The Mailing System
The internal and external communication of a company of today relies heavily on a technique called electronic mail (or email). The CAQ software iQ-BASIS makes use of this technology by providing the module iT-MAIL.
Workflow
Email communication is based on the availability of an email server and corresponding clients that stay in contact with that server, send messages to it, and receive messages from it. Popular mail servers are Microsoft Exchange Server and Notes Server (IBM), whereas the client-side is taken by Microsoft Outlook or Notes.
With respect to a CAQ software the focus is clearly on the sending of messages - for example when automatically sending notifications as a result of an overdue action - while there is no requirement for the software to receive them (as a "real" email client needs to). To enable the sending of emails iT-MAIL has to support one of several possible protocols, and the decision was made to support the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) that is understood by almost any type of server.
The module iT-MAIL is fully integrated into iQ-BASIS and not available as standalone module. It has to be used whenever either the user or the system needs to send an email to a recipient inside or outside of the company.
Important Features at a Glance
Technology
- Sending of emails using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
- Therefore support of almost all popular email servers and clients
Usage in iQ-BASIS
- Direct mailing without any CAQ context
- Sending of documents (see also iQ-DOKU)
- Automatic mails as response to overdue actions
- Sending entry lists for gauge management
Special features
- Catalog-based selection of a single mail recipient or a list of recipients from the data stored in iQ-GL
- Catalog-based selection of a recipient of a copy of that mail
- Sending a copy to the sender of the mail
- Comfortable selection of files for an email attachment using a dialog box
- Automatical conversion of attached documents into PDF files
Motivation for an integrated mail system
- An email sent out of iQ-BASIS refers always to a CAQ process that is completed with an own history for the purpose of process tracking. It is necessary that an email is recorded within this history so that it must be considered as part of the CAQ process.
- A user who has the necessary privileges is able to access any messages sent by the system by utilizing the corresponding history. It is not necessary to look for emails in any outbox on user PCs anymore.
- Many different customers imply a variety of mail clients that had to be supported if no integrated mail system would be used. This meant a variety of interfaces as well what is a contradiction to the AHP approach of being independent from IT systems.
Interfaces to Other iQ-BASIS Modules
The module iT-MAIL has not any interfaces to other modules but is fully integrated into the iQ-BASIS application. You are able to send emails at any place and any time.
