# Announcement

Send out unlimited announcements or alert notifications to all end users and computers, inside or outside your corporate network using Endpoint Central. In just one step, the message is delivered to all selected users. In critical situations where emails aren't reliable, Announcements help display information instantly on all targeted endpoints.

**Supported OS:** Windows

## Table of contents

1. [Schedule an announcement](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/windows_system_tools/announcement.html#announcements-schedule)
2. [Modify an announcement](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/windows_system_tools/announcement.html#announcements-modify)
3. [Announcement reports](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/windows_system_tools/announcement.html#announcements-report)
4. [Frequently asked questions](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/windows_system_tools/announcement.html#announcements-faq)

## Schedule an announcement

**Hint:** Use announcements to notify users about VPN maintenance or critical patch deployments.

1. Navigate to **Tools** → **Announcement** → **Create Announcement**.
2. Choose to display the message to specific users or computers.
3. Customize a relevant message title and content using rich text options such as tables, links, highlights, and pointers.
4. Specify the start and expiry time for the announcement.
5. Select whether the message should display once or multiple times within the specified time range.
6. Define the target: choose Remote Office, Domain, or Custom Group users or devices.

[![Announcement scheduling screen](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/images/announcement.png)](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/images/announcement.png)

**Note:** Announcements are executed based on Central Server time. Dynamic groups cannot be used as targets for announcements.

## Modify an announcement

Use the **Actions** menu (three dots) to perform the following on an existing scheduled announcement:

1. **Modify**: Edit an existing announcement.
2. **Suspend**: Temporarily stop displaying the announcement.
3. **Resume**: Resume a suspended announcement.
4. **Delete**: Permanently remove the announcement.

[![Modify announcement screen](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/images/announcement_modify.png)](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/images/announcement_modify.png)

## Announcement reports

Announcements can be deployed to large numbers of users or computers. It's important to track execution status and delivery.

1. Click the announcement title to view detailed reports.
2. View a classified summary by status: Yet to Schedule, Scheduled, Failed, Displayed, or Expired.
3. See a full list of users or devices targeted.
4. Use the filter option to isolate failed executions.

[![Announcement summary report](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/images/announcement_summary.png)](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/help/images/announcement_summary.png)

## Announcement as seen from the end user's endpoint

[![End user view of announcement](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/images/announcement-end-user.png)](https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/images/announcement-end-user.png)

## Frequently asked questions

**1. What if the computer is inactive when an announcement is scheduled to display only once?**

The status will be marked as "Expired", indicating the announcement was not shown within the time limit.

**2. What happens when I deploy to a large number of users at once?**

The message displays instantly to the first 200 users. Remaining users will receive it during the next 90-minute refresh interval.

**3. Can I reuse an existing announcement to create a new one?**

1. Navigate to **Announcement → User/Computers**.
2. Select the existing announcement.
3. Under **Actions**, click **Save As New**.
4. Make changes and click **Save**.

**4. What happens when I suspend an announcement that was to display only once?**

It will not display unless resumed. It will only display again if the end date hasn't passed and it hasn’t been shown to the targeted device yet.

**5. If a targeted user is logged into multiple computers, will the announcement show everywhere?**

Yes, it will appear on every computer where the user is currently logged in.

**6. Is there a limit to the number of devices/users I can target?**

No. Announcements can be shown to any number of managed computers or users, either once or repeatedly.