This explainer will help you understand the logic behind how we schedule your phishing simulations.
Concepts
Duration: The total number of days your campaign will run. This is independent of the period and frequency settings.
Period: A set timeframe or window the scheduler will use for its calculations. A number is expected in weeks on the platform.
Frequency: The number of emails each user will receive within a period.
Scheduled emails: The specific emails planned for delivery during a period.
Operating hours: You can design the daily operating hours to avoid out-of-hours notifications.
Key points
The scheduler creates randomised email schedules based on the provided frequency (emails per user), period (delivery timeframe), and overall campaign duration.
Campaigns can be highly customisable:
Start on any day of the week.
Run for any number of days.
Frequency settings are applied within the campaign duration, except for campaigns shorter than a week.
Frequency exceptions: If your campaign duration is less than a week, the period is automatically adjusted to fit the duration, ensuring all emails are delivered within that timeframe.
For continuous campaigns the scheduler will run the day before the scheduling period is due to run.
i.e. If you set your campaign up to receive 3 emails every week and started the campaign on a Tuesday. The scheduler will run every Monday at approximately 02:00 GMT.
This means it is important to make any changes to the groups membership in the audience filter before this day and time if applicable. If a user is added to the group audience after the scheduler runs they will only be included in the phishing campaign for the following scheduled period.
Examples
Continuous campaign delivering 3 emails every week
Start date: Tuesday 5th May
End date: Continuous (No end date set)
Frequency: Each person will receive 3 emails every 1 week (7 days)
Schedule: Every Monday a new schedule is created for the following week. It randomly distributes 3 emails to each user across the 7 days. This repeats until the campaign is deactivated. If you add a user to the campaign, they will be automatically added to the next scheduled week. We recommend having a wide variety of email templates selected to avoid people receiving the same simulation emails close together.
Table example of a continuous campaign scheduled for 3 emails every 1 week (7 days)
Month long campaign (starting on a Monday)
Period: 4 weeks (28 days)
Start date: 4th May
End date: 31st May (28 days)
Frequency: 3 emails every 4 weeks
Schedule: A total of 3 emails are scheduled for the 28-day period. We recommend having at least 3 different email templates selected to avoid a user receiving the same simulation email over the 4 weeks.
Table example of a 4 week campaign schedule
Month long (4 week) campaign delivering 2 simulation emails every week
Start date: Monday 4th May
End date: Sunday 31st May
Frequency: Each person will receive 2 emails every 1 week
Schedule: Each week, 2 simulation emails are scheduled to be delivered across the week. In total, 8 simulation emails will be scheduled. We recommend at least 16 email templates are selected to prevent a user receiving the same simulation email in this campaign. With these types of campaigns, it’s not impossible for the same email template to be scheduled close together.
Table example of a 4 week campaign delivering 2 simulation emails every week
Short campaign (3 days) sending 1 email over a 3 day period
Start date: Monday 4th May
End date: Wednesday 6th May
Frequency: Each person will receive 1 email every 1 week
Schedule: The duration of the campaign is less than the period set in the frequency (1 week) so the period is set to 3 days and 1 email is planned over that period.
Note here the frequency exception: if a campaign duration is less than a week, the period is automatically adjusted to fit the duration, ensuring all emails are delivered within that time frame.
Table example of a 3 day campaign (scheduled over 1 week, but taking into account to fit the specified duration).
FAQ
How do I send 3 phishing emails to my users, and ensure they all receive three different emails? Rather than 3 of the same?
Match the period to the duration. For example: If you have 3 email templates selected, you should schedule 3 emails over 1 week or 1 email every week for 3 weeks. If you chose to send 2 emails every week and your campaign was 2 weeks long, 4 emails would be sent in total, and one of these would be a duplicate, as you have only selected 3 templates to be used in the campaign.
How does the Phishing Scheduler work?
The scheduler takes into account your preferred simulation rate settings and schedules emails in one-week blocks, distributing the chosen number of emails over each week for as many weeks as you've chosen to run the campaign. Please note you can change the one week blocks in the campaign setup.
On which day of the week does my campaign's period reset?
The campaign period resets on the same day of the week as its start date. Therefore, if you need the reset to occur on a specific day, ensure you set the campaign's start date accordingly. Take note of when the scheduler will run for a continuous campaign to ensure any changes are made in tiem for the scheduler.
When will people start to receive phishing emails if they are added in an in progress campaign?
People added to an active campaign will begin receiving phishing emails after the next campaign period reset. To minimize delays for newly added people, especially if you anticipate frequent additions, set the campaign period to one week. This ensures a maximum delay of one week.
How does template randomization work?
Templates are selected in random order ensuring users get one of each template in the pool before receiving any duplicates. This helps ensure recipients will be sent one of each selected template. Ensure you select enough templates to avoid duplication.
What timezone is used for scheduling?
The scheduler uses the user's timezone when scheduling emails. This is especially useful for customers with users in different regions.
What happens if I change templates during an active campaign?
Only the latest pool of templates is used when the scheduler runs. This means any template changes will only take effect at the next scheduler run.
How can I ensure users receive only a set of specific templates?
To ensure recipients receive all selected specific templates, set the campaign frequency so the number of emails each user receives matches the number of selected templates. For this use case we recommend setting the campaign to end once you have delivered all of the required emails. i.e. 3 emails in 4 weeks with 3 templates. Set the campaign dates to match the 4 week period.
What happens if I add new users to a campaign mid-period?
Newly added people are picked up when the period resets. If you expect to add people regularly and want them to start receiving emails as soon as possible, set the campaign period to 1 week.
Why did some users not receive scheduled phishing emails?
This can happen if a campaign is created with a start time in the past on the same day. The scheduler may see these times as valid but then discard them because they're in the past. We recommend setting your campaigns start date to be tomorrow or further in the future to avoid any scheduling issues.
Additional resources
