Rule Entry Page
The IMA Rule
panel in the Rule Record page lets you define, with the help of the Rule Wizard, the rule and establish the action
or actions to be taken if the rule is met. Options are also available
to validate and test
the rule. The Status Log panel
displays the last date the rule fired and the count along with the date,
time and user who created the rule or made changes to the rule.
Status
This field defaults to Active
whenever a new rule is created. Select Inactive
when the Rule is no longer needed. Or you can enter a date in the Expire field and IQ would automatically
change the status to Inactive when the current date matches the expire
date.
Expire
Enter or select a date in this field if you would like
IQ to automatically change the status of the rule to
Inactive when the current date matches the expire date. Leave
this field empty if you do not want the rule to expire.
You can create the rule definition using the Rule
Wizard. More advanced users who are familiar with the format of the
definitions can type them in this field or edit those created through
the Wizard. An example of a simple rule definition would be
FLD:Zip = "22032", which locates incoming
messages that contain a Zip code of 22032. Note that single parentheses
( ) are used in rule definitions to organize logic statements and will
result in a syntax error if used to search for parenthetical text. You
can, however, use double parenthesis (( )) in the rule definition to search
for parenthetical text. For example, a rule to
search for a Subject that ends with "(out of office)" would
be entered as FLD:SUBJECT like "%((out of office))".
Once you've created a definition, it must be validated
before it before it can be used as part of the active rule list. Validation
checks for syntax errors in the structure of your definition. Select the
Validate Rule action on the IMA Rule Edit page. Validation occurs
automatically when you save the rule.
The IMA Rules Tester lets you test the accuracy of your
rule to be certain that it works as you intend. Once you've entered a
definition either by using the Rule Wizard or typing it in the Definition
field, select the Test Rule action.
On the IMA Test Rule page, enter
data in fields that will test the validity of your definition and click
the Evaluate button. A message
appears indicating whether your rule evaluates to TRUE or FALSE.
For example, if your rule is FLD:AFFL
= "VET" or FLD:AFFL = "AARP" or FLD:AFFL = "SR",
type VET in the Affiliation
field, press the Evaluation button,
and you should get a TRUE evaluation. If you're trying to find records
with multiple codes, for example with a rule like FLD:AFFL
="VET" and FLD:AFFL = "SR" and
FLD:AFFL = "AARP", type all the codes in the Affiliation
field (one per line) to test for a TRUE evaluation or type just one to
test for a FALSE evaluation. In addition to the Affiliation
field, the Affiliation Delete
and Issue fields also allow for
entry of multiple codes. In each of these fields, you must enter multiple
codes one per line.
When you click in the Action
field, you can choose how to handle incoming e-mail. Your options include
adding it to a digital
mail set, an exception
set, a user-defined set, updating the database, automatically
send a response, or deleting it.
Each of these actions will display a list of options for defining the
mail record.
If your office uses
digital mail, select this option to add the message to the standard Digital Mail set, by leaving the Set Name field empty or click the ? button to select a user-defined digital
mail set. There you can review or route the message and send the response.
When you select this option, fields appear for entry of additional data.
These fields are the same as those that appear when you select Update
the Database, except that the Status
and Batch fields are unavailable.
The status of the correspondence remains Pending until it is processed
through the digital mail set; the response can only be batched through
the digital mail set. Note that when you select this option, you must
use a rule definition of FLD:MSGTYPE =
DM.
The Exception Set is meant for e-mail messages that
do not meet any other rules. It is used as the default Set when no other
rules are met. You can also set up rules to send messages to this set
by selecting the Add to E-Mail Exception
Set action. When you select this action, the Reason
field appears. You can type a reason that explains why messages meeting
this rule have been sent to the Exception Set. You may enter up to 75
characters for the reason. Searches for Exception Set records can be based
on the reason by filtering the
set and entering the reason in the Comments
field.
When you select the Add
to User-Defined Set action, you create a People set record and
place it in an existing e-mail set.
