Sales orders or invoices can be automatically sent as a batch to the customer at the end of the day or sent individually from the sales invoice window.
Batch - EBMS will automatically send a copy of the sales order or invoice to a customer's office whenever a document is created or processed. This method is useful in sending a copy of the document to the correct person within the office rather than relying on the printed invoice being hand delivered or mailed. E-mailing a document also saves postage or handling labor.
Individually - Sales orders or invoices can be sent individually from the invoice menu using hot keys. Review the Individually Sending Documents section for more details.
Command Line - A sales order or invoice can be sent using an advanced command line function. This option is an advanced option configured by IT personnel or an EBMS consultant.
You must create a send mail mode before proceeding with any of the following Auto Send Sales Order options. Complete the following steps to create an Auto Send Mode:
Select File > Auto Send Options > Configure Send Modes from the main EBMS menu to open the Auto Send Mode list as shown below:
Either click the New button to create a new Auto Send Mode to open the following dialog or select an Accounts Receivable Auto Send Mode and click the Properties button. Continue with step 6 if the mode has already been created.:
Each Auto Send Mode requires a unique Key Id. This Key ID should be a simple descriptive code that does not include spaces and symbols.
Select the Accounts Receivable Send Mode option as shown above.
Enter a short Description of the auto send mode type. This description should clearly describe the mode process. Note that this text is used as the EBMS menu label. Click OK to continue.
Configure the Send Mode Properties as shown below::
Enable the Show on Menu option to display this auto send mode on the appropriate EBMS menu. The following Auto Send mode was listed on the Sales menu since the Send Mode is set to Accounts Receivable. Accounts Receivable, Statements, Customers will appear on the Sales if the Show on Menu option is enabled
The Query setting is used to send a batch of sales orders or invoices. Click on the Edit Query button to set the query options. These options are similar to the report queries. Enter a query to identify the Sales Orders to be sent.
The following
query will identify all sales orders with a status of 'U" or unprocessed
sales orders. :
Review the Features > Advanced Query Options for more details on creating Query expressions. Contact your EBMS consultant for more details on this advanced setting.
All Sales Orders that were not sent previously (that have no value in the Sent Date field under Advanced Options) and are unprocessed will be sent if the query settings are kept blank.
Maintain the default values within the Fields to Assign settings since they are advanced settings.
Enable the For multiple sends to one contact, send one E-mail with multiple attachments option to group attachments (sales orders or invoices) for an individual customer into one E-mail. A separate E-mail will be generated for each document if this option is disabled.
Enable the Use Summary (after multiple sends, a summary E-mail is sent) option to send a summary to the specified Summary Recipient after a group of E-mails have been sent to a single customer. Review the E-mail Settings details within the General Setup Instructions section for more information about the Summary Recipient setting.
Disable the Always Send Summary (summary is sent even to single E-mails) option if a summary is not required if the customer only received one e-mail. This setting has no effect if the previous Use Summary option is disabled.
Enter the desired sales order or invoice Report. This Report should be a sales order or invoice form. Contact your EBMS consultant for information on custom reports needed for this process.
The Minimum Report File Size setting: This feature allows you to stop any sends on export files that are below a certain file size. This value should be set at about 10K less than the average export file size to prohibit blank reports to be sent as an attachment. Please contact your EBMS support rep for suggested values for this advanced setting.
Click on the Contract Priorities tab as shown below:
The Auto Send option within EBMS gives the user multiple options to send a document. The Contact Priorities are used to prioritize the send options. The priority order is top-down. In our screenshot, this means that E-mail will be preferred, with Fax being used when there is no Auto E-mail entry in the customer's contact list. Complete the following steps to create and order the send options:
Select a send type option as listed below:
E-mail - This is the most common send type.
CC E-mail - This option will send a carbon copy of the e-mail. This send type can be listed anywhere in the priority list in order to be utilized. The CC E-mail will always be sent if the E-mail send type is priority.
Fax - This refers both to faxes (through a modem or fax printer) and e-mail-to-fax sends.
Select a Contact Type for each send type. The Contact Type is set within the General tab of the customer record. Review the Customer Configuration section below. Review the Sales > Customers > Setting Customer Defaults section for more details on changing customer contact labels.
Enable the For ’r;E-mail’ type, give priority to the E-mail address on the Sales Order/Invoice switch to give priority to the E-mail address that is stored on the Sales Order or Invoice. Go to View > Advanced Options to view or set the E-mail setting within the sales order. When this option is disabled, Auto Send will only use the Sales Document E-mail address when there is no valid Auto Send contact information on the Customer record. In all situations, Auto Send will use the Sales Order E-mail address if there is no other contact information available. Note: this option is only valid if an E-mail or Auto E-mail is included within the Contact Priorities list.
The E-mail Settings determine the details of the e-mail document that will be automatically sent.
The From Address should contain a valid e-mail address. This address can be a noreply address if no response is desired from the Auto Send e-mails.
Enter an appropriate Subject line for the e-mail broadcast.
Enter the appropriate Body Text using HTML or plain text syntax. The keywords list located at the bottom of the dialog can be used within the e-mail body. Note that line break tags (<br>) may cause extra lines in the E-mail.
Review the Test Mode section for details on testing the e-mail creating and reviewing the e-mail result..
Contact information must be set up for all the customers before documents are sent. Go to Sales > Customers from the main EBMS menu and open a customer record. Click on the Auto Send Settings tab to view the Auto Send Contact List as show below. The e-mail and fax contacts from the customer's General tab are copied to he Auto Send Contact List. Any changes to the standard contacts will be copied to the General tab. Additional contacts can be added to this tab.
The Auto Send module will only use e-mail and fax contact information .
You are now ready to actually sent documents. Review the Test Mode section for a way to put the system in test mode to determine if your setting options are setup properly.
Launch the Auto Send feature by selecting Sales > Auto Send Sales Orders from the main EBMS menu. When the process is launched, it will cycle through the orders that are to be sent based the settings described in the previous section. A progress bar showing the status of the send process will appear and can run unattended, as no user input should be necessary.
As the system handles each order, it will export a report in PDF format to the Export Folder. This PDF file will then be attached to an e-mail or fax and sent to the customer. The PDF attachment can be disabled (not recommended) if the content of the sales order is inserted directly into the main e-mail body. Go to the E-mail Settings tab of the Auto Send Mode dialog to review these options. Go to File > Auto Send Options > Accounts Receivable to confirm that the Attach a copy of the document when auto sending E-mails option is enabled as shown below:
If the customer record does not contain any Contact Types which match the entries in the Contact Priorities list, the system will either ignore the order or print it, depending on your setup in General Settings (described in the previous section).
TIP: The document will be printed instead of sent if the text "PRINTED" appears in the customer's contact field. This option is valuable if a few customers require a mailing instead of the standard Auto Send options.
Select View > Advanced Options from the sales order or invoice menu and click on the Auto Send Status tab to view the status of the Auto Send:
The system will mark the item with the date, time, and a message with the results after the Auto Send process is completed. This useful information gives the user details about the handling of a document by the Auto Send system. Simply eliminate the Send Date value from the document to send it again.