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CE-PM003
04/16/2009 1 Copyright 2009 Construction Industry Solutions (Shaker) Corporation
Enhancements to
Creating Mail Merge Letters and Emails
Modules Affected: Project Management
Versions Affected: COINS Ti (9.7c2.36TI)
Updated: New fields and screens described within this CE document are included in
the online help and/or appropriate Reference Manuals concurrent with the
software release. This document may also contain information that is not
incorporated into the documentation, such as procedures and sample
reports, so you may want to keep a copy for future use. An archive of CE
documents is available on COINS USA’s Client Center web site at
http://www.coins-ti.com/support/releases/cedocs.php.
The discussion of this new screen is divided into the sections shown below.
Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 1
Generate Letters ........................................................................................................................... 2
Using a Pre-defined Template with No Changes ........................................................ 4
Editing an Existing Template ......................................................................................... 4
Creating a New Template ............................................................................................... 6
Generate Emails ........................................................................................................................... 9
Overview
This document describes enhancements to the processes of creating mail/merge letters and
emails in the Project Management Module. It is now easier to edit letter templates and create
new ones on the fly. The process of sending emails to multiple contacts was improved and it is
easier to include attachments. The changes are designed to make the processes faster, more
efficient, and easier to use.
CE-PM003 Creating Mail Merge Letters and Emails
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Generate Letters
In the Project Management module, the Generate Letter toolbar icon lets you create a letter or
other Microsoft Word document for the transaction, based on predefined Microsoft Word
templates. You can now create new templates or modify existing ones on the fly, with or
without saving the new template.
The basic steps for generating a letter are listed below:
1. Sign into COINS Ti and navigate to the Project Management menu.
2. Select the desired job.
3. Select the desired type of transaction from the Communication Management or
Contract Management menu.
4. Add or open a transaction.
5. Click the Generate Letter button on the toolbar.
6. Select the Letter Template to use. The dropdown box lists all templates that have already
been defined for the type of transaction you selected in step 3.
7. Select the contacts you want to receive the letter, as shown in Figure 1.
8. Click Next to generate the letter using the selected template.
9. On the next screen, you can print the selected letters, edit them, or view them in Word.
A Correspondence record is created for each generated letter, with a copy of the letter
attached. In addition, the Subject of the originating record is used as the Correspondence
Subject for most types of documents.
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Figure 1: Generate Letters Using a Standard Template
Figure 2: Print Selected Letters
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04/16/2009 4
Using a Pre-defined Template with No Changes
If an existing template fits your needs, the Generate Letter process is unchanged. Follow the
same steps as before to use a pre-defined Word mail merge. See above for details.
Editing an Existing Template
You can edit an existing template if it meets most of your requirements but you want to tweak it
a little – all without cancelling out of the Generate Letter function.
1. Beginning at step 6 on page 2, select the Letter Template to use. The dropdown box lists
all templates that have already been defined for the selected type of transaction.
2. Select the contacts you want to receive the letter, as shown in Figure 1.
3. Click New/Edit Template.
4. Select the option to Edit existing and fill in the rest of the screen.
5. Click Edit Template to open the template in Microsoft Word.
6. Make the desired changes and close Microsoft Word.
7. Click Finish on the New/Edit Template screen to store the new template on the server.
8. You will return to the Generate Letter screen, where the Letter Template combo box is
set to the new template. See Figure 4.
9. Click Next to generate the letter using the selected template.
10. On the next screen, you can print the selected letters, edit them, or view them in Word.
See Figure 2 on page 3.
Figure 3: Edit an Existing Template
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04/16/2009 5
Field Definitions (Selected Fields)
Template to Start From
The Template to Start From defaults from the template selected on the previous screen
but you can select a different one here.
If you start from a standard COINS template, the system will not overwrite it.
The edited template is stored on the server as a new template and the system
creates a new report ID for it in System Administration > Report Definition File.
If you start from a custom template, the system will overwrite the previous
version with the updated version and description, reusing the previous report ID
and template file name.
New/Edit Existing
Select Edit Existing if you want to edit an existing template and save the changes for
future use.