Click the ? button next to the
Set Name field that appears when
you select this action and select an e-mail set. When you select this
action, you can update the People record and create a Mail record with
information you enter in the fields that appear. Available fields are
the same as those that appear when you select the Update
the Database action.
This action deletes the e-mail message when the defined
rule is met. This is useful for eliminating out-of-jurisdiction mail,
mail regarding a specific subject (for example, an influx of mail regarding
an Internet hoax), mail from a specific organization (for example, vote.com),
or mail from specific correspondents. The format for identifying a specific
e-mail address would be FLD:EMAIL
= "xxxxx@xxx.com". If you want to
identify e-mail addresses that contain a string of characters, the format
would be FLD:EMAIL
like "%xxx.com".
When determining
the e-mail address of an incoming message, information that appears in
parentheses, brackets, or double quotes is ignored. If the incoming email
address is ’rjohndoe@aol.com (John Doe)’
the e-mail address evaluates to ’rjohndoe@aol.com’.
The process that evaluates rules is
not case-sensitive. IQ looks for the e-mail addresses in formatted mail
by checking the e-mail field tag. The e-mail address is the one that the
correspondent entered in the e-mail address field at the Web site. For
unformatted messages, IQ finds the e-mail address in the sender information.
If the defined rule is met, the name and address information
in the e-mail message is used to create a new People record or update
an existing one. In addition, you can select additional database updates.
Affiliation
– Click the lookup icon
next to the Affiliation field
and select an affiliation code to add to the People record.
Issue – Click the lookup icon next
to the Issue field and select
an issue code to add to the mail record.
Replace other Issue Codes
– Select
this checkbox if you would like IMA to replace the Issue Codes in the
incoming email with the Issue code selected in this Rule. Note: This checkbox is not enabled until an Issue
Code is selected in the Issue
field.
Assign to Staff
– Click the lookup icon
next to the Assign to Staff
field and select the user who the Mail record should be assigned to. If,
however, an incoming message is formatted and contains an issue code tag,
and if there is a staff member assigned to the issue code in the translation
file, that staff name takes precedence over the one you enter here. Note: When the status of a User
record is changed from Active
to Suspended, IQ notifies you
if the user is associated with any IMA Rules and provides the option to
transfer those rules to another active IQ user.
Override Staff Assignment
from Issue Codes – Select this checkbox if you would like IMA
to use the staff selected in the Assign to Staff
field for this rule in place of the staff associated with the Issue Code
in the incoming email. Note:
This checkbox is not enabled until a user is selected in the Assign
to Staff field.
Incoming
Method – Leave
this field empty if you would like the Mail record to default to IMAIL
(i.e. Email). Or click in this field and select another Incoming Method
if you want the Mail records to have another Incoming Method other than
the default. An example would be if your office has a sign-in webform,
at the front desk, which submits an email into your IMA mailbox. You may
want the Incoming Method for those emails to be DC Office Visit.
Mail Status
– Click in the Mail Status
field and select Approved, Completed,
On Hold, Request Approval or Completed
with No Response to determine what type of correspondence to create.
Out Method – Click in the Out
Method field and select E-Mail
or U.S. Mail to enter that method
in the Mail record. If the correspondence is created for a People record
with no e-mail address, the Method is automatically set to U.S. Mail.
Letter Batch
– This field defaults
to No, which means no batch will
be created. Select Yes if
you would like IQ to add the mail records generated by e-mails meeting
the rule to a batch called .IMA.NNNNN where NNNNN is the BATCH_ID. Or
you may type a new or existing batch name (up to 65 characters) in this
field. IQ will continue to add emails, which meet the rule criteria, to
the batch until a mail record in the batch has been emailed or printed
or the batch has been archived. One the batch has a printed or sent date
or is archived, then a new batch with the same name will be created. If
no batch name is entered, then the next .IMA.NNNNN batch will be created.
