Step 1: Create the email

Use the PM Send Documents form to select the contacts that should receive the email, and then enter a subject and email message.

Click here for an overview of the Create and Send feature.

  1. Open a form in the PM module with the Create and Send feature, for example PM Drawing Logs, PM Inspection Logs, PM Other Documents, PM Pending Change Orders, etc.
  2. Click on the Create and Send () icon and select Send Message from the menu that appears. This will open the PM Send Documents form.

Create & Send and the PM Work Center

You can also launch the Create and Send feature from a PM Work Center. For example select Change Management > Pending Change Orders in the PM Work Center menu, highlight a PCO in the grid, and then click on the Create and Send () icon and select Send Message from the menu that displays.

  1. Open the Message tab.
  2. Complete the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.

Each contact in the To field will receive a customized project document (RFI, RFQ ,etc.)

Each contact in the To field will receive a customized project document (RFI, RFQ, etc.) if the following is true:

  • You are generating project documents using the Documents tab.

  • The project document that you are generating has contact specific information on it, for example a contact name, contact address, or contact phone number. When the project document is created, the system will generate a separate customized document for each contact in the To field.

    If customized project documents are generated, multiple unique emails are created and the contacts in the Cc and Bcc fields will be included in every email

    If the system is generating customized project documents, the contacts in the Cc and Bcc fields will receive a copy of each customized document. This means that if you have four contacts in the To field and the system will create a customized document for each contact, every contact in the CC and Bcc field will receive four emails (a copy of each personalized document).

Why are there already project contacts in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields?

Distribution tab of the source record

The project contacts set up using the Distribution tab on the source record will automatically populate in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.

For example if you launch the Create and Send feature using an RFI record, the project contacts set up on that RFI using the Distribution tab on the PM Request For Information form will automatically populate in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.

Distribution Defaults

If you set up distribution defaults on the project, those contacts will automatically populate as recipients of the email.

Click here for more information about assigning distribution defaults.

Contacts added to the To, Cc, and Bcc fields will also be added to the Distribution tab

When you add a project contact to the To, Cc, or Bcc field, the system will also automatically add that contact to the Distribution tab of the source record when the email is sent.

For example if you launch the Create and Send feature using an RFQ record, the project contacts added to the email using the To, Cc, and Bcc fields will also be added to the Distribution tab of the PM Request For Quote form. When a new email is created for that RFQ using the Create and Send feature, all of the project contacts on the Distribution tab will automatically populate in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.

Why are some of the contacts on the Distribution tab not displaying in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields?

Only project contacts that have the Send box checked on the Distribution tab of the source record will be added to the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.

If you have a contact set up on the Distribution tab but they do not display in the To, Cc, or Bcc field, verify that the Send box is checked.

Select an existing project contact

Follow the steps below to select a contact that has already been associated with the project using the Firms tab on the PM Projects form.

  1. Click on the To, Cc, or Bcc button. This will open the PM Send Distribution form.

  2. Select Project Firm Contacts in the Filter By drop down at the top of the form.

  3. The form will display a list of PM module contacts that have already been associated with the project using the Firms tab on the PM Projects form.

    What if the contact that you are looking for does not display?

    Contacts will not display in the list if the Exclude from Lookups box on the PM Firm Contacts tab is checked. More

  4. Double click on each contact that should be included in the email.

    By default the contact will be added to the To, Cc, or Bcc field based on how you launched the PM Send Document form.

    For example if you click the Bcc button to launch the PM Send Document form, double clicking on a contact will add the contact to the Bcc field.

  5. Selecting multiple contacts: You can also highlight the contacts that should receive the communication and then click the To, Cc, or Bcc button to add the selected contacts to that field. Hold down SHIFT to select a range of contacts, or CTRL to select specific contacts.

  6. Click OK when complete to return to the PM Send Documents form.

Select a distribution group

Distribution groups are created and maintained using the PM Distribution Groups form. A distribution group is a collection of contracts that you regularly group together and send correspondence to.

  1. From the PM Send Distribution form, select Distribution Groups in the Filter By drop down at the top of the form.

  2. The form will display a list of distribution groups created using the PM Distribution Groups form. The list will include all public groups, and any private groups that you have created.

    Note:

    Distribution groups are only available in the company where they were created. For example a distribution group created in company #1 is not available in company #2.

