Email

In F2 it is possible to send, forward and reply to emails in the style of traditional email systems.

Emails may be sent internally or externally and are mainly used for formal communication. When an email is sent internally in F2, recipients do not receive a copy, but see the original record in their inbox.

The email’s icon and its status text in the main and record windows show if it has been forwarded or replied to, regardless of who has performed the action. This means that the image15 icon is shown on a forwarded record, also when either action has been performed by another user.

New email

Emails can be created in either a simple mode or a detailed mode. The simple mode is similar to emails created in other email clients, while the detailed mode is based on F2’s record window.

The simple email mode can only be enabled if the organisation’s configurations allows it.

Click on New email in the main, record or case window to create a new email.

new email menu item
Figure 1. The “New email” menu item in the main window

The record is created in simple or detailed mode depending on the user’s personal setup. For detailed emails, it is possible to decide how many metadata fields are shown on the newly created email.

New simple email

When an email is created in simple mode, the “New email” window opens instead of the record window, and only the delivery fields are visible.

In simple mode, files on the local computer can be attached by clicking Attach file in the ribbon.

It is not possible to attach a template, document, or record from F2 in simple email mode.
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Figure 2. The “New email” window

In the “New email” window, most of F2’s case processing functions are disabled. This means that creating and sending simple emails is faster than detailed emails, but several functions are different:

  • Case help is disabled. Consequently, simple emails may not comply with the guidelines of the authority.

  • No clean-up is performed, though the email is removed from “My desktop” when sent. For further information about clean-up when sending, see the article Menu items on the “Advanced” tab.

  • Sender cannot be changed. The user’s default sender is listed as both creator and sender of the email. The default sender is defined in the "Setup" dialogue’s "Records" tab.

  • Attachments cannot be edited.

  • The format of attachments cannot be changed before sending because the Metadata Assistant is not supported.

  • The email text is not autosaved.

  • Signatures from the detailed email format must be edited before they can be used with simple emails.

Click Casework in the upper right corner to switch from simple mode to the detailed record window with the delivery fields visible and all regular functions enabled.

An email sent in simple mode does not affect how it is received. A simple mode email sent internally in F2 is received as a regular incoming email with the same processing options for the recipient. The access level of simple mode emails is determined by the organisation’s choice of access level for new records, which is “Involved” by default.

New detailed email

Creating a new email opens detailed mode (depending on personal setup). Detailed mode can also be accessed from the simple email window by clicking Casework.

new detailed email
Figure 3. Create email

The email’s metadata fields

When creating an email, whether in simple or detailed mode, the user must consider the following metadata fields:

Field Description

“Title”

Corresponding to the subject field in an email, the user must enter a title in the email window.

Contrary to the standard record creation process in which F2 needs the user to enter a title before the record is created, this field is not filled in automatically.

“From”

This field is only visible in detailed mode and is filled in automatically when a new email is created.

It is possible to select whether the default sender for emails is the user or the user’s unit. Read more about the default sender in "Setup" dialogue’s "Records" tab.

F2 allows for the following to be inserted as sender:

  • The user

  • The user’s unit

  • Another user in the unit

  • The authority.

When text is entered in the field, F2 will search for names of internal users, distribution lists and external participants. Participants may also be added by clicking on the participant icon image19, which opens the “Choose participant” search dialogue.

“To”

Enter the recipient(s) of the email here.

There are three ways to add participants as recipients:

  • By typing in the field directly. F2 will search for names of internal users, distribution lists and external participants.

  • By clicking the participant icon image19, which opens the “Choose participant” search dialogue.

  • By copying and pasting email addresses from e.g. an Excel file.

“Cc”

Enter any Cc recipients of the email here.

Cc recipients are added in the same manner as “To” recipients.

“Xbc”

Enter any Xbc recipients of the email here.

Xbc recipients are added in the same manner as “To” recipients.

Adding an external participant here is similar to adding a recipient in the “Bcc” field of traditional email systems.

There is no difference between adding an internal participant here and in Cc. Xbc is not hidden for other F2 users and only affects outgoing external emails.

Suggestions in the “To”, “Cc”, and “Xbc” fields can be configured so they are more relevant to the individual user. The configuration is performed in cooperation with cBrain.

