15Email
This chapter describes how to use email. It includes the following topics:
Replying to Incoming Messages
After you send or cancel an outgoing message, the outgoing message form appears or the Communications List view appears as follows:
If you select the Remain on Same View After Send (Cancel) field in the Outbound Communications view of the User Preferences screen, then the outgoing message form continues to appear. You must navigate to the Communications List view to see a record of the sent message.
If you do not select the Remain on Same View After Send (Cancel) field in the Outbound Communications view of the User Preferences screen, then the Communications List view appears.
Complete the following procedure to reply to an incoming message.
To reply to an incoming message
Navigate to the Communications screen, then the Communications List view.
Select Inbox in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
In the list of email messages, select the incoming message to which you want to reply.
To see more details about this message, do the following:
Click the Body view tab to review the main text of the incoming message.
Click the Attachments view tab, and then click the Name field in the list of attachments to review the content of an attachment for the incoming message.
The original message also appears in the list of attachments.
(Optional) Click the More Info view tab to review information about the header, customer, attributes, and transmission of the incoming message.
(Optional) Click the History view tab to review any other messages that have the same email thread ID as the incoming message.
(Optional) Drill down on the Last Name field for the message to review information about the contact for the message.
Navigate to the outgoing message form:
Click Reply to respond to only the individual who sent the message.
Click Reply to All to respond to the individual who sent the message and to the individuals in the Cc: field of the message.
Click Forward to respond to the individuals whom you select in the outgoing message form.
The form for the incoming message appears on-screen. To show or hide the body of the incoming message, click the show more or show less button in corner of the incoming message form.
The form for your outgoing message appears after the form for the incoming message.
(Optional) Link additional data to the email thread for the outgoing message.
Click the select button in the SR # (number), Opportunity, Contact, or Account field of the outgoing message form.
Select the appropriate record, and click OK.
If the SR # (number), Opportunity, Contact, or Account field already contains a value, then click the preview button to view more details about that value.
Enter text for the outgoing message in the area of the message body that precedes the Thread ID reference.
At the start or end of the outgoing message form, click Delete to delete the outgoing message. To expedite text entry, use templates. For more information, see Using Templates in Outgoing Messages.
(Optional) At the start of end of the outgoing message form, click Check Spelling to verify the spelling in the outgoing message.
(Optional) In the list of Outgoing Attachments that appears after the outgoing message form, insert the supporting documents in your outgoing message:
To add an attachment, click Attachment (the paperclip icon), navigate to the attachment, and select it.
To add literature, click Add Literature (the sheet of paper icon), select the document from the list, and click Add.
At the start or end of the outgoing message form, click Send after you finish composing the outgoing message.
The outgoing message is sent.
(Optional) To view the record for the sent message, select Sent Items in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
Resending Outgoing Messages
When Communications Outbound Manager fails to send an outgoing message, the Status field of the outgoing message changes to Canceled. You can resend these canceled messages.
To resend an outgoing message
Navigate to the Communications screen, then the Communications List view.
Select Canceled Items in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
In the list of email messages, select the outgoing message that you want to resend.
Click Re-Send.
Resending Outgoing Messages That have Failed
When Communications Manager fails to send an outgoing message to multiple recipients in which some recipients have incorrect email addresses, the Status field of the outgoing message changes to Partial. You can resend these messages to those recipients who failed on the first attempt.
To resend an outgoing message that failed because of incorrect email address
Navigate to the Communications screen, then the Communications List view.
In the list of email messages, select the outgoing message with a Partial status that you want to resend.
Click Recipients and look for a Failed status.
Click Resume to navigate to the outgoing message form.
Correct the email address.
Click Send.
Using Templates in Outgoing Messages
To expedite entry of greeting, body, and closing text in outgoing messages, agents can use templates. Before using a template for body text, you must create the template, associate the template with a category, and include the category in a catalog.
To use a template, you insert the template text into the outgoing message. Then you can change that text, if necessary. You can also delete that text, and insert other template text. You insert text for a solution into an outgoing message in the same way that you insert any other template text.
To use a template in an outgoing message
Navigate to the Communications screen, then the Communications List view.
In the list of email messages, select the message for which you want to use a template.
Navigate to the outgoing message form:
If the message that you select does not have a status of Draft, perform one of the following actions:
Click Reply to respond to only the individual who sent the message.
Click Reply to All to respond to the individual who sent the message and to the individuals in the Cc: field of the message.
Click Forward to respond to the individuals whom you select in the outgoing message form.