  3. Click the To, Cc, or Bcc button to add the selected group to that field.

  4. Click OK when complete to return to the PM Send Documents form.

Add any contact that has already been included in a message

Follow the steps below to select a contact that has already been included in a Create and Send message for the currently selected record, for example if you want to resend an RFI to a specific project contact.

  1. Select Distribution History in the Filter By drop down menu.

  2. The PM Send Distribution form will populate with all of the PM firm contacts that have already been included in a Create and Send message generated for the currently selected record.

  3. Highlight the contact and click the To, Cc, or Bcc button.

Create a new PM firm contact and add them to the communication

  1. Open the Message tab on the PM Send Documents form. You can open the PM Send Documents form by clicking on the Create and Send () icon and selecting any of the options from the menu that displays.

  2. Click on the To, Cc, or Bcc button. This will open the PM Send Distribution form.

  3. Click in the To, Cc, or Bcc field at the bottom of the form. This will open the PM Add Firm Contact form.

  4. Complete all of the fields in the form.

    1. Enter the email address of the contact in the Email field.

    2. Press F4 in the Firm Number field and select the contact's firm from the list. If the contact's firm has not already been entered into the PM module. press F5 in this field to open the PM Firms form, which can be used to create new PM module firms.

    3. The Contact Code field will automatically populate with the next available contact number on the selected PM module firm. This number is only used to identify each unique contact on a firm.

    4. Enter the contact's Last Name and First Name .

    5. The Sort Name field will populate based on the contact's first and last name, and the value in this field will truncate to 15 characters. Once the contact has been created, you can use the sort name to locate a specific contact.

  5. Click OK when complete. This will create the new contact and add them to the current communication.

  1. Transmittals: All of the contacts in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields will be added to the Distribution tab of the transmittal

    When generating a transmittal along with the project documents, all of the contacts in the To, Cc, and Bcc field will be added to the Distribution tab of the transmittal (PM Transmittals > Distribution tab).

  2. Verify that the method of correspondence on each contact is correct.

    The correspondence method of each contact displays as an icon next to the contact name in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields on the Message tab. This determines the type of correspondence that is created for the contact.

    • Email () - The email and generated PDF(s) will be sent to the contact when the Send button on the PM Send Document form is clicked. The email address of the contact is set up using the Email field on the PM Firm Contacts form.

    • Print () - The generated PDF(s) will be printed using the default printer set up on your workstation. The information in the Subject and Message fields on the Message tab of the PM Send Documents form will not be included in the communication.

    • Fax () - The correspondence is sent using the fax number set up on the contact (PM Firm Contacts> Info tab> Fax or Formatted Fax field), and the fax server set up using the PM Company Parameters form (PM Company Parameters > Info tab > Fax Server Name field).

      Default correspondence method

    The correspondence method of a contact defaults based on the correspondence method set up using the Distribution tab of the source record (Distribution tab> Preferred Method field).

    If you are adding a new contact to the communication, the correspondence method will default based on the preferred method set up on the contact record in the Preferred Method of Correspondence field on the Info tab of the PM Firm Contacts form.

    Changing the correspondence method

    To change the correspondence method on the current communication, click the drop down next to the contact and select Preferred Method from the menu that appears. This only affects how the current communication is sent.

    Note:

    The Email option will only display if an email address is entered on the contact (PM Firm ContactsInfo tab Email field).

    To change the default correspondence method on the contact, change the preferred method using the Distribution tab of the source record (Distribution tab> Preferred Method field). This will affect all communications generated using the source record.

    To change the default correspondence method on the contact record, use the PM Firm Contacts form (PM Firm Contacts> Info tab> Preferred Method of Correspondence field). This will affect all correspondence addressed to the contact.

  3. Enter a Subject.

Default Value

The Subject defaults based on two things:

  • The document category associated with the parent record. For example if you launched the PM Send Documents form from the PM Contract Change Orders form, the document category associated with the parent record is CCO (contract change order).

  • The default email subject line set up on the document category of the parent record using the PM Create & Send Settings form (Info tab> Email Subject Line section).

Transmittals

When creating a transmittal along with the correspondence, the subject of the email will be used as the subject of the transmittal (PM Transmittals> Info tab> Subject field).

  1. Enter the message in the lower portion of the form.
  2. You can add a signature to the email if you want.
  3. Go to the next step, generate a project document. More