If you are a court in Arkansas, learn more about how to use the automated Contexte integration with eCourtDate.
This guide is specifically for Arkansas courts that use Contexte.
If you are unsure if your agency uses this integration; email us at help@ecourtdate.com
How the Contexte Integration Works
We receive an hourly upload of any newly created or updated data from Contexte.
If your agency is enabled for Contexte uploads, the following data will be automatically synced within one to two hours of the data change in Contexte:
CLIENTS
Individual defendants are the message recipients based on the Defendant ID.
Included data:
- Defendant ID
- First Name
- Middle Name
- Last Name
- Date of Birth
- Status
- Gender
- Race
- Zip Code
EVENTS
Court dates at a physical or virtual location based on the event type and case number.
Included data:
- Date
- Time
- Location Name
- Location Notes
- Judge Name
- Case Number
- Description/Type
- Status
Note: the event status may not always be available.
CASES
Filed cases based on each case number.
Included data:
- Case Number
- Charge Number
- Judgement Status
- File Date
- Arrest Date
- Plea Date
- Offense Type
- Warrant Status
CONTACTS
Phone numbers and email addresses associated with clients.
Note: We only receive data for clients with an existing phone number or email address.
How to Get Started
If you are a new agency, please email help@ecourtdate.com with the following information:
- Location Name
- Location Address
- Location Phone
- Judge Name
- Primary Contact Name
- Primary Contact Email
- 3 Sample Case Numbers (preferably from the last month)
- If Juvenile or not
Once we verify that your location is authorized and has available data, we will provision an agency for your location and turn on automated data uploads.
Until you are ready to go live, the agency will be in simulation mode where messages are generated for testing purposes but not actually sent to clients.
Once you are ready to go live, you can switch to live mode by clicking on Admin > Settings > change Send Mode to Live then click Save.
Agency Setup
We recommend the following best practices to optimize your results with eCourtDate.
You can check the current status in our checklist: scroll to the bottom, then click Agency Setup > Checklist:
Ensure that you've configured the basic Agency general settings.
Business Hours and Days
Review your business hours and days. These are used to determine optional timing with automated messages.
Enabled Languages
We don't currently receive a language preference from Contexte. All clients are defaulted to English.
If you enable Auto Detect Language, clients can change their language preference by sending an inbound message in their preferred language.
Agency Phone
Ensure that you have at least one local phone number marked as primary.
Click edit on each agency phone to review inbound settings (auto response and forwarding).
Agency Email
Ensure that you have at least one local email address marked as primary.
Click edit on each agency email to review inbound settings (auto response and forwarding).
Verify a general agency email address to send emails with your domain (ex: notify@agency.gov).
Roles
Create at least one role with limited permissions that can be assigned to any non-admin users.
In the Admin > Users > Roles page, you can import sample roles. We recommend the Editor role for non-admins.
Users
Invite any other users that should have access to your agency. Users can be managed through the Admin > Users page.
Any users marked as Super Admin will not have any restrictions. Otherwise, assign at least one role for each invited user.
After inviting, users will receive an email notification to set up their account.
Locations
Ensure that you have one physical location marked as the default. Locations are managed through the Admin > Locations page.
This will be the location used for auto-uploaded events unless you have multiple locations.
Portals
Ensure that you have one web portal marked as the default. Portals are managed through the Admin > Portals page.
This will be the portal used for links in messages unless you have multiple portals.
Domains
We recommend configuring a custom domain for any portal links.
This helps increase client trust and credibility in any message.
Learn more about how to configure a custom domain here.
Note: This is a technical guide intended for IT users.
Data Dashboards
We recommend creating at least one data dashboard to track key metrics. Dashboards are managed through the Admin > Dashboards page.
Each data dashboard can support tracking both messages and events. Once you create a data dashboard, change the status to private, and then open the link.
The dashboard should update in real time with any newly created or updated messages and events.
Key metrics include:
Messages:
Total messages
Delivered messages
Opened messages
Failed messages
Spam messages
Opt out messages
Events:
Total events by status/type
Failure to appear rate
Reports
We recommend configuring at least one monthly auto-export report with a list of any outbound messages. Any report recipients will receive a monthly file (CSV) of all messages from the previous month.
Flows
Flows are used to send a series of reminders for an upcoming event. You'll need at least one Flow marked as the default. You can use additional Flows based on the event description/type.
Notes:
Specific messages in a flow can be enabled/disabled based on an event status.
We don't recommend using triggers based on "event created" or "event updated" due to frequent data changes from Contexte.
Auto Messages
Auto Messages can be used to populate a one-off or bulk message when communicating with clients manually. Browse our sample templates for auto messages that you may want to use. Make sure that any desired merge tags are populating as expected before using them in live mode.
Bulk Actions
Bulk Actions can be used to send a bulk message or other bulk changes to a filtered list of clients. We recommend training any users in bulk actions to send messages such as a location closure.
Statuses
Statuses are used to automatically disable messages, enable messages, and archive records. Status codes are based on the original Contexte codes.
Any statuses received from Contexte uploads will be automatically created if they do not already exist.
Once a status is created, you can configure the status to disable any further messages and/or to archive the record.
We recommend the following statuses should be configured to disable messages:
| Status Code | Type | Description |
| O | Client | open client |
| C | Client | closed client |
| HR57 | Event | continued revocation plea hearing |
| HA30 | Event | canceled pre-trial hearing |
| HR60 | Event | canceled revocation hearing |
| HA20 | Event | continued pre-trial hearing |