Authenticators and direct click links - possible? | XM Community
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Hello - I get asked this a lot and have been re-reading the help files in Qualtrics.
Is it possible to use PINs to access the survey but also distribute via a direct-click email link? Here is the example scenario:

  1. Survey of 50 respondents we have email addresses for 35 and physical addresses for all 50

  2. Going to email the full contact list using the dedicated URL

  3. Going to send physical mail (postcards) with a short URL and PIN. Going to the URL will take people to the Qualtrics survey.

  4. Qualtrics survey will be set up with an authenticator so the respondent can type in a PIN

My main question is if this is even possible? If someone completes the survey using the PIN entry (authenticator) we would want it to lock them out of the email URL and vice-versa so they aren't taking it multiple times.
Hope the above makes sense! I plan on trying this out at some point this week but was looking to see if anyone has done it before.
Regards!

For those who are interested I ran the following test last night:

  1. Created a survey set up just like the one in the help file for authenticators, in other words...

  2. Added embedded data fields RecipientEmail and ExternalDataReference to the beginning of the Survey Flow

  3. Added Authenticator after the embedded data. Set it to Prefill based off ExternalDataReference

  4. Associated authenticator with a contact list of four contacts (2 with emails, 2 without)

  5. Sent an email distribution to the entire contact list

  6. Case 1: Entered the survey via the email for one case - no issues.

  7. Case 2: Entered the survey via email for one case, broke off in the middle, resumed via direct anonymous link (not passing EDR). Resumed at correct point and I finished up the survey.

  8. Case 3: Entered survey via direct anonymous link (not passing EDR). Completed survey.

  9. Case 4: Entered survey via passing data through the anonymous link (aka ?ExternalDataReference=***).


Case 1 no issues. Email distribution shows case started and completed.
Case 2 no issues. Email distribution shows case started and completed.
Case 3 the email distribution does NOT show the case started / completed. It appears the distribution will only track the completes that came in through this mode and not the overall completes for the whole contact list.
Case 4 again email distribution does not show case started/completed.
It doesn't seem like there's a great way to do case management with this method. What I mean to say is that there is no quick way to know how many people from the contact list have completed the survey. I would have to export the data as is and then cross-reference it with another file to flag anyone who hasn't finished it. Something like that would be VERY useful so we can quickly identify who to send follow-up physical mailings to.

Hi Pete_L ,
I have not tried a design like this myself, but I think your conclusion at the end is correct: Qualtrics does not have a built-in way to cross-reference survey URLs associated with an email distribution with survey URLs generated by the Personal Links feature.
I think the best you can do in the current state is the following imperfect workaround, which does not involve the use of an Authenticator:

  1. Use the Personal Links tool to generate URLs for all 50 recipients. For the 15 you don't have email addresses for, you'll have to use a dummy email, such as username+1 at domain, username+2 at domain, etc.

  2. Download the csv file that Qualtrics generates. Use this file to print the survey URL for your postcards. (You might want to convert them to bit.ly or another type of shorter URL to make it easier to type.)

  3. Make a copy of the file you downloaded in Step 2, and delete the 15 people you don't have emails for.

  4. Upload this new file, including the survey URL as a field, as a new email list in your Qualtrics Directory.

  5. Use the Qualtrics email distribution to send to the 35 you have an email for. In the email editor, use the Pipe Text feature to insert the survey URL you uploaded with the email list. Qualtrics will require that the system-generated survey URL be included in the email invitation too, which of course you don't want them to use. You can put that URL at the bottom of the message and display the hyperlink as a period in very small font so they are unlikely to come across it.

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