Meter Emailing allows you to send meter request emails to customers automatically. This documentation consists of 2 procedures: 1) Meter Email Request Setup, and 2) Meter Email Request Procedure. Changes have been made for Rev 15.
Meter Email Request Set Up
Machine Placement Setup
Email addresses will need to be stored in the Machine Placement User Defined Leasing Fields. In the following screen shot, fields 76 and 77 will be combined to be the email address. In the example, the email address will be shelly_abeln@lacrossesoftware.com.
Microsoft Outlook Setup
Create a folder in Microsoft Outlook under Contacts called Meter Emailing.
Click on Contacts.
Select File> Folder> New Folder.
Enter the name of the new folder, then Click OK.
This is how the new folder appears in your Contacts (see below).
Serial File Setup
Contract (5)> Data Entry (1)> Machine Placement (1)
You must first set up the User-Defined 20 fields (76 and 77) with your email address as shown below. You do not need the @ sign here.
In this case, the address KELLEY_JOHNSON and LACROSSESOFTWARE.COM is separated at the @ sign, and the @ is not entered here. These must be separated. Example:
Contact Changes
Contracts (5)> Data Entry (1)> Contract Changes (6)
The Meter Email Download program will only select contracts that have a Base Bill Days (field #34) equal to 1. All contracts you would like to have emailed will need to have 1 placed in this field through Contract Changes.
Meter Email Request Procedure
The following procedure goes through the process of sending meter emails to customers automatically. There will be a program on the Contract Custom Menu that will need to be run. This is similar to the meter card report and meter faxing program. The file is then imported into Microsoft Outlook to be emailed to the customer.
Running the Meter Email Download Program
Run Meter Emailing from the Contracts Custom Menu (Contracts 5-Custom 5) to create the text file.
Select the meter email disk printer (#14).
Enter your parameters (example below).
Sending Meter Emails Through Microsoft Outlook
Open Microsoft Outlook to import the data.
In the folder tree, click once to highlight the Meter Emailing folder. NOTE: If there are any contacts appearing in the Meter Emailing folder from the last time you ran the download, you must delete them first.
Click on File> Import and Export. The following window appears.
Select “Import from another program or file” and click Next.
The next window asks what type of file you are importing. Scroll to the bottom of the list and select “Tab Separated Values (Windows)” and click Next.
Use the Browse button to select the path to the text file that is being imported.
NT: The file is located on the LMS server in the LMSSHARE folder named MEMAIL.txt.
SuperDos: The file is located in 5:15:MEMAIL.txt. You will need to FTP this from SuperDos to NT.
Select the option to “Replace duplicates with items imported” and click Next.
Select the destination folder to store the import info.txt file.
On the next screen, click Finish.
Merging Contact Records to Email
Click on the Meter Emailing folder.
Click on Tools then Mail Merge to bring up the following window “Mail Merge Contacts”.
Contacts: Make sure “All contacts in current view” is selected, and under Fields to Merge, select “All contact fields”.
Document File: Select “Existing document” and Browse to find the Meter Request Form (template.doc) file located in your LMSSHARE folder.
Contact Data File: Leave this section with the current defaults.
Merge Options: Select “Form Letters” for document type. Select “Email” for Merge to. Type in the subject line that you want to appear in the email. (Example: February Meter Reading Request).
Click OK.
The following screen will appear. You can make changes to your document at this point if needed.
When the document is ready, click Tools> Mail Merge, and the following screen will appear.
Select option 3 Merge.
The following dialog is displayed.
Verify the settings so that they match those in the screen below.
Click Merge.
Remember to save the merge document if you made changes.
Mapping of Fields
This is for information only and automatically done for you.
|
La Crosse Fields |
Outlook Fields |
|
Item Number (Serial File) |
First_Name |
|
Serial Number (Serial File) |
Last_Name |
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Ship-To Customer Name (Contract Header) |
Company |
|
Customer Number (Serial File) Department |
Department |
|
Contact Name (either from Customer, Serial Or Contract Header File depending on input Option) |
Job_Title |
|
Ship-To City/State/Zip Code (Contract Header) |
Business_Street |
|
Location 2 (Serial File) |
Home_Street |
|
Location 1 (Serial File) |
Other_Street |
|
Contract Number (Serial File) |
Other_Address_City |
|
Contract Type (from Contract Header – R=Rental, M=Maintenance, L=Lease) |
Other_Adress_State |
|
Meter Due Date (Contract Header) |
Business_Fax |
|
Machine ID (Serial File) |
Account |
|
Address Line 1 (Contract Header) |
Assistants_Name |
|
Meter Location (Serial File) – Only if they have Contract Commitments or Contract History |
Billing_Information |
|
Address Line 2 (Contract Header) |
Hobby |
|
Machine Description (Serial File) |
Location |
|
Meter Billing Period |
Notes |
|
|
|
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Category |
Category |