The “Choose participants” dialogue

Click the participant icon image20 in the “To”, “From”, “Cc”, or “Xbc” fields to open the participant search dialogue.

In this dialogue the user selects participants to add to the desired field. To add a participant and close the dialogue, double-click the participant’s name or select the name and click on the OK button. To add a participant and keep adding, click the Add participant(s) button. The dialogue will show any added participants in the “Chosen participants” list.

Click on OK when all desired participants have been added to the list.

choose participants dialogue
Figure 4. The “Choose participants” dialogue

Drag and drop participants

You can copy selected participants between the “To”, “Cc”, and “Xbc” fields using drag and drop.

drag drop participant
Figure 5. Drag and drop participant

Display participants

Recipients in the “To”, “Cc”, and “Xbc” fields can be displayed as a list, making it easier for the sender to see their names.

Clicking on image25 expands the field and displays a list with all recipients.

participants list
Figure 6. Participants displayed as a list

It is possible to view additional information on an added participant. Hover the cursor over the participant’s name to view a tooltip with online status, out of office status (if any), and details regarding their job roles.

participant tooltip
Figure 7. Participant tooltip

The participant properties can be accessed from the email by right-clicking on the participant and selecting Show properties.

open participant properties
Figure 8. Participant properties

This will open the participant properties dialogue named after the participant.

The participant properties dialogue

This dialogue displays information on the participant in question sorted across several tabs. The titles and contents of said tabs depend on whether the participant is external or a user. Users are displayed with the following tabs:

  • The General tab contains fundamental information such as login and contact information.

  • The Private tab contains address and SSN.

  • The Other tab contains information on any email domains owned by the user, and the user’s setup as a participant in F2.

External participants are displayed with the following tabs:

  • The General tab contains fundamental contact information such as phone number and address.

  • The Identification tab contains information from external registries such as CPR.

  • The Other tab describes how the participant is set up in F2 and contains additional contact information including website.

image31
Figure 9. Properties for the user [participant] (Record edition)

When the participant dialogue is accessed from a record, F2 displays a message at the top of the dialogue to inform the user that the participant may have been updated later. The message also links to the participant in the register.

The information displayed in this dialogue is configurable. Configurations are made in cooperation with cBrain.

cBrain recommends regular maintenance of the participant register to ensure up-to-date information.

Create participants from emails in F2’s participant register

F2 automatically checks whether an external participant already exists in the participant register based on the fields “Name” and “Email”.

If F2 detects a participant on an email that cannot be found in the register, it may be added in one of the following ways.

  • When a record containing unknown participants in the delivery fields is set in edit mode, F2 prompts the user to add them to the participant register if the related setting is enabled in the user’s personal settings.

  • Create the participant from the “To”, “Cc” or “Xbc” fields directly by right-clicking on the unknown participant’s email address, or by clicking on the “Create participants” link which appears when these fields contain unknown email addresses. If the email is sent from the user’s personal archive, F2 suggests creating the participant in the private register.

image33
Figure 10. Create external participant in the participant register

Both actions open the “Create participants in the participant register” dialogue where the participants can be added. General management of the created external participants is described in The participant register.

The “Create participants in the participant register” dialogue

Saving an unknown participant to F2’s participant register is done via the “Create participants in the participant register” dialogue.

From here it is possible to create a new participant or replace an unknown participant with an existing one. This is done by clicking either Create participants or Replace selected. Through this dialogue, the location of the participant is also selected.

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Figure 11. Create participants in the participant register

Select one or more participants in the dialogue to create, replace, or skip. The participants are removed from the dialogue once a decision has been made.

To replace an existing participant with one of the unknown ones, click Replace selected. The “Choose participant” dialogue opens, from which the relevant existing participant can be found.

If necessary, click Select location first to select which node to create the new participants in rather than the one suggested in the “Location” column.

Click Create participants in the bottom right to create the highlighted participants as new participants in the participant register.

To skip the highlighted participants, click Skip selected. It is also possible to dismiss the entire dialogue by clicking Skip in the bottom right. The participants will be present in the dialogue the next time it opens as long as they are unknown.

