Email

Overview

The SmartSimple platform provides a comprehensive array of features aimed at enhancing email communication. These features encompass the ability to send bulk emails to targeted recipients, automated emails dispatched according to your workflow, and personalized ad hoc emails. Configuration options are available to tailor your email content and delivery methods, including the ability to modify the sender's address. It is essential to recognize that while the platform endeavors to send emails as configured, there are limitations and best practices that must be observed to optimize successful email delivery. These limitations and practices are subject to change, reflecting the evolving industry standards with which they are intended to comply.

Sending Email in Bulk

Email Broadcast

The Email Broadcast feature enables the sending of bulk emails to users. You can define the recipient list for a broadcast using the same search criteria available in the People list view. Specifically, users can be selected based on attributes such as their user roles, specific field values, company categories, or specific field values associated with the parent company of the user.

Group Email

The Group Email feature allows for the sending of emails from a List View of records, targeting users associated with these records. Presently, this feature is accessible from any UTA List View or Organization List View. This functionality facilitates the direction of messages to users linked by a specific role to a set of records, which can be filtered based on any criteria available in the List View, such as type, status, or field value. The email content can also reference the record, enabling the incorporation of information from the record into your message. For instance, a reminder email could be sent to the owners of UTA records that are currently in draft status, prompting them to submit their records.

Automation of Email

Workflow Acknowledgement Tasks

Within the Workflow automation module, there exists the capability to configure Acknowledgement type tasks. This functionality enables the triggering of automated email notifications based on the same conditions that may activate a Workflow. This offers considerable flexibility in dispatching email notifications based on a diverse range of criteria, targeting any number of users associated with the record that initiated the Workflow, while also allowing for the inclusion of contextual information from the record.

Reminder and Follow-Up Email

Activity records can be configured to send a standard reminder email prior to a specified date and time, or a standard follow-up email following a specified date and time. These settings for reminder and follow-up emails are presented as standard fields that can be enabled on UTA Level 2 or Level 3 records. Once these fields are enabled, users may opt to send these emails on a per-record basis by manually adjusting the timing for when they wish the email to be dispatched, relative to the end date and time standard field of that record.

Sending Ad Hoc Email

Message Center

Users can send individual ad hoc emails to other users by simply clicking on their email address while viewing their user profile. This action will activate the Message Center feature, allowing you to compose an email and send it to the designated address through the platform.

Configuration - Essentials

Email Domain

By default, emails are dispatched from the platform using a SmartSimple-managed domain. While the platform provides the option to configure emails to be sent from your corporate domain, caution must be exercised to prevent these emails from being classified as spam. For optimal email delivery results, the following configuration options are recommended.

Sending From a SmartSimple Domain

Configure emails to be sent from a SmartSimple-managed domain. This is the most reliable method for sending emails. Emails configured in this manner will be relayed via SmartSimple-managed mail exchange servers*. It should be noted that these domains are not monitored and are not set up to receive mail. You may use an alias of your choice in the format of alias@smartsimpledomain, for example, acme-recruitment@smartsimplemailer.com, although we recommend a general alias such as donotreply, e.g., donotreply@smartsimplemailer.com.

* Note: If you are subscribed to SmartSimple's Private Cloud offering and self-host your own infrastructure, your environment may not be configured to relay email through SmartSimple-managed mail exchange servers, and this configuration option may not apply to you.

The following table lists the SmartSimple-managed domains available for your use, along with the geographic location from which the email will be routed.

Sending From Your Own Domain via SMTP Relay

It is possible to configure emails to be dispatched from your corporate domain; however, it is imperative to also set up the SMTP relay function within the SmartSimple platform to facilitate the routing of emails through your corporate mail exchange system for successful delivery. This necessitates that your mail exchange system is configured to accept SMTP relay and to authorize email relay from the SmartSimple platform. Should you configure emails within the SmartSimple platform to utilize your corporate domain's "from" address without establishing SMTP relay, there is a considerable risk that the emails will be categorized as spam and not reach the intended recipients.

