24-hour mark: Check who's pending, remind managers for locations with low acknowledgment rates
5. Export the record on deadline day: File the compliance record in whatever system your organization uses for documentation

This export is the compliance record — usable for audits, regulatory inspections, HR files, or franchise compliance reporting. If a health inspector asks whether all employees received and acknowledged the updated food safety SOP, this export is your answer.