Requesting a VAN Call Server API Key
Before you can sync COS campaign results to VAN, you'll need to request a Call Server API Key from VAN. This digital encryption key should be kept in a secure location, as it will be encrypted for safety once added to COS.
Granting Folder Access
Once you have the VAN key, you'll need to grant yourself access to your folders. To do this, click "Edit Folder" in the top right corner of the folder, then add the "CallServer API" in the "User Access" box at the bottom.
Adding the VAN API Key to COS
Next, you can add the VAN API key to COS. Go to Management > Settings, and enter the key there. This system-wide VAN key will be used for all projects, unless a client or sub-client key is present.
At the client level, you can also add a VAN key under Management > Client. If a key is present here, it will override the system-wide key.
At the sub-client user level, you can add a VAN key under Management > Sub Client User. This sub-client key will take precedence over both the system and client-level keys.
Creating a New Project in COS
To create a new project in COS:
1. Create a Voter ID
2. Create an SMS project
3. Load campaign data to COS
- Choose the "COS File - standard load option" which does not sync to VAN
- Use the "VAN File My Voter Data" option to upload a CSV from your computer
- Use the "VAN File My Campaign Data" option to upload a CSV from your computer
- Use the "VAN Pull My Voter Data" option to pull an export from your VAN account
- Use the "VAN Pull My Campaign Data" option to pull an export from your VAN account
4. If using VAN Pull, select the desired folder and file name
5. Choose the file processing method
6. Confirm the phone and name columns are selected
7. Select the VAN ID column in your data
8. Upload Data & Scrub as needed
9. Confirm Status Codes are Mapped Properly
- Edit PO / Status codes
- Confirm Dialer Status codes are mapped properly to the VAN status codes
- Note that you can set certain status codes to "Do Not Report" if you do not wish to report a specific status code
10. Edit VAN settings
- Edit PO / VAN
- Choose the Van Contact type
- The default and recommended mode is "As Coded in Campaign Data Only," which pushes the flat file (including both canvassed and non-canvassed records) as found in the COS Dashboard / Campaign Database / Download Campaign Data. Selecting the "As Coded + Call Records" option will also push non-canvassed records with multiple attempts, such as "Not Home 3X in one day."
- To update just the marked voter, select the Van Household reporting for Non-Canvassed codes. Alternatively, you can mark all voters in the household. Note that canvassed records are always updated to the marked voter and are unaffected by this action.
Adding VAN Survey Questions and Activist Codes
To add VAN survey questions to the script, go to the Script and Edit sections. In any question, choose the "Import VAN" button. A window will appear with your My Data/My Campaign Survey questions from VAN. Select the survey question you want and review before importing it to the script. Once imported, you can edit descriptions, add additional responses, and set script branching logic and other COS scripting features.
To add activist codes to script responses, select the "options" dropdown on the question response and click "+Add Activist" to add an activist code to that response. A window will appear where you can select your activist codes. You can delete the activist code by choosing the options dropdown and clicking the trash can next to the code.
Pushing Results to VAN
Finally, to push the results to VAN after calling is complete, go to Campaign Data / VAN Push Results, select the date range for the push, and click "Push Results." The progress bar will indicate the updates.