Callback Date/Time Formats

There are many different formats that may be used when entering the date/time. You may enter a specific date and/or time or an “approximate” date/time.

Here is a list of allowable specific date formats:

Date: Month day

Day Month

M/D/Y

DDMMMYY

YYYYMMDD

MM-DD-YY

DD-MM-YY

MM/DD/YY

DD/MM/YY

Dec 1 or December 1

1 Dec or 1 December

12/3

12/3/16

12/3/2016

03DEC

3DEC

03DEC16

03DEC2016

20161203

12-03-16

03-12-16

12/03/16

03/12/16

Day: DDD or DAY TUE or Tuesday

TODAY

TOMORROW

NOTE: To enter dates in the format of D/M/Y or DDMMYY like it is common to do in Europe, put DATE_FORMAT:DDMMYY in your PARMFILE.


Here is a list of allowable specific time formats:

Time: H:M

H:M <AM/PM>

H <AM/PM>

HHMM

+MMM mins

+### HouRs

+### DAYS

+ WeeKs

+### MONTHs

+H:MM

9:00 (assumes the hext open a.m./p.m. time)

9:00 PM

9 PM

2100 (military time)

+120 or + 120 mins (120 minutes from now)

+10 hrs (10 hours from now)

+2 days (2 days from now – approximate time)

+1 wk (1 week from ow – approximate time)

+1 month (1 month from now – approximate

time)

+ 2:30 (2 hours, 30 minutes from now)

Syntax Rules:

  1. Either date (or day) or time may be entered first; they must be separated by a space.
  2. A time entered without a date means the next time it is that time.
  3. A date entered without a time means at the current time on the date I’m giving you.
  4. A time without AM or PM defaults to the next time the shop is open, eg. If it is 6:00pm, if I say “9:00” it will be for 9PM unless the shop is closed then.
  5. A day of the week may be entered instead of a date.
  6. Enter the 3-letter abbreviation (MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT, SUN) or spell out the day fully (MONDAY, etc.).
  7. The month may be specified as 12/10 or December 10 or Dec 10 (using a three-letter abbreviation).

Examples:


Let’s say today is Monday, April 20th. If the respondent says call me on the 24th at 2 o’clock, the interviewer enters: 4/24 2:00PM

If the respondent says call me tomorrow at the same time, the interviewer enters: 4/21 or +24:00

If the respondent says call me later today at 3 o’clock, the interviewer enters: 3:00 or 3:00PM or 1500

If the respondent says call me back in 20 minutes, the interviewer enters: +20 or +20 mins

If the respondent says call me back in 3 hours, the interviewer enters: +3 hrs or +180 or +3:00

If the respondent says call me next Tuesday at 5 p.m., the interviewer enters: TUE 5 PM

You can also respond to this prompt with a date and time string (yyyymmddhhmm), such as: 201604231530

This means to call back on April 23, 2016 at 3:30 pm.