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Re: Automation: send an email every month at specific time of day to list of users

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Travis_Lozier
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Hi Airtable Community!

I have a process that requires specific people to provide updates on the 15th of every month. I’m looking for an easy way to create a calendar that will trigger these emails automatically on the 15th of the month at 8 a.m. I’ve had some success with creating a calendar table and developing a formula that flips a field (when criteria met) to a new view that triggers email but the process is a little clunky and I haven’t been able to figure out how to send it at a certain time of day. Any advice/help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
Justin_Barrett
18 - Pluto
18 - Pluto

For specific time-of-day triggers, I use the HOUR() function wrapped around NOW(). However, keep in mind that this returns the current hour in GMT, not in your local timezone, so you’ll need to compensate in your formula calculation. For example, I have a field that triggers an automation to run every day at midnight. My timezone is GMT -8, so the formula in this field is:

HOUR(NOW()) = 8

That outputs a 1 when it’s midnight in my local time, and 0 all other hours. The automation trigger is “When record matches conditions”, with the condition being that this formula field contains a 1. It switches from 0 to 1 approximately at midnight, then resets to 0 for all other hours, so it fires once a day.

Why only approximately? This has to do with how frequently NOW() is refreshed. There have been discussions elsewhere in the forum about this, but long story short, it varies. :slightly_smiling_face: Here’s a screenshot showing the most recent runs of this daily automation that I mentioned above (click to enlarge):

Screen Shot 2020-12-31 at 10.27.11 AM

I’m fine with the fluctuation because my automation isn’t time-sensitive. Whether or not that variance will work for you is something only you can determine.

Anyway, to combine this with a specific day of the month is pretty easy. If I wanted my automation to run at 8am on the 15th, my formula (again accounting for the 8-hour time difference in my timezone) would be this:

AND(HOUR(NOW()) = 16, DAY(NOW()) = 15)

With that, you wouldn’t need a custom view, as you could also use the “When record matches conditions” trigger to see when this formula outputs a 1, which will only be at 8am on the 15th of each month.

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6 Replies 6
Justin_Barrett
18 - Pluto
18 - Pluto

For specific time-of-day triggers, I use the HOUR() function wrapped around NOW(). However, keep in mind that this returns the current hour in GMT, not in your local timezone, so you’ll need to compensate in your formula calculation. For example, I have a field that triggers an automation to run every day at midnight. My timezone is GMT -8, so the formula in this field is:

HOUR(NOW()) = 8

That outputs a 1 when it’s midnight in my local time, and 0 all other hours. The automation trigger is “When record matches conditions”, with the condition being that this formula field contains a 1. It switches from 0 to 1 approximately at midnight, then resets to 0 for all other hours, so it fires once a day.

Why only approximately? This has to do with how frequently NOW() is refreshed. There have been discussions elsewhere in the forum about this, but long story short, it varies. :slightly_smiling_face: Here’s a screenshot showing the most recent runs of this daily automation that I mentioned above (click to enlarge):

Screen Shot 2020-12-31 at 10.27.11 AM

I’m fine with the fluctuation because my automation isn’t time-sensitive. Whether or not that variance will work for you is something only you can determine.

Anyway, to combine this with a specific day of the month is pretty easy. If I wanted my automation to run at 8am on the 15th, my formula (again accounting for the 8-hour time difference in my timezone) would be this:

AND(HOUR(NOW()) = 16, DAY(NOW()) = 15)

With that, you wouldn’t need a custom view, as you could also use the “When record matches conditions” trigger to see when this formula outputs a 1, which will only be at 8am on the 15th of each month.

Thanks Justin! This is great, way better than what I was trying to design and exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again. Travis

pedroarango11
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Hi Travis, Can you explain how you made this? I'm trying to send an email every 3 months after a record's status changes, do you have any idea on how I could automate this?

Hi Pedroarango11, 

Did you receive an answer to this question?  I am trying to send a particular view on a certain time and date to another department.

Thanks!

ScottWorld
18 - Pluto
18 - Pluto

@pedroarango11 @Christina_Sturr  Airtable has scheduled automation triggers to do what you would like to do. And if you need more advanced schedules & more advanced email automations, you can use Make. There is a small learning curve with Make, which is why I created this basic navigation video to help.

Hi Cristina, i solved this by adding an automatic field that keeps the date when the status was changed, and then another automation to send an email 90 days after this. If you need any help don't hesitate to contact me and i'll be happy to help.