MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE Copyright © Mystrata Pty Limited 2013 Version 1.1 (August 2013) STUDENT WORKBOOK MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH S...
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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE Copyright © Mystrata Pty Limited 2013 Version 1.1 (August 2013)

STUDENT WORKBOOK

MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

COURSE OUTLINE CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 2. Sending Bulk Emails ........................................................................................................... 3 3. System Email Templates ..................................................................................................... 9 4. Email Box ......................................................................................................................... 16 5. Statement Run ................................................................................................................. 18

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

1.0 INTRODUCTION If you have ever tried to send an email to more than 20 recipients using a traditional email client you will appreciate the benefits of a powerful email server. Strataware is designed to be capable of sending hundreds of thousands of emails per month (and it does!) without needing to use your own corporate email systems. It also uses its database connections to provide you with access to “merge fields” inside your emails. Merge fields are made available depending on the type of contact you are communicating with, owner, tenant, supplier etc. 2. SENDING BULK EMAILS The email tool in Strataware is located in the “Documents & Files > Email & Letter” menu. Note that when Strataware sends an email it doesn’t “BCC” or “CC”, rather it sends an individual email to each recipient – meaning it is virtually impossible to accidently send emails to the wrong groups or to expose sensitive email lists.

1. Navigate to the “Correspondence” screen (Documents & Files > Correspondence) 2. Click “New” in the command bar 3. Click “New Email” in the options panel Page 3 of 22

MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE The system will automatically insert your email signature per your user setup. The signature cannot be edited at this point and is shown for informative purposes only. The email screen is broken into a number of panels:     

Main editor Subject Email From Email To Attachments

There is also a “Merge Fields” tab across the bottom right of the screen, use this to access merge fields that are available to be inserted into your email. Note: Merge fields can only be used after the contact data set is selected (eg: email to all owners/board) 4. When the editor is active you must first select your recipients – this is important as it enables your merge fields. To select your recipients use the “+” icon in the “Email To” panel.

5. This will enable you to select your data source, options include: a. Current Property b. My Portfolio c. All Properties d. Staff

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE The most common option is to use the “Current Property” selection as this will allow you to send an email to all owners/tenants of the currently selected property. 6. Upon clicking on “Current Property” an additional data source layer becomes available with the options: a. Unit owners b. Board members c. Tenants d. Occupiers e. Contractors f. Letting agents g. Caretaker For this example we wish to send an email to all unit owners advising them of their account balance – so let’s pick “Unit Owners” (which is also the default option).

7. By default the system will show all units in the building with the email option ticked. Optionally, you can un-tick any units that you don’t wish to send to at this stage. Otherwise simply click “OK” to add all the owners to your email. 8. After clicking “OK” to add the email addresses you will now see them in the “Email To” panel. Note that this panel will show a selection of the email addresses as an indication that they are selected – not all email addresses will be shown here. Page 5 of 22

MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

9. You are now free to write your email. Click the “Merge Fields” tab to see the merge options available to you. Note that the merge fields available will differ depending on the group you are sending emails to (eg: service charge balance not available when sending to tenants)

10. You can now write your email as you would normally, however use the merge fields to customise your email to your requirements.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE Don’t forget to enter a subject line at the top right of the email screen. Tip: Use tables and colour to help format your email.

11. Did you just write an awesome email and want to save it as a template to use again next month? Before sending your email take a moment to save it as a template by clicking “Save”. 12. Then “Save as Template”

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE 13. You can save the template in one of the following three locations: a. User (only your user can see the template) b. Public (all users in your company can see the template) c. Business Group (all users in your business group can see the template)

14. Be sure to save it as an appropriate name and put plenty of information in the description and notes so that your template is easily identified by others.

15. Click “OK” to save your template and return to the editor. 16. You are now ready to send your email – to continue simply click the “Send” button at the top right corner.

Caution: Once an email has been sent it is unable to be stopped!

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

3. SYSTEM EMAIL TEMPLATES Levies/service charges are probably the most common communication sent from Strataware. There are three types of service charge communication that can be sent from the system: 1. Normal service charges (usually sent quarterly based on a budget) 2. Arrears or ‘overdue’ service charges (sent as required) 3. Global statements (a global arrears function) When using the above three invoicing systems one of two email templates is used. These templates are ‘system templates’ – meaning they are not building specific, rather they are designed to be generic enough to be used on all of your properties at once to aid in automation. As the templates are of a system wide nature you will find them in the “My Business > My Business Setup > Email Setup” menu of Strataware. SERVICE CHARGE EMAIL This is the email template used when sending out your budgeted service charges. It can be edited using merge fields, tables and colours as required.

