Engagement Studio Scheduled Email Step FAQ (Account Engagement)

How do scheduled email sends work regarding the "Send emails during business hours only" setting?
Is scheduling email steps only available for new programs?
How can a prospect arrive at an email step that is scheduled for a date in the past? 
Is it possible to reschedule a scheduled email step?
Is there any way to know if my email dates are scheduled in chronological order?
I know I want my emails to be scheduled, but I'm not sure what dates yet. Can I build my program with scheduled email steps but no defined dates?

How do scheduled email sends work regarding the "Send emails during business hours only" setting?

If “Send emails during business hours only” is enabled:
-- Prospects waiting on the email step will begin receiving the email at the start of the next business hours period.
-- Prospects arriving on the step during the business hours period will begin receiving the email during that business hours period.
-- Prospects arriving on the step after the business hours period will wait until business hours reopens to begin receiving the email

If “Send emails during business hours only” is enabled and an email is scheduled to send on a specific date:
-- Prospects already waiting on the scheduled email step will begin receiving the email at the start of the business hours period on the scheduled datE.
-- Prospects arriving on the step on the scheduled date during the business hours period will begin receiving the email during that business hours period.
-- Prospects arriving on the step on the scheduled date after the business hours period will be skipped and will not receive the email. The prospect will be marked as skipped on the email report card, as well as on the prospect table accessible from the email tooltip.
-- Prospects that arrive on the step after the scheduled date will be skipped and will not receive the email. The prospect will be marked as skipped on the email report card, as well as on the prospect table accessible from the email tooltip. 

Note: In the above cases, the business hours period will be determined based on the time zone selected for the program

If “Send emails during business hours only” is not enabled:
-- Prospects that arrive on the Send Email step will be processed immediately and sent the email as soon possible.
 

Is this functionality only available for new programs?

No. It is possible to edit existing programs and add scheduled email sends, or edit previously existing email steps to choose a scheduled send date. Prospects who have already passed the email step will not be impacted by editing previously existing email steps. 
 

How can a prospect arrive at an email step that is scheduled for a date in the past? 

There are two ways a prospect can arrive at an email step with an email scheduled for a date in the past:

1. If the prospect was added to the recipient list or removed from the suppression list after the scheduled date has passed. This could be a result of using a dynamic list, importing to a list after that date, manually adding the prospect to the list after that date, or adding to the list via completion action, automation rule, or segmentation rule after that date has passed. 

2. If the steps prior to the scheduled email steps have a wait period preventing the prospect from arriving at the step prior to the scheduled date. For example, if an email is scheduled for January 10 and the step prior has a wait period of 2 days, if a prospect reaches the wait period on January 9, that prospect would arrive at the email step too late to receive the email. 
 

Is it possible to reschedule a scheduled email step?

Is there any way to know if my email dates are scheduled in chronological order?

There are no measures in place to alert a user if emails are scheduled in a non-chronological fashion. Due to branching logic and the possibilities when building a program, dates may appear out of chronological order but, depending on the journey a prospect takes, the dates will be chronological. To better understand time in engagement programs, test the program with the desired start date.
 

I know I want my emails to be scheduled, but I'm not sure what dates yet. Can I build my program with scheduled email steps but no defined dates?

When scheduling an email step, a date must be defined. If no date is selected, the email step will revert to the send option of "Immediately".