5.1 Creating and Sending Sealed Email

This section covers the following topics:

5.1.1 About Creating and Sending Sealed Email

Note:

The recipient of a sealed email will be able to read it only if he has Oracle IRM Desktop installed on his computer and he has been given sufficient rights. It is recommended that you insure intended recipients have Oracle IRM Desktop installed or know how to obtain it, especially if you send emails outside your own organization.

There are two main ways to create sealed email, subject to your rights and the software that you have installed on your system:

  • If you use Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, Oracle IRM sealing options can be integrated directly into your email application. You can mark an email to be sealed as it is sent. This allows the very easy sealing of new emails, replies, and forwarded emails. Replying and forwarding of sealed emails are handled very much like regular replying and forwarding, enabling you to participate in email threads where all the messages are sealed.

  • You can use any email application to send any sealed document as an attachment. The attachment can be any sealed document, including one that has been created specially as a sealed email document using the facility added to Windows Explorer. The advantage of using the special sealed email document format is that your message will look and behave more like a regular email for any recipients who use Oracle IRM Desktop with email integration enabled.

5.1.2 Creating and Sending Sealed Email using an Integrated Email Application

Rights:

To create a new sealed email and send it, you need the Seal right. See Section 1.3, "About Rights".

Use the following procedure to create and send sealed email using an integrated email application (Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes):

  1. Enable integration with your email application by doing the following:

    1. Open the Oracle IRM Desktop Options dialog (either from the Windows Start menu or from the Oracle IRM icon in the notification area).

    2. Select the Email tab.

    3. Select the checkbox against the name of your email application, then click OK.

      Note:

      Integration with Lotus Notes must have been previously set up in accordance with Section 2.7, "Integrating Lotus Notes with Oracle IRM Desktop".
  2. In your email application, click the New Sealed Email button.

  3. In the message creation window of your email application, make sure that the Seal on Send button is in the pressed down position.

  4. Write your email and go to send it in the usual way. You will be asked to select a sealing context before the message is sent.

5.1.3 Creating and Sending Sealed Email using an Existing Document Attachment

Rights:

To seal a document, and to send it by sealed email, you need the Seal right. See Section 1.3, "About Rights".

Use the following procedure to send sealed email using an existing document that contains the information to be sent:

  1. If the document to be sent is unsealed, seal it in the usual way.

  2. In your email application, create a message, attach the sealed document, and send it in the usual way.

5.1.4 Creating and Sending Sealed Email using Sealed Email Document Format

Rights:

To create and edit a document in sealed email format, you need the Seal right and the Reply right. To send a sealed email using the integrated email applications, you need the Seal right. See Section 1.3, "About Rights".

Use the following procedure to create and send a sealed email using an attachment in the sealed email document format:

  1. Open Windows Explorer, select the File menu, select New, then select Sealed Email Message.

  2. In the Context Selection dialog, select the context in which the message will be sealed.

  3. In the Save As dialog, select the name and location for the sealed document. Make sure that the Open new sealed document box is checked.

    If you have been authorized to allocate item codes manually (see Section 1.7, "About Sealed Document Item Codes"), you will see an Options section on the dialog for naming a document. To set the item code, check the Update Item Code box (if not already set), select the Use This Item Code option, then enter an item code in the accompanying text box.

  4. Write the message into the document application that is opened (usually Microsoft Word).

  5. Save and close the document.

  6. In your email application, create a message, attach the sealed document, and send it in the usual way.