If the message that you select has a status of Draft, then click Resume.
The form for the incoming message appears on-screen. To show or hide the body of the incoming message, click the show more or show less button in the corner of the incoming message form.
The form for your outgoing message appears after the form for the incoming message.
To insert template text for the greeting of the message, then select the template in the Greeting field of the outgoing message form.
The greeting template text appears at the beginning of the outgoing message.
If you select another greeting template, then the template text replaces the greeting text of the outgoing message. If you delete the greeting template text and want to reinsert the same text, then you must clear the Greeting field, and then reselect the template in the Greeting field.
To insert template text for the body of the message:
In the Categories field of the outgoing message form, select the category that applies to the body template.
Select the template in the Body field of the outgoing message form.
The body template text appears after the text for the greeting template. If you enter greeting or body text before you insert the template text for the body of the message, then the body template text appears after the text that you enter.
If necessary, insert other body template text.
The text for each selected template appears after the text for the previously selected template.
If you delete the body template text and want to reinsert the same text, then you must reselect the category that applies to the template, and then reselect the template in the Body field.
To insert template text for the closing of the message, then select the template in the Closing field of the outgoing message form
The closing template text appears after the outgoing message, which precedes the Thread ID reference.
If you select another closing template, then the template text replaces the closing text of the outgoing message. If you delete the closing template text and want to reinsert the same text, then you must clear the Closing field, and then reselect the template in the Closing field.
Saving Drafts of Outgoing Messages
When composing an outgoing message, agents might not have the time or information that they need to complete the message and then send it. They can save this incomplete message, and then later retrieve this draft to complete the message before sending it. For more information, see Retrieving Drafts of Outgoing Messages.
You can save a draft of sent messages and of outgoing messages. After you save a draft of an outgoing message:
If you select the Remain on Same View After Send (Cancel) field in the Outbound Communications view of the User Preferences screen, then the outgoing message form continues to appear. You must navigate to the Communications List view to see a record of the draft of the outgoing message.
If you do not select the Remain on Same View After Send (Cancel) field in the Outbound Communications view of the User Preferences screen, then the Communications List view appears.
To save a draft of an outgoing message
Navigate to the Communications screen, then the Communications List view.
Select Inbox or Sent Items in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
In the list of email messages, select the message that you want to save as a draft.
Navigate to the outgoing message form:
Click Reply to respond to only the individual who sent the message.
Click Reply to All to respond to the individual who sent the message and to the individuals in the Cc: field of the message.
Click Forward to respond to the individuals whom you select in the outgoing message form.
The form for the incoming message appears on-screen. To show or hide the body of the incoming message, click the show more or show less button in the corner of the incoming message form.
The form for your outgoing message appears after the form for the incoming message.
Enter text for the outgoing message in the area of the message body that precedes the Thread ID reference.
At the start or end of the outgoing message form, click Delete to delete the outgoing message. To expedite text entry, use templates. For more information, see Using Templates in Outgoing Messages.
On the outgoing message form, click Save As Draft.
To make further changes to the draft, then click Resume, enter the changes, and click Save As Draft again.
The message is saved as a draft.
Note: If you do not click Save As Draft, then the message is still saved as a draft when you navigate to another screen or view in Email Response.(Optional) To view the record for the draft message, select Drafts in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
Retrieving Drafts of Outgoing Messages
When composing an outgoing message, agents might not have the time or information that they need to complete the message and then send it. They can save this incomplete message, and then later retrieve this draft to complete the message before sending it. For more information, see Saving Drafts of Outgoing Messages.
To retrieve a draft of an outgoing message
Navigate to the Communications screen, then the Communications List view.
Select Drafts in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
In the list of email messages, select the draft message.
Click Resume to navigate to the outgoing message form for the draft.
The form for the incoming message appears on-screen. To show or hide the body of the incoming message, click the show more or show less button in corner of the incoming message form.
The form for your outgoing message appears after the form for the incoming message, and this form contains the draft text.
If necessary, change the content in the draft message.
Note: To rescind your changed content, then you must delete that content. Do not click Delete to rescind your changed content. Click Delete only to delete the draft message.To save the draft message, click Save As Draft on outgoing message form.
To make further changes to the draft, then click Resume, enter the changes, and click Save As Draft again.
The message is saved as a draft.
Note: If you do not click Save As Draft, then the message is still saved as a draft when you navigate to another screen or view in Email Response.To send the draft message, click Send at the start or end of the outgoing message form.
The outgoing message is sent.