Note: This field is only available
when Update the Database is selected
for the Rule Action.
Response Letter
– Click the lookup icon
next to the Response Letter
field to select a form letter. The list of available letters includes
those with an approved status and other assignable status. The letter
you select is entered in the Mail record when the IMA Rule fires. Letter,
e-mail, and envelope formats associated with a form letter are automatically
entered in the Mail record as well. Note:
If the status of the selected letter is changed to Inactive, IQ will check
to see if there is newer version of the letter with an approved or assignable
status. If there is, IQ will enter the newer version in the Mail record,
but does NOT update the letter version in the IMA rule. This check is
performed each time the IMA Rule fires.
Alt. Response Letter
– The alternate letter
is sent when the correspondent has already received the letter identified
in the Response Letter field.
The alternate letter should be generic enough to be sent multiple times
in the event the correspondent continues to send e-mail messages that
result in this rule being fired. If you want to designate an alternate
letter, click the lookup icon next to the Alt.
Response Letter
field to select a form letter. The letter you select is entered in the
Mail record. This field is only available when you've selected the Update the Database action.
If the defined rule is met, the name and address information
in the e-mail message is used to create a new People record or update
an existing one. In addition, this action allows you to automatically
send the selected approved form letter immediately or delay the sending
of the letter in 1 to 5 business days. This action will close the mail
record that is created by the IMA rule after the letter is sent.
Business Day Delay
– This defaults to None, which means IQ will send the
selected approved form letter after the incoming email has been processed
by the IMA Rule. If you would like to delay the sending of the form letter,
then click in this field and select 1 to 5 business days, which will exclude
Saturday's, Sunday's and any Holidays entered in your IQ Holidays
code list.
Affiliation
– Click the lookup icon
next to the Affiliation field
and select an affiliation code to add to the People record.
Issue – Click the lookup icon next
to the Issue field and select
an issue code to add to the Mail record.
Replace other Issue Codes
– Select
this checkbox if you would like IMA to replace the Issue Codes in the
incoming email with the Issue code selected in this Rule. Note: This checkbox is not enabled until an Issue
Code is selected in the Issue
field.
Assign to Staff
– Click the lookup icon
next to the Assign to Staff
field and select the user who the Mail record should be assigned to. If,
however, an incoming message is formatted and contains an issue code tag,
and if there is a staff member assigned to the issue code in the translation
file, that staff name takes precedence over the one you enter here. Note: When the status of a User
record is changed from Active
to Suspended, IQ notifies you
if the user is associated with any IMA Rules and provides the option to
transfer those rules to another active IQ user.
Override Staff Assignment
from Issue Codes – Select this checkbox if you would like IMA
to use the staff selected in the Assign to Staff
field for this rule in place of the staff associated with the Issue Code
in the incoming email. Note:
This checkbox is not enabled until a user is selected in the Assign
to Staff field.
Incoming Method –
Leave this field empty if you would
like the Mail record to default to IMAIL (i.e. Email). Or click in this
field and select another Incoming Method if you want the Mail records
to have another Incoming Method other than the default. An example would
be if your office has a sign-in webform, at the front desk, which submits
an email into your IMA mailbox. You may want the Incoming Method for those
emails to be DC Office Visit.
Mail Status
– This field defaults
to Approved when the rule Action
is "Automatically Send Response" and can not be changed.
Out Method – This field defaults to E-Mail when the rule Action is "Automatically
Send Response" and can not be changed.
Letter Batch
– This field defaults
to No and is not available
when the rule Action is "Automatically Send Response".
Response Letter
– Click the lookup icon
next to the Response Letter
field to select a form letter. The list of available letters includes
those with an approved status and other assignable status. The letter
you select is automatically emailed to the person after the rule fires
or is delayed if the Business Day Delay
field contains a selected number of days.
Alt. Response Letter
– The alternate letter
is sent when the correspondent has already received the letter identified
in the Response Letter field.