Description
If the Template to Start From is a standard COINS template, you cannot change the
description. The system automatically adds a sequential number to the end of the
standard description.
If you didn’t start with a standard COINS template, you can enter a short description to
identify the new template in Lookups.
One Time Use
The One-time Use field is not accessible if you select Edit Existing.
Operating system file name
The file name displays here for your information but it cannot be edited. This is the file
name under which the edited template is stored on the server.
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Figure 4; Generate Letter Screen with New Template Selected
Creating a New Template
You can create a new template from an existing one without cancelling out of the Generate
Letter function.
1. Select the Letter Template to use. The dropdown box lists all templates that have already
been defined for the type of transaction you selected in step 3.
2. Select the contacts you want to receive the letter, as shown in Figure 1.
3. Click New/Edit Template.
4. Select the option for New and fill in the rest of the screen.
5. Click Edit Template to open the template in Microsoft Word.
6. Click One Time Use if the change applies only to this letter and you don’t want to save
it for future use.
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7. Make the desired changes and close Microsoft Word.
8. Click Finish on the New/Edit Template screen. If you selected the One Time Use button,
the template is stored on your PC but not sent to the server.
9. You will return to the Generate Letter screen, where the Letter Template combo box is
set to the new template. See Figure 4.
10. Click Next to generate the letter using the selected template.
11. On the next screen, you can print the selected letters, edit them, or view them in Word.
See Figure 2 on page 3.
Figure 5: Create a One-time Use Template
Field Definitions (Selected Fields)
Template to Start From
The Template to Start From defaults from the template selected on the previous screen
but you can select a different one here.
New/Edit Existing
Select New if you want to create a new template and either save it as a new template or
just use it this one time.
Description
Enter a short description to identify the new template in Lookups. The description is
unimportant if it is one-time template.
One Time Use
Click the One Time Use checkbox if the changes are just for this one letter. Leave this
unchecked if you want to save the new template.
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Operating system file name
The file name displays here for your information but it cannot be edited. This is the file
name under which the edited template is stored on the server.
Figure 6: One-time Template Open in Microsoft Word
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Figure 7: Generate Letters with a Temporary One Time Template
Generate Emails
The process for generating emails was changed slightly to make it easier to use.
A Select checkbox was added, making it easier to select or remove multiple contacts.
An Add option was added so you can send an email to a contact that isn’t on any of the
available contact lists.
The source form is available as an attachment.
Document images from CIM are available as attachments.
To create an email for multiple contacts and send it with attachments:
1. Sign into COINS Ti and navigate to the Project Management menu.
2. Select the desired job.
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3. Select Communication Management > Generate Email.
or
Open a Communication Management or Contract Management record and click the
Email button on the toolbar.
4. On the To/Cc tab, choose the appropriate contact list from the Available Contacts
dropdown menu.
5. Check the Select box for each contact you want to send the email to, then click the To>>
button. You can also select other contacts and use Cc>> or Bcc>> to send a copy or blind
copy to those contacts at the same time.
6. To send the email to someone who is not on any of the contact lists, click the Add
Contact button and enter the display name and email address for that person. You can
then add the contact to the email as a To, Cc, or Bcc address.
This contact is a temporary record only. If you expect to send other emails to him/her, the contact
should be added to a distribution list.
7. On the E-mail tab, select the Action.
Use Send to send the email immediately upon clicking Finish.
Select Save to save a copy of the email to your Draft email folder in Outlook,
where you can update it and send it later.
8. Enter the message subject line and text, or select an email template if templates have
been set up.
9. On the Attachment tab, select any files that you want to attach to the email.
If you opened the Email function from a Communication Management or Contract
Management function that produces a form, the screen lists the form as an attachment
(preselected to send as attachment). It also lists any files already attached to the record.
You can select any or none of the listed items, or attach other files. A separate area on
the screen lists CIM images for the source record. See Figure 10.
10. Click Finish to send the email to the selected contacts.
See below for sample screens.
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Figure 8: To/CC for Email
Figure 9: Email Text
CE-PM003 Creating Mail Merge Letters and Emails
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Figure 10: Add Attachments to Email