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ARREARS EMAIL The “Arrears Email” template is used when sending out service charge arrears notices. This email can also be customised with merge fields, colours and tables.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

CORRESPONDENCE EMAIL This is the template that is used by default when corresponding with owners and tenants.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

MEETING EMAIL When using Strataware’s “Meetings” module you are able to email your meeting notices to all owners with a single click. When doing so, this is the email template that will be used.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

GENERIC EMAIL This is the email used when you use the “Quick Email” function from a print preview screen, or when sending a levy/service charge receipt. Be sure to keep it as generic as possible and utilise the merge fields to ensure the email corresponds appropriately with the attachment.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

RFQ When sending an “RFQ” (“Request for Quote” or “Tender”) using Strataware, it will pick-up this template for the email sent to the suppliers.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

WORK ORDER This is the email template used when sending a work order to a supplier from Strataware.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

4. EMAIL BOX Every email that is sent via Strataware is tracked in the “Documents & Files > Email Box” screen. Think of this screen as your “Out Box” and “Sent Items” in your email client. OUT BOX As soon as you send an email they will appear in the “Out Box”.

SENT ITEMS Once the email is successfully sent it will be filed automatically in a ‘sent items’ folder for the building to which it relates.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

BOUNCED If an email bounces it will be filed under the “Bounced” folder. Click on the folder to see a list of all bounced emails. You can use the ‘search icon’ to change the filter settings.

When you have a list of bounced emails on screen click the “Print” button to print a bounced email report which can be used by your admin team to follow up the recipients and get up to date email addresses.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

5. STATEMENT RUN The “Statement Run” function is a system wide collections function which allows you to send a mini statement with payment instructions to all owners who are in arrears. It’s similar to the “Arrears Notice” function at the property level, however this function operates over all buildings in one go. 1. Access this function under “Activities > Global Jobs > Statement Run” and use the ‘search icon’ (bottom right) to filter your results – use “Show all” and “Search” to see all units in all buildings.

2. After clicking “Search” the screen will display a list of all units with an aged balance. Click “Select All” to select all the units on the screen or use the tick boxes to individually select as required.

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3. When ready to proceed click the “Queue statements for issue” button (this will not send the statements yet) 4. As this is a very server heavy process we recommend setting the job to process during the evening, on “Batch Preparation” popup you can specify the time you wish the job to start. Clicking the ‘moon’ icon will cause the job to default to 10 PM. Clicking the ‘play’ icon will set the job to start immediately.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

5. Click “OK” to create the job.

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

Mystrata Pty Limited Phone: +61 7 3839 3199 Fax: +61 7 3036 6143

Mystrata Middle East FZ LLC Phone: +971 4 422 5747 Fax: +971 4 422 4746

Mystrata Malaysia Sdn Bhd Phone: +603 6201 2127 Fax: +603 6201 0240

Since 2001, Mystrata has been developing and supporting great technology for strata and community title properties. Our software is used by professional managers, developers, board members, property owners and tenants throughout Australia and the Middle East. Learn more about Mystrata at www.mystrata.com or on your favourite social media site.

www.facebook.com/mystrata www.twitter.com/mystrata www.linkedin.com/companies/mystrata

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MSTS106 COMMUNICATING WITH STRATAWARE

KNOWLEDGE TEST 1. When sending a bulk email, what must you do before merge fields can be used? a. Enter a subject line b. Write the body of your email c. Select your email recipients d. Save it as a template

2. How do you generate a bounced email report? a. From the “Property > Reports” screen b. By clicking “Print” on the bounced email folder c. By clicking “Print” on the sent email folder d. Wait for the bounce replies in your email client

3. What does the “Statement Run” function do? a. Sends service charge invoices to owners b. Sends an SMS statement to tenants c. Sends service charge arrears to the manager d. Sends a service charge statement to owners in arrears

4. Where do you find the “System Email Templates”? a. My Business > Users > Email Setup b. Property > Setup > Email c. My Business > My Business Setup > Email Setup d. My Business > Setup > Company Info

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