Distribution overview
Distribution is how you get a published survey in front of respondents. Davies CXsmart supports several channels, each suited to a different situation — bulk campaigns, on-the-fly agent sends, web links, and phone surveys.
Channels at a glance
| Channel | How it reaches the respondent |
|---|---|
| A branded invitation with a link, sent singly or in bulk. | |
| SMS | An interactive text survey, or a short link sent by text. |
| Web link | A shareable public URL or an embedded survey. |
| IVR (outbound) | An automated phone call that asks the survey. |
| IVR (inbound) | A number the customer calls, optionally quoting a PIN. |
You choose which channels a survey uses on its Distribute tab. Davies CXsmart checks each enabled channel against the survey's questions and warns you if a question type can't be delivered there.
Channel capability matrix
Different channels can carry different question types and personalisation. Use this matrix when deciding how to distribute a survey.
| Capability | SMS | Web | IVR (outbound) | IVR (inbound) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NPS / CSAT / CES / rating | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Single select | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi select | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Free text (single line) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-line text | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Info blocks | Yes | — | Yes | — | — |
| Bulk send | Yes | Yes | — | — | — |
| File-drop (schema-mapped) send | Yes | Yes | — | — | — |
| Email template with open/click tracking | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| Short link | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — |
Agent attribution (?agent=) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Suppression / opt-out enforced | Yes | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
SMS and IVR are voice/keypad channels, so they cannot deliver multi-select or multi-line text. When in doubt, the Distribute tab's channel warning is the source of truth for a given survey.
Ways to send
- Single invite — send one email or SMS from the Distribute tab.
- Bulk invite — paste a list of addresses (one per line or comma-separated) and send to all of them at once.
- File-drop — upload a CSV, map its columns to personalisation variables, and send (optionally scheduled). See File drop.
- Shareable link / embed — copy the survey's public link or its embed snippet for use anywhere.
- ADEPT — let an agent initiate a survey to a single customer during a conversation, attributed to that agent. See ADEPT.
Agent attribution
Any link-based send can carry an ?agent= parameter so the resulting response is credited to a specific colleague (agent). This powers agent-level reporting and leaderboards. ADEPT applies attribution automatically.
Before you send: suppression
Every email, SMS, and IVR send is checked against your suppression rules, phone blacklist, opt-out list, and contact-frequency cap before it goes out. Blocked contacts are skipped and reported as suppressed rather than sent. See Suppression and opt-out.
Next steps
- Email and SMS — bulk send, templates, tracking, recipient activity, and bounces.
- File drop — schema-mapped CSV sends.
- Short URLs — shorten and track links.
- Suppression and opt-out — keep your sending compliant.