Backup email notifications

The Importance of Backup Email Notifications

In Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) and Experience Sampling Method (ESM) studies, reliable participant prompting is critical.

ExpiWell relies on Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to dispatch push notifications. However, a notification dispatch can occasionally fail outright—such as when a participant’s device token is missing or invalid (often because they uninstalled the app or switched devices), or if FCM encounters a server-level dispatch error.

To protect your study’s response rates, ExpiWell offers Backup Email Notifications as a secondary delivery channel.

How It Works

When enabled, ExpiWell immediately detects if a push notification fails to dispatch through FCM (e.g., due to an invalid/missing device token or an FCM dispatch error). In those specific instances, the platform automatically triggers a backup email to the participant so they do not miss their survey window.

Important Distinction:

This feature specifically safeguards against FCM dispatch failures. It does not trigger if a notification is queued normally by FCM but undelivered because a device is temporarily offline or powered off. To handle offline scenarios, consider using this alongside our Offline Notifications feature.

How to Enable Backup Email Notifications

1. Go to your project dashboard and select the Review page.
2. Under General, locate Email Backup Notification.
3. Toggle the switch to On.

Example of the backup email participants receive.

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