The delivery schedule controls when phishing simulations are sent and when training is assigned. A good phishing schedule spreads emails across several days and hours, so delivery looks natural and colleagues can't compare notes. You set the schedule on the Schedule step of the New Campaign wizard, or later with Update campaign on the Campaigns page.
Contents
- Phishing delivery options
- Training assignment schedule
- Common scenarios and recommended setups
- Related articles
Phishing delivery options
- Send now (default): Delivery starts within a few minutes of launching.
- Spread over a window: Emails go out gradually between the days and hours you set.
- Schedule later: Save the campaign without a schedule. Nothing is sent until you add one with Update campaign on the Campaigns page.
Setting a delivery window
- Delivery days: Click the date box and pick the first and last day of the window on the calendar. The calendar won't let you choose a window that's longer than the campaign's repeat allows (see Repeating a phishing campaign).
- Each day from and Until: The hours of each day during which emails are sent.
- Time zone: The time zone for these days and hours.
The Schedule summary next to these settings shows how many employees will receive an email, the days and hours of the window, roughly how many emails will go out each hour, and when the first emails will be sent.
How emails are spread across the window
Each day of the window is divided into hourly slots, from the starting hour to the finishing hour. For example, 9:00 to 17:00 gives nine slots a day. Employees are shuffled into a random order and spread evenly across every slot in the window, and each hour's emails go out at a slightly randomized time, within about 10 minutes of the hour.
- With more employees than slots, several emails go out each hour.
- With fewer employees than slots, emails are spaced out across the whole window, and some hours send nothing.
Example: A 2-day window from 9:00 to 17:00 has 18 hourly slots. For 36 employees, that's about two emails an hour. For 9 employees, it's about one email every two hours across both days.
Note: If an hour's share is more than 500 emails (250 when you use your own mail server), it's sent in several batches about 11 minutes apart.
Repeating a phishing campaign
Under Repeat, choose how often the campaign sends a fresh round to the same lists. The longest delivery window depends on the repeat:
- One-off (default): Sent once. The window can be up to 30 days.
- Weekly: A new round every 7 days. Each round's window can be up to 5 days.
- Fortnightly: A new round every 14 days. Each round's window can be up to 10 days.
- Monthly: A new round on the same weekday of the month, such as the second Tuesday or the last Friday, so rounds are 4 to 5 weeks apart. Each round's window can be up to 21 days.
- Quarterly: A new round every 13 weeks. Each round's window can be up to 30 days.
A recurring campaign keeps going until its Keep repeating until date, which can be up to a year ahead. Each round goes to everyone on the selected lists when it runs, and each employee receives one of the selected emails at random. You can select up to 40 emails, so select several to make sure employees don't receive the same one each round. To have AI choose a fitting email for each employee in every round, see Auto-Phish & Auto-Train - Introduction.
Training assignment schedule
For a training campaign, choose when the training is assigned:
- Assign now (default): Employees are notified within a few minutes of launching.
- Pick a date and time: Choose the date, time and time zone of the first assignment, up to a year ahead.
- Schedule later: Save the campaign without a schedule. Nothing is assigned until you add one with Update campaign on the Campaigns page.
Under Repeat, choose One-off (default), Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Annually, and for a recurring campaign, a Keep repeating until date up to four years ahead. Each repeat assigns the training again to everyone on the selected lists:
- With one module intelligently selected, each employee is assigned one module per round, preferring modules they haven't already been assigned or completed. A recurring campaign therefore works through your selection over time.
- With all selected modules, each round assigns every selected module again. Modules an employee still has outstanding aren't duplicated.
Tip: To stop employees having to redo training they completed recently, set a training grace period. See Training - Advanced Settings. For due dates and reminders, see Training due dates and reminders.
Common scenarios and recommended setups
Scenario 1: 35 employees, unpredictable monthly phishing
- Delivery days: 2 days (Wednesday to Thursday)
- Each day from / Until: 9:00 to 17:00
- Content: 12 or more relevant emails
- Repeat: Monthly
Why: Each month, emails are spread across 18 hourly slots during business hours, about two an hour, so employees receive different emails at unpredictable times.
Scenario 2: 100 employees, unpredictable monthly phishing
- Delivery days: 3 days (Monday to Wednesday)
- Each day from / Until: 9:00 to 17:00
- Content: 12 or more relevant emails
- Repeat: Monthly
Why: The 27 hourly slots carry three or four emails each, spread over three business days each month.
Scenario 3: 500 employees, a one-off benchmark
- Delivery days: 3 days (Monday to Wednesday)
- Each day from / Until: 9:00 to 12:00
- Content: 4 or more relevant emails with similar interaction rates
- Repeat: One-off
Why: Sending at similar times of day, using emails of similar difficulty, keeps results comparable. The 12 hourly slots carry about 42 emails each, and the short window means results are ready to report sooner.
Scenario 4: 200 employees, quarterly phishing
- Delivery days: 5 days (Monday to Friday)
- Each day from / Until: 9:00 to 17:00
- Content: 6 or more relevant emails
- Repeat: Quarterly
Why: Each quarter, about four or five emails an hour are spread across a full working week, so employees can't predict when theirs will arrive.
Scenario 5: Annual training with onboarding for new starters
- Campaign: Security awareness training, assigning all selected modules
- Assignment: Pick a date and time at the start of your training year
- Repeat: Annually
- New employee sync: On
Why: Everyone completes the same core training each year, and people who join mid-year are assigned it within minutes of being added to the list, instead of waiting for the next round. See New employee sync.
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