(Optional) To view the record for the sent message, select Sent Items in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
Saving Messages as a Template
An agent might decide that the content of a message is likely to apply to replies for future incoming messages. The agent can save the message as a simple template, so that the agent or other agents can use that simple template to expedite text entry in future outgoing messages.
To save a message as a template
Navigate to the Communications screen, then the Communications List view.
Select Inbox, Sent Items, or Drafts in the Saved Queries field of the toolbar.
In the list of email messages, select the message for which you want to save a message template.
Navigate to the outgoing message form:
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If the message that you select does not have a status of Draft, then perform one of the following actions:
Click Reply to respond to only the individual who sent the message.
Click Reply to All to respond to the individual who sent the message and to the individuals in the Cc: field of the message.
Click Forward to respond to the individuals whom you select in the outgoing message form.
If the message that you select has a status of Draft, then click Resume.
The form for the incoming message appears on-screen. To show or hide the body of the incoming message, click the show more or show less button in the corner of the incoming message form.
The form for your outgoing message appears after the form for the incoming message.
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On the outgoing message form, click Save as Template.
The Templates dialog box appears.
Change the fields and message text in the Templates dialog box as necessary, and click OK.
The template is created, and the form for your outgoing message appears again after the form for the incoming message.
To view the record for the template, navigate to the Communications screen, then the My Templates view.
Change the Status field of the template record from Draft to Active to make the template available to other users.
Specifying Preferences for Outbound Communications
This topic describes how users can specify outbound communications preferences.
To specify preferences for outbound communications
From the application-level menu, choose Tools, then User Preferences.
From the link bar, choose Outbound Communications.
Specify the preferences.
As necessary for the particular setting, log out of the application, and log in again.
The descriptions for each user preference setting indicate whether this step is required.
Sending Email Messages Using an External Email Client
This topic describes how to use the Send Email command when running Email Response in your Web application, and you want to send an email using the default email client as defined by your operating system. For more information about selecting an external email client, see Specifying Preferences for Outbound Communications.
The invocation of the default email client is done with a mailto URL. Mailto URLs have the following characteristics:
They do not provide a mechanism to pass HTML to the email client. Only plain text email templates work with the defined External Email Client.
They do not allow for attachments to be passed to the email client. If attachments are required, then the user must manually attach them after the email client opens.
To send email messages using an External Email Client
Select a record or set of records in the application.
Note: Users must generally select a single record before invoking Send Email when using templates for which field substitution is performed. If they select multiple records, then selected generic recipients are drawn from all the selected records. However, field substitution applies only to the first selected record, and a single email message is sent to all recipients.Perform one of the following steps:
From the application-level menu, choose File, then Send Email.
Press F9.
In the Recipient or Template dialog box, perform the following steps:
If the Recipient field is shown, then specify the recipient or specify no recipient yet.
Note: Whether the Recipient field appears depends on the kind of data that currently has the focus when you choose the Send Email command.If the current record is a person, such as a contact or employee, then the Recipient field does not appear.
If the current record is some other entity, such as a service request or opportunity, then the Recipient field appears if recipients are configured for that object. The type of recipients varies by object, such as the contacts associated with the current service request or the employees associated with an opportunity.
If necessary, click Change Language or Locale to change the language or locale, as necessary.
Setting the language and locale changes the list of available templates to those associated with the language and locale you specify.
From the Message Template field, choose the name of a communications template to insert into the message body.
The listed templates are subject to filtering that is based on several factors, including channel, language, locale, and whether the template is HTML or plain text.
Note: If the current record type (business component) has a default template associated with it, then you do not need to specify a template. If you specify a template, then its text is appended to the default template text in the email message. Consult your administrator, or verify the software behavior to see whether a default template is configured.In the Recipient or Template dialog box, click OK to continue to the email message window for the external email client.
In the external email client, complete the following steps:
For the To, Cc, or Bcc fields, perform one or more of the following steps:
Verify any recipients that were automatically inserted in previous steps.
Specify any additional recipient email addresses from the email directories available through your email client program.
Optionally, verify or enter text for the subject line. Text might be automatically inserted into the subject line when you select a template.
Optionally, enter and format free-form text to modify or add to the template text.
Optionally, specify operating system files as attachments to the email message.
Optionally, check the spelling for your message, according to the support of your email client program.
Send the message, or cancel the message if you decide not to send the email message.
Note: After the mailto URL is invoked and the external mail client opens, there is no feedback to the application regarding whether the email was modified, sent, or canceled. The Email Response does not update the activity record in the Siebel database with user changes.