The alternate letter should be generic enough to be sent multiple times
in the event the correspondent continues to send e-mail messages that
result in this rule being fired. If you want to designate an alternate
letter, click the lookup icon next to the Alt.
Response Letter
field to select a form letter. The letter you select is automatically
emailed to the person after the rule fires or is delayed if the Business Day Delay field contains a
selected number of days.
Select this option to make the rule a sub-rule. A field
appears for entry of the sub-rule name. Rules can be demoted to sub-rules,
but sub-rules cannot be promoted to rules. Sub-rule names must be unique.
In the Acknowledgement
field, you can select one of four options to automatically send an acknowledgement
e-mail message or a form letter to senders of e-mails which meet the rule
criteria and the rule action is not Automatically
Send Response. Acknowledgments are generally used to acknowledge
receipt of a message and promise a further response or, as in the case
of out-of-jurisdiction correspondents, to ask them to contact their own
representative.
Three standard auto-acknowledgement messages are available:
ALL,
OOJ
(out-of-jurisdiction) and WF
(workflow). When you select one of these three acknowledgements, the subject
and message text will appear as display-only. The subject and message
text are entered in the Auto-Acknowledgement section of
the E-Mail Outbound System Configuration settings.
In addition to the three standard auto-acknowledgements,
you can also create a custom acknowledgement by selecting Custom Auto-Acknowledgement
message for this Rule. When you select this option, IQ displays
fields for From Address, Format of Subject, Reply
with History, Subject and
Message text.
From Address
– This setting allows
you to select the From Email Address for the custom auto-acknowledgement.
Select Use Default From Address and
IQ will use the email address entered in the Default
From Email Address for Outgoing messages field in your IQ System
Configuration Settings. You may select another from email address if they
have been entered in the From
Email Address List for IMA auto-acknowledgement messages field.
Format of Subject
– This setting allows
you to control the format of the Subject of the custom auto-reply. Select
Use Re: Subject of incoming message,
if available to use the subject of the sender's incoming e-mail.
Or select Use Custom Subject
to use the subject you entered in the Subject
field.
Reply with History
– Select this check
box if you want to include the contents of the incoming message with the
custom auto-acknowledgement. The complete message, including the subject
and text, will appear at the bottom of the auto-acknowledgement message.
Attachments to the original incoming message are not included when Reply
with History is selected.
Subject – If you selected Use
Custom Subject in Format of Subject,
then you may type the custom subject in this field. If Format
of Subject is set to Use
Re: Subject of incoming message, if
available, then this Subject is only used if the incoming e-mail
has no subject.
Format of Ack Message
Body – Select
Use Form Letter if you would
like to send an existing form letter as the auto-acknowledgment. Select
Use Message Text if you would
like to enter the message body text in the Message
field.
Message
– This field appears
when you select Use Message Text
in the Format of Ack Message Body field.
Type the message you want to send automatically to incoming e-mail
messages who meet the rule criteria and contain this custom auto-acknowledgement.
Typically the auto-acknowledgement is a notification that you've received
their e-mail message and will provide a response as soon as possible.
For a custom auto-acknowledgement, however, you could send the actual
response e-mail.
Ack
Response Letter –
This field appears when you select
Use Form
Letter in the Format
of Ack Message Body field. Click in
this field to select an existing approved form letter, which does not
contain and fill-ins or references.
If
the rule Action is Update the Database,
then a fifth option, Series Auto-Acknowledgement
for this Rule, is available. When you select this option, IQ displays
fields for selecting up to three Acknowledgement Letters, a Subject and
Business Day Delay. The selected form letter can not contain any fill-ins
or reference merge fields. IQ sends the first letter and will then queue
the second letter after the first letter has been sent. Then the third
letter is queued after the second letter has been sent. Each letter can
be delayed based on the number of days entered in the Business
Day Delay field, which will exclude Saturday's, Sunday's and any
Holidays entered in your IQ Holidays
code list.