Creating and Sending Communications

This article will explain how to create and send Letters, Emails and SMS within the system. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Accessing Templates and the Communications Log
• Creating Letters
• Printing Letters
• Creating and Sending Emails
• Sending Letters via Email
• Tracking Email Delivery
• Creating and Sending SMS

Accessing Templates and the Communications Log

All the available communications templates (Email, Letters and SMS) are available within the communications log. To access the log for any client, click the below toolbar button:

Clicking this toolbar button for the first time takes you to the client's Communication log -  a record of all the comms you've ever sent them, both current cases and historic cases. 

Note: Click the button again to open templates.

Did you know: Communications templates are fully configurable -  so you can set them up to pre-populate with the relevant information, saving you time! More information is here.

Creating Letters

The section below shows you how to format/edit a letter template (this works the same for an email template too), sending letters via email to clients and how to print letters, should you wish to post them instead. 

To edit and/or change the formatting of a letter template:

1. Click on the envelope icon
2. Select the letter template you want to use from the relevant folder
3. Click Open
4. Edit your template as required then save

Note: Letters you've prepared can be sent from the system via email, for help and guidance on how to do this, click here.

Printing Letters

If you would like to send letters manually by printing them off, follow these steps:

1. Once the letter template is open and any desired changes have been made, click Save at the bottom of the screen
2. Then click Print (a preview of the letter will be shown)
3. If you are happy with how it looks, click Print, adjust your settings as appropriate then Print again

Creating and Sending Emails

This section demonstrates how to send emails from the system. The below steps walk you through the process:

1. Open the desired email template
2. Make your required amendments to the email then click Save
3. If you have a letter to attach to your email, continue with the next steps - otherwise, click Send

Note: The "to" field will pre-populate with either the client's email or another pre-defined email, but you can change this. You can also CC or BCC others into the email.

Sending Letters via Email

Once you have prepared a letter on the system, you'll be able to send this as an attachment to an email from the system - this means you don't need to download the letter to attach to a separate email in your email client (e.g. outlook).

1. Open the desired email template
2. Make your required amendments to the email, then click Save
3. Click Attach Letter
4. Choose the letter you wish to attach from the list
5. Click Save then Send

Did you know: Once you've sent your email, it will appear in the communications log.

Tracking Email Delivery

From the Communications Log, additional icons will appear next to sent emails giving additional delivery status information. Hover over the icons (as shown below) to see this additional information.

Creating and Sending SMS

You can send SMS to applicants in the same way as other templates, following the below steps from the Communications Log for a client. 

1. Select the required SMS template, then click Open
2. Amend the template as required
3. Click Save, then Send

Did you know: SMS is an additional bolt-on. If your system doesn't have SMS and you would like to add it, please email enquiries@locata.org.uk for a quote.