LinQed Online is the Touchpoints platform that runs benefits communication after the kickoff call. The honest timeline has six beats: discovery, a 12-month blueprint, build and approvals, a pilot or first campaign, live, then the cadence. Most programs go from discovery to live in a matter of weeks. That phrase is the claim. A specific day count depends on how fast approvals and eligibility facts come back, so this post will not invent one.
See the product on the solution page, and start a conversation on the contact page. The strategy the blueprint has to serve is in the benefits communication strategy guide. LinQed Online is a delivery system. A portal that stores documents is a different job, covered in portal versus communication platform.
Discovery
Discovery collects four things. The census: who you employ, by site, shift, language, and plan, including the groups who do not sit at a desk. The channels: work email, personal email, mobile numbers, print locations, manager huddles, and where you do and do not have consent to text. The brand: logo, colors, and the name employees should see on the message. The goals: the one or two behaviors you want in the first campaigns, such as on-time enrollment or a preventive visit.
Bring the people who know the facts. Benefits owns eligibility and plan rules. HRIS knows what is broken in the file. Communications knows which words employees already ignore. A plant or store leader knows whether a poster will be seen. A discovery call with only marketing will produce a pretty calendar aimed at headquarters.
Touchpoints has put this motion in place for 1,000+ companies. The pattern is stable. The file is not. Expect to learn that personal email is missing for a third of a site, or that the nurse-line number on the intranet is two years old. Those findings are the point of discovery. They become the first fixes on the blueprint.
Blueprint, build, and approvals
The blueprint is a 12-month communication plan: topics, audiences, channels, and the page each message points to. Staff it as a calendar. Finished essays can wait until each send date. Enrollment gets the dense weeks. The other months get one action each. You can see the shape of a full year in year-round benefits communication.
Build turns the first campaigns and the brand frame into something employees can open. Pages that do not require a corporate login. Messages matched to the channels you actually have. A manager card if supervisors are part of the path. Approvals sit on the client's side: eligibility facts, coverage wording, and anything about cost. Touchpoints prepares the draft and runs the production. Your team signs the facts. A campaign does not go live on an unapproved deductible.
Name an approver and a backup before build starts. The weeks slip when the only person who can say yes is in a board meeting. Decide what "approved" means: the figures match payroll or the carrier, the phone numbers were checked, and counsel has seen anything that is a required notice. Creative preference can move in parallel. Fact approval cannot be skipped to save a meeting.
Pilot, live, and the cadence
A pilot is the first real send to a real slice of employees. One site, one division, or one campaign topic. You learn whether the links work on a phone, whether the manager card made sense, and whether the questions you get match the message you sent. Then you go live for the broader population. Live means the approved system is sending. Later months can still be drafted as their dates approach.
After live, the cadence is the product. Messages go on the dates in the blueprint. Segments follow rules you approved. Reports show who was reached and what they did. The client still owns changes in eligibility and plan design. When those change, the library updates and a human reviews cost language again. The machine does not invent a new copay because the calendar said to send something.
Most programs go from discovery to live in a matter of weeks. What stretches the calendar is a missing file, an approver who is out, or a plan decision that is not actually made. Say that out loud at kickoff. A rushed approval of a wrong number is worse than a short wait. Once you are live, protect the cadence. Skipping March because everyone is tired is how programs slide back into an enrollment-only habit.
Who owns what
The client owns approvals, eligibility facts, plan rules, and the decision about goals. The client owns consent language and the relationship with counsel on required notices. Touchpoints owns the build, the delivery operation, and the drumbeat that keeps the calendar moving. Producers and HR stay in front of their people. They should not spend the month inside a send tool.
Brokers who want this under their own brand should read white-label benefits communication alongside this timeline. The beats are the same. The name on the message changes. Employers who want to see it directly can start at LinQed Online and book time through contact.
A useful kickoff packet is short. Last year's enrollment calendar. A sample of the questions employees ask. A census with site and personal contact fields, even if the personal fields are incomplete. The carrier's nurse-line number. The date approvals can happen each week. Bring that packet and discovery starts on the facts. Leave it at home and the first meeting is a tour. Tours do not get you live.
Key takeaways
- Discovery covers census, channels, brand, and goals.
- The blueprint is a 12-month calendar. Final copy can follow one send at a time.
- The client approves eligibility facts and cost language. Touchpoints runs delivery.
- A pilot or first campaign comes before you call the program live.
- Most programs go from discovery to live in a matter of weeks.
- The cadence after live is the part that makes next year easier.
Frequently asked questions
How long does implementation take?
Most programs go from discovery to live in a matter of weeks. The clock depends on approvals and on how complete the census and plan facts are. This post does not promise a specific number of days.
What does our team have to do?
Supply eligibility facts, confirm coverage and cost language, and name an approver who can answer in the week you agreed. Touchpoints drafts, builds, and runs the sends. Your team should not have to staff a new channel desk.
Do we go live to everyone on day one?
You can, once approvals are done. Many employers run a pilot or a first campaign with one audience, fix what the questions reveal, and then widen the send. Live means the system is operating on approved content.
Is LinQed Online a benefits portal?
It delivers communication: messages, pages people can open, and a year-round cadence. A portal stores transactions and documents behind a login. You may keep the portal. You still need a way to reach people who will not log in.
Most programs go from discovery to live in a matter of weeks. Start with census, channels, brand, and goals.
A co-founder of Touchpoints with two decades of experience in employee benefits communication. He partners hands-on with benefits firms and employers nationwide to build strategies that deliver real outcomes.