To Configure SMTP Relay in SmartSimple

The configuration for the SMTP relay functionality can be located in the Global Settings - Communications tab. Once this feature is configured, all subsequent emails generated by the platform will be routed through the designated server. It is essential, when utilizing this feature, to also configure a suitable email address wherever in the platform you can specify the "from" address of an email, ensuring that the platform can successfully relay emails to the specified mail exchange server. The following table outlines the settings available for configuration with SMTP relay.

To Configure SMTP Relay in Your Mail Exchange Server

Please refer to any documentation provided by the vendor of your mail exchange server for specific instructions on enabling SMTP relay functionality. Below are some general considerations to keep in mind during the setup process.

• Determine the method of authentication, and whether basic authentication with a username will be utilized.
• Verify the permissions of the account designated for the relay functionality. Is the account capable of sending emails to external entities/domains? Is the account permitted to send emails from other internal accounts? Consider the scenario where users may utilize the SmartSimple platform to send ad hoc emails with their individual email addresses as the "from" address.
• Be mindful of any sending limits that may be imposed by your mail exchange server, and assess this against the sending behavior of your SmartSimple system.

Sending From Your Own Domain without SMTP Relay

This configuration is not recommended, as it will result in emails being dispatched by the SmartSimple platform via the local mail server of the application server, significantly increasing the likelihood of being classified as spam.

Where to Set the Email Domain

Given the highly configurable nature of the SmartSimple platform, there are several distinct areas that allow you to specify the "from" address used in email composition. The table below outlines where to locate each of these settings and their respective controls.

Email Templates

Administrators possess the ability to configure pre-existing templates for end users, thereby ensuring uniform branding and initial text content. These templates can subsequently be selected during the email composition process to automatically populate the email contents.

Creating a New Message Template

1. Access the Main Menu, and then, under the Communication category, select Email.
2. Proceed to the second tab labeled Templates. Any existing templates within the system will be displayed and available for editing.
3. To create a new template, click the + icon located at the top left.

Saving Email to the Platform

Configuring Activity Types to Represent Email

Emails may be saved to the platform in the form of activity records.

Email Anything Feature

The Email Anything feature enables the platform to generate distinct email addresses that are associated with individual records. Any emails directed to these unique email addresses are subsequently processed by the platform and linked to the corresponding record as a sub-activity. This functionality facilitates the monitoring of all email communications pertinent to a specific record as activities within the platform.

• The syntax (@objemail@) is utilized to generate a unique email address for objects within SmartSimple.
• This will attach the email as a subrecord to the record from which it has been triggered.
• The status of the email record is governed by the Received Activity Status setting. If a Workflow is defined for that status, it will be activated when the record is added.

Use Cases

• Review Forms - A reviewer can send an email to the application.
• Project Management - Staff can send emails to community contacts while maintaining a record of the communication, thereby eliminating the need for an Outlook Plugin.
• Letters of References - An applicant may provide a referee's email address, allowing the referee to respond with the letter of reference attached.
• Support Tickets - A client can directly email a ticket.
• Anonymous Email Address - Users can inquire about opportunities without disclosing their email address, similar to features available on online marketplaces.

Note: The "objemail" variable is not supported in the BCC or FROM fields. It should only be utilized in the TO or CC fields.

Example Usage

You may create a Read Only – System Variables Custom field with the following contents:

<script>// <![CDATA[
function copyToClipboard(element) {
  var $temp = $("<input>");
  $("body").append($temp);
  $temp.val($(element).text()).select();
  document.execCommand("copy");
  $temp.remove();
}
// ]]></script>
<span id="objEmail"><a href="mailto:@objemail@">@objemail@</a></span> <a>(Copy to Clipboard)</a>

Clicking on the email address will initiate a new email in your default email application.
Clicking Copy to Clipboard will copy the email address to your clipboard, enabling you to paste it (Ctrl-V) into your email application, among other uses.

System Administration (gear icon) >> Global Settings >> Communications (tab) >> [Email Options and Security]

System Administration (gear icon) >> Global Settings >> Security (tab) >> System Feature Permissions >> Features (tab) >> [Email Broadcast - Access]

Menu (9-square) >> [Email Broadcast]