F2 can be configured to allow multiple participants with the same email address. In this case, the “Create participants in the participant register” dialogue will display a warning for each participant with a duplicate email address. F2 is configured in cooperation with cBrain.

Placement of new participants

Click Select location in the “Create participants in the participant register” dialogue. The “Choose participant” dialogue opens. Here, select a location for the participant by double-clicking on a node or by selecting a node and then clicking OK.

select location new participant
Figure 12. Set participant location

The default location for new participants is the “External participants” group. Placing a participant here requires the “Editor of participants” privilege. Without this privilege a participant can only be created in the “Private” node. This default node can be changed during the installation of F2.

Format selector for emails

Before sending an email, it is possible to select the file format for any attached documents. If the delivery metadata fields are shown, the user will be able to change formats in the document area.

Right-click on the attached document in the document area. From the context menu, select whether the attached document should be in PDF format or the document’s original format, e.g. Word or PowerPoint format.

If the F2 Metadata Remover (documentation available in Danish) is available in your organisation’s F2, you can use it to clean up your document before sending.

format selector
Figure 13. Format selector
The format selector has no effect on emails sent internally in F2. It only affects emails sent to external participants who will receive attachments in the format selected by the sender.

If there are several documents attached to the record, it is possible to mass-select the format.

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Figure 14. Selecting the same format for all documents

Email details

The record window for an email shows when it has been sent or received and whether it has been exchanged internally in F2 or externally. Any issues during the sending of the email are also registered. These details are shown directly below the record ribbon.

email details
Figure 15. Email details

Receiving external emails

When an email is received in F2, its text and any attachments will be locked so they cannot be edited.

However, it is possible to edit certain metadata for an incoming email, if the user has full write access to the record:

  • “Title”

  • “From” (sender)

  • “To” (recipients)

  • “Cc” (recipients)

Changes to the record’s metadata can be seen via the “Advanced” tab of the record window. From here, click the History menu item and then the Show metadata view as shown below.

record metadata history
Figure 16. History of the record metadata
It is possible to search for both the record’s current as well as its original title via the “Record title” and “Record/case title” search fields in the "General" search group. The search result always displays the email’s current title.

Automatic case linking when external participants reply to emails from F2

F2 can be configured to link replies from external users to the record to which they are replying. This can be configured during the installation of F2.

When the setting is enabled all email replies from the external address are automatically associated with the original email. If the record to which the incoming email is related has a case number, the incoming email is automatically added to the case.

In the record window it is possible to see other records from the same email correspondence if the automatic relation is set up. An overview is available in the “Related records” dialogue on the “Advanced” tab.

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Figure 17. The “Related records” dialogue

Additionally, it is possible through a setting to automatically add the record ID or case number in the “Title” field to all outbound emails from the authority. This setting is described here.

Access levels and emails

Various factors determine the access level assigned to emails depending on how the email is created in F2. These factors are described in the following sections.

Access level for external emails imported into F2

If F2 is configured to import emails from a mail server, records are automatically assigned an access level when created in F2. This is a critical issue to consider for the F2 organisation.

For many organisations it is an advantage that emails which are NOT private can be viewed and processed by various employees, and that these emails are available to the organisation e.g. when employees are ill or leave their position.

By default, F2 is configured to respect employee privacy. This means that F2 automatically assigns the “Involved” access level to imported emails, so only the recipient will be able to view the email unless the access level is changed.

It is also possible to assign the access level “Unit” to imported emails. This configuration is done in cooperation with cBrain.

The access level for imported emails can be viewed and configured from on “Settings” tab in the “Setup” dialogue, specifically the "General" tab.

Access level for replying and forwarding

Records that are replied to or forwarded are automatically given the access level corresponding to that of a newly created record. As with new records, the user also has the option of using case help. The access level for new records depends on the organisation’s configuration.

In cooperation with cBrain, F2 can be configured to copy the access level of the original record when it is replied to or forwarded.

Case help for emails requiring formal processing

F2 can be configured to expand the access level for formal emails while restricting the access level of users' private emails. This is done with case help.

If an imported email requires formal processing, the recipient ticks the “Case help” box in the record window.

case help menu item
Figure 18. “Case help” on the “Advanced” tab