Throttling

Throttling

Throttling

Throttling allows you to control how frequently a contact receives surveys within a defined period. This helps prevent over-surveying, reduces survey fatigue, and improves response quality.

SurveySensum supports three types of throttling:

  • Global Throttling

  • Group-level Throttling

  • Survey-level Throttling

How to Access Throttling

You can configure throttling from two locations:

Method 1: From Account Settings

  1. Log in to your account.

  2. Click on Settings.

  3. Select Throttling from the left navigation.


Here, you will see three tabs:

  • Global Throttling

  • Group-level Throttling

  • Survey-level Throttling

This view allows centralized throttling management.

Method 2: From Survey Settings

  1. Open the required survey.

  2. Go to Survey Settings.

  3. Configure Survey-level Throttling.


This method allows direct control for a specific survey.

1. Global Throttling

Global Throttling applies a default throttling rule across all surveys in the account.

It ensures that a contact does not receive multiple surveys within the defined throttling period, regardless of survey or channel.


Key Points

  • Default Setting: Enabled with a 30-day throttling period

  • Scope: Applies across all surveys

  • Channel Coverage: Works across all share channels (Email, Website Embed, In-App, SMS, WhatsApp, etc.)

  • Centralized Management: Configured from Settings

  • Visibility Option: Click “View surveys using Global Throttling” to see all surveys governed by the global rule

How It Works

If a contact receives any survey in the account:

  • No other survey will be triggered for that contact until the global throttling period ends.

When to Use Global Throttling

Use Global Throttling when you want:

  • A default safeguard across the entire account

  • To prevent over-surveying across programs

  • A simple, centralized frequency rule

2. Group-level Throttling

Group-level Throttling allows you to create groups of surveys and apply a shared throttling rule across those surveys.

It is ideal for managing survey frequency across programs, journeys, or always-on deployments.

It overrides Global Throttling.


What is Group-level Throttling?

Group-level Throttling allows you to:

  • Create survey groups

  • Add multiple surveys to a group

  • Define a cool-off period (e.g., 30, 45, 60, 90 days or Custom)

  • Prevent a contact from receiving another survey from the same group until the period ends

This applies regardless of survey completion.

Key Rules

  • Once a survey from a group is triggered, the group is locked for that contact

  • No other survey from that group will trigger during the lock period

  • Throttling is calculated from the survey trigger date (not completion date)

  • Applies even if the survey is not opened or completed

  • Works across all deployment channels

How to Create a Throttling Group

  1. Go to Settings → Throttling → Group-level Throttling

  2. Click + Create Throttling Group

  3. Enter a group name

  4. Select surveys to include

  5. Set throttling duration

  6. Create Group

You can edit or delete groups anytime.

Prevent Group Overlap

When a contact belongs to multiple groups, surveys from different groups may become eligible around the same time.

To prevent this:

  • Enable Prevent Group Overlap

  • Define overlapping days


This adds an extra validation layer to ensure surveys from different groups are spaced appropriately.

Overlap Example

  • Contact belongs to Group A (45 days)

  • Contact belongs to Group B (30 days)

  • Overlap buffer: 4 days

Day 0: Survey from Group A is triggered
 Group A is locked for 45 days

Group B becomes eligible only after the defined overlap buffer.

Result:
 No simultaneous or back-to-back surveys from different groups.

Group-level Use Cases

1. Multi-Program Control

Prevents contacts enrolled in multiple programs from receiving surveys too close together.

2. Website Embed (Always-On Surveys)

Ensures users do not repeatedly see surveys even if they:

  • Do not open

  • Do not respond

  • Do not complete

The group lock still applies.

3. Completion vs Non-Completion

Throttling does not depend on completion.

If a survey is triggered, the group lock applies for the full configured duration.

Benefits

  • Prevents survey fatigue

  • Ensures controlled survey exposure

  • Improves customer experience

  • Improves response quality

  • Ideal for always-on and multi-channel deployments

3. Survey-level Throttling

Survey-level Throttling applies throttling rules to individual surveys.

It overrides both Global and Group-level Throttling.


Key Points

  • Scope: Applies only to the selected survey

  • Highest Priority: Overrides Global and Group-level rules

  • Granular Control: Configure unique throttling days per survey

  • Trigger-based Calculation: Based on survey trigger date

How It Works

If Survey A has a 30-day Survey-level throttling rule:

  • Survey A cannot be triggered again for 30 days

  • Other surveys may still trigger (subject to Group or Global rules)

How to Enable Survey-level Throttling

From Settings

  1. Go to Settings → Throttling → Survey-level Throttling

  2. Click + Add Survey

  3. Select the survey you want to configure

  4. Enter the throttling duration (in days)

  5. Click the ✓ (check icon) to save changes

    • Click ✕ (cross icon) to cancel

    • Use the delete icon to remove the throttling rule


Throttling Priority

When multiple throttling rules apply, the system follows this order:

Survey-level > Group-level > Global

This means:

  1. If Survey-level throttling exists, it takes priority

  2. If not, Group-level throttling is checked

  3. If neither applies, Global throttling is enforced

This layered approach ensures maximum flexibility while preventing over-surveying.