Specifying times for Wait Periods in Journey Builder using Workflow Document Format

Question

In the Workflow Document Format I note we can define what time an activity is fired after a Wait Period.

For Activity Objects with a wait type, you can define values for a specifiedTime and timeZoneId in the configurationArguments object as per the example below:

  {
     "id":"51e1f568-0867-415a-ad8b-016a7980519e",
     "key":"cad2a0f0-0df6-daf4-7b49-f8e2287abf2e",
     "name":"",
     "type":"Wait",
     "outcomes":[
        {
           "key":"40cd2874-f16e-71d2-1a81-dfc6b40c2d6d",
           "arguments":{ },
           "metaData":{ }
        }
     ],
     "arguments":{ },
     "configurationArguments":{
        "waitDuration":1,
        "waitUnit":"Days",
        "specifiedTime":null,
        "timeZoneId":76
     },
     "metaData":{ }
  }

(I retrieved the example above by looking at the response that I get from the getInteractionById method).

Please can someone enlighten me how we can use these specifiedTime and timeZoneId key-value pairs? I'm assuming that if I want to send emails at 2pm in the afternoon (when the open rate is typically higher), then I can set these values here. Is that correct? If so, what format does the date need to be in and what are the respective integers for different tz time zones?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, what you're looking for is not currently supported. However, I will log this as a request for a new feature that we may be able to look into for future development.

The wait time that you specify in that scenario is waiting a specific amount of time after the previously completed trigger/activity, which is different from what you're looking for, which would be to wait until a specific time/date.

Answer 2

It appears that this functionality is now supported, according to the Wait Format documentation that was updated earlier this month. This updated page now contains a list of supported time zones and updated name/value pairs. (I'm assuming that if documentation is published publicly, then the functionality is available for use).

The time and time zone can't be configured in the Interaction Canvas interface yet, but in the meantime it appears that it's possible to define these properties in a Wait Activity object using WDF.

I've updated an Interaction with the following Wait Activity and it updated successfully:

{
   "key":"best-send-time",
   "name":"Optimised open rate time",
   "type":"Wait",
   "outcomes":[
      {
         "key":"wait-outcome-to-send-email",
         "next":"send-reminder-email"
      }
   ],
   "configurationArguments":{
      "waitDuration":2,
      "waitUnit":"days",
      "specificTime":"14:00",
      "timeZone":"E. Australia Standard Time"
   }
}

A few notes and assumptions though, regarding the documentation for the benefit of others who want to use this functionality:

1. The JSON payload example provided in the documentation uses specifiedTime instead of specificTime. specifiedTime was used in v0.5 and is now deprecated. You should use specificTime.
2. I'm assuming that the specificTime is only applicable if the waitUnit has value of days, weeks or months. It's not clear from the documentation if this is the case.
3. I note that there is a new waitForEventKey name/value pair added to a Wait Activity object — while I assume this is reserved for future use, it does indicate the direction of Wait Activities. That would be really handy to get a Wait Period to wait for an Event to be fired. Perhaps we'll see this support soon!