Setting up channels and naming handlers

A channel is an entry point to the reporting scheme: “Harassment and discrimination”, “Ethics and compliance”, “Health and safety”… Each channel has its handlers — the employees who receive and deal with the cases that arrive there — and its own dedicated link to the portal. This article explains how to create and edit channels, open or close them, and name or remove handlers. It is aimed at scheme administrators.

Before you start #

• The Whistleblowing module must be subscribed and open to your account.
• The catalogue rights, all at Access level at least, carried by default by the Administrator role:
  • Channels — List: open the Channels page and the Managers page;
  • Channel — Create (web/email/hotline): the Add channel button;
  • Channel — Edit: edit, activate or deactivate a channel, change its handlers;
  • Channel — Configure (managers): browse the employee directory to name new handlers.
• These rights are set under Manage Employees › Employee Roles, not in the module: they also cover other parts of the application.
• A handler needs no configuration right to deal with the cases of their channel: they only need the Whistleblowing report right to open the module.

Why the channel matters #

In this module, access to cases does not follow ordinary roles. Permissions open the module; the channel opens the case. An employee sees the cases of a channel because they handle it, and only those. An administrator who handles no channel sees no case. That is the guarantee that a report only reaches the people chosen to deal with it.

So choose your channels according to who should handle each kind of concern. For example, a “Harassment” channel entrusted to the HR team, and a “Fraud and corruption” channel entrusted to the compliance officer and the DPO.

Reading the Channels page #

Open Settings › Whistleblowing › Channels.

• The Main reporting portal banner shows the portal’s public address, with the Copy button, and the list of Active channels.
• Under Reporting Channels, each card presents a channel: its status dot (green when active), its name, its description, its number of cases, its managers with the Access label, and its dedicated link with the Link button to copy it.
• A channel without a handler shows “No manager assigned”: its reports have nobody to receive them.

Creating a channel #

1. Click Add channel. The New channel panel opens above the cards.
2. Enter the Name (required) and a short Description. The name and description appear as they are on the public portal: write them for the person reporting.
3. Under Assigned managers, search for an employee by name or email and click them to add them. Repeat for each handler.
4. Click Create channel. The message “Channel created” confirms.

The channel’s dedicated link is assigned on saving: until then, the panel shows the main portal address. A new channel is active and immediately appears in the portal form.

Editing, activating or deactivating a channel #

1. On the channel card, click the cog icon. The Edit channel panel opens.
2. Change the name, description or managers. The Active / Inactive badge in the panel opens or closes the channel.
3. Click Save. The message “Channel updated” confirms.

To open or close a channel without entering the panel, click its status dot, to the left of its name (tooltip Deactivate or Activate).

• An inactive channel disappears from the portal form: nobody can submit to it any more. Its cases remain viewable and workable by its handlers, and their reporters keep access to their case.
• The screen offers no way to delete a channel: to stop receiving reports, deactivate it.

Naming and removing handlers #

The Settings › Whistleblowing › Managers page presents the same information by person: each Referent employee, with their email and job title, and the Channels they handle. Their identity comes from their employee record and cannot be edited here. Assignments are saved as soon as you confirm.

Naming a handler #

1. Click Add a manager. The Designate a referent employee dialog opens.
2. Under Employee, search for the person by name or email.
3. Under Channels they are referent for, tick one or more channels.
4. Click Save assignment. The message “Assignment saved” confirms.

To change a handler’s channels, click the pencil icon on their row (Edit their channels).

Removing a handler #

1. Click the removal icon on their row. The Remove manager dialog lists the channels they will be removed from and reminds you that they will lose access to their cases. Their employee record is not modified.
2. If no case is assigned to them, click Remove from their channels.
3. If cases are assigned to them, click Choose a replacement. Under Reassign cases, choose:
   • Transfer to an employee: select the replacement, then click Transfer and remove. The replacement is first added as a handler of the channels concerned, then the cases are transferred to them;
   • Unassign: click Unassign and remove. The cases will have to be picked up in case management.

A case is never transferred to someone implicated in it. If a transfer fails, the screen names the cases concerned and does not remove the handler from their channels: those cases thus keep someone with access.

Sharing the links #

• The main portal address is also shown under Settings › Whistleblowing › Organization URL, with the Copy button. The subdomain is that of your Illizeo workspace: it cannot be changed.
• A channel’s dedicated link (the Link button on its card, or the Domain & URLs tab of the Organization page) opens the form already set to that channel. Use it when a group of people should go to a specific channel, for example on a workshop poster.

Good to know #

• Each channel should have at least two handlers, so that cases keep moving during an absence and an implicated handler can be replaced.
• When a case arrives, its handlers are notified in the module’s bell and by email; a person implicated in that case is never notified.
• A card’s case count includes all the channel’s cases, closed ones too.
• The module rights (view, create, edit channels) are set in the role matrix; being a handler is set here, channel by channel.
• To understand why a handler can or cannot see a case, see Getting started with whistleblowing, “My access” section.

Frequently asked questions #

A handler cannot see their channel’s cases. What should I check? #

They need the Whistleblowing report right to open the module, to be among the channel’s managers, and not to be implicated in the case. Their My Access page shows them all three.

Can I delete a channel? #

The screen offers no deletion: deactivate the channel. It then disappears from the portal, and its cases remain workable.

Can I name a handler from outside the company? #

No. A handler is an employee of your Illizeo workspace; their identity comes from their employee record.