Many think of email addresses as a simple, even intuitive, concept. Yet, the proper way to denote an email address may well determine whether the mail reaches its intended party as well as how it presents itself to the recipient. Following are some guidelines on how to best set up email addresses.
Generally, email addresses within the INFONETICS database will be setup in either the customer or vendor notes. It is also acceptable to enter email addresses in the Customer/Vendor Contact field. However, that field is rather short and may not accommodate the entire address & name. Furthermore, the Contact field sometimes prints on labels and reports, which may be less than desirable. Within the Customer/Vendor Notes, each email address should be listed on a separate line. When multiple email addresses are on the same line, the email will be sent to both recipients at the same time.
EMAIL ADDRESS & DISPLAY NAME
In its simplest form, the email address consists of just the traditional username and domain name separated by the “@” symbol. i.e. yourname@yourcompany.com. Most email programs will allow a “Display Name” to also be included. This display name is shown instead of the simple email address and is intended to be the full name of the person rather than a cryptic email address. For instance, “John T. Doe” could be the display name for jdoe@yourcompany.com.
Many methods can be used to arrange display name and email address on a customers note line. The best configuration has the Display Name simply preceded or followed by the email address bracketed in less/greater than symbols. For instance:
John T. Doe <jdoe@yourcompany.com> Purchasing Agent
INFONETICS’ email parsing algorithms are able to correctly identify the email address and cut it into two pieces;
Display Name: John T. Doe Purchasing Agent
Email Address: jdoe@yourcompany.com
This technique also works very well with Microsoft Outlook’s email program and would allow easy copy/paste of an email address from any INFONETICS screen into the email address field of Outlook.
Other arrangements will also parse correctly
[jdoe@company.com] John T. Doe, Purchasing Agent
John T. Doe (jdoe@yourcompany.com) Purchasing Agent
John T. Doe jdoe@yourcompany.com Purchasing Agent
However, the above representations are less likely to work correctly when copy/pasted into Outlook email. In particular, the comma “,” can be misinterpreted as a separator between multiple email addresses. While commas are permitted in either the INFOMAIL Name or Address fields, they will be converted to blanks before being sent as an email to prevent this misinterpretation.
By the way, early thoughts that each email address line would need a prefix of “EMAIL” have proven to be unnecessary.
DEFAULT EMAIL ADDRESS/FAX NUMBER SELECTION
When “E”(email) is selected as the output device, the Customer/Vendor Contact field (if used with an email address) or the FIRST email address or fax number listed in a customers/vendors notes will be considered the primary address. Therefore, it is extremely important to list the preferred email or fax number first in the notes file. When the output device “F” (fax) is chosen, the Customer/Vendor Facsimile will be selected as the default address. To see other email addresses within the notes simply hit <F10/VIEW>, arrow down to the desired line and hit <ENTER> to select a different address.
INFOFAX/INFOMAIL INTERCHANGIBILITY
Email addresses, fax and phone numbers will all be highlighted within the customer/vendor notes, and can likewise be selected. When a phone number has been specified, an INFOFAX fax transmission will be generated, when a non-numeric address is selected, it will be sent as an INFOMAIL email. Fax and phone numbers within the notes must have the full dialing digits, including “1” and area code, necessary to correctly dial. The system will NOT automatically prefix a “1-” onto a fax number parsed out of the notes field.
So, whether you have purchased the INFOMAIL software or not, make sure you setup customer/vendor email addresses correctly within your system.