SpendMap User Guide (v15)

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Navigation: Purchasing (Main Module) > Setup System

E-Mail Settings

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PURCHASING > Setup system > e-mail settings

This is used during the installation and configuration of the E-Mail Module.

Related settings

Automatic notifications of certain system events can be configured on a user-by-user basis in the User Master File and the Request-By Master File.

Settings Folder

These settings are used to tell SpendMap how to connect to your outgoing e-mail server, in addition to various other settings that will affect e-mail messages that are generated by SpendMap.

Use the [Test Account Settings] button at the bottom of the screen to ensure that SpendMap is able to connect to your e-mail server and send a test message.

Why does SpendMap need to access by outgoing mail server?

Just like the e-mail software that is installed on your PC (e.g. Outlook), SpendMap does not send e-mail itself. Rather, it generates the contents of the e-mail message and then hands the message off to your outgoing e-mail server for delivery to the recipient.

SpendMap can integrate with both MAPI and SMTP compliant e-mail servers, such as Microsoft Exchange Server and many others. For smaller companies that do not have their own (internal) mail servers, SpendMap can also work with an external Internet Service Provider (ISP). Please speak with your IT Department for details.

These settings are typically only used during the initial installation and configuration of the e-mail module. However, you can change these settings at any time if your needs change.

Fields

Field

Description

INTERNAL mail provided by

•Select how you would like SpendMap to send messages to internal system users (i.e. users in the User Master File), such as automatic notifications or when using the internal messaging system.

•If you select "Internal messaging system", recipients can then read their messages with Read Your Messages, otherwise if you select MAPI or SMTP, they will receive their messages in their e-mail software (don't forget to add each user's e-mail address to the User Master File).

•If you select MAPI or ISP/SMTP, please see additional "MAPI Settings" or "SMTP Settings", below.

EXTERNAL mail provided by

•Select how you would like SpendMap to send messages to external recipients, such as when e-mailing POs and other documents to suppliers.

•Please see additional "MAPI Settings" or "SMTP Settings", below.

Sender of INTERNAL/EXTERNAL automatic messages

•These settings determine which e-mail address will be used as the "From" e-mail address, for automatic e-mail messages (i.e. messages that SpendMap sends without user interaction). By contrast, messages that are keyed-in manually by a user (e.g. when using the internal messaging system) will always use the user's e-mail address (in the User Master File) as the sender.

•The "sender" is noteworthy as the recipient might reply to a message or an error might occur during transmission, (in which case the sender would typically get an "undeliverable mail" message from the outgoing mail server).

•The "sender" for these automatic messages can either be;

1) If you select "current user", SpendMap will use the e-mail address (in the User Master File) of the user that processed the transaction in SpendMap that initiated/triggered the e-mail message, or

2) If you select "SpendMap", the sender will be the e-mail address specified under "Sender of system-generated e-mail messages", at the bottom of the screen.

SMTP Settings

•If you selected the ISP/SMTP option at the top of the screen, you can enter the SMTP server name or IP address to connect to, as well as a User Account, Password, and other settings that may be required to connect to your outgoing mail server (ask your IT Department or Internet Service Provider for details).

TIP: The IP address or name will look something like
"123.456.7.890" or "smtp.serviceprovider.com".

TIP: Not all fields are mandatory. If you're not sure, start by filling in only the server name or IP address, user account and password, and leave the default values for the other fields, and only modify the other fields if recommended by your IT Department or Internet Service Provider.

•You can use our free e-mail service by entering "SpendMap" (without the quotes) as the server name or IP address, and ignore all other SMTP settings. If so, your e-mail messages will be sent through SendGrid's mail servers (there is no charge to you for this service).

MAPI Settings

•If you selected the MAPI option at the top of the screen, you can optionally enter a prefix for e-mail addresses for all outgoing system e-mail. For example, some e-mail systems require "SMTP:" to precede e-mail addresses.

•If SpendMap's e-mail server is running as a service AND you are using the MAPI protocol, additional settings may be required to successfully log in to a MAPI account.

•TIP: For most MAPI compliant e-mail systems, these fields are not needed. If you're not sure, start out with them blank, and only used these fields if recommended by your IT Department or Internet Service Provider.

•NOTE: SpendMap supports 32-bit MAPI with 32-bit email clients but not 64-bit.

Name to appear on external messages

•You can specify a name to appear on all external messages (e.g. ABC Company Purchasing Department) or leave this field blank and the name of the user who is processing the applicable transaction will be used (e.g. the Buyer’s name in the case of POs).

Boilerplate for POs/Releases/RFQs

•To add text to the e-mail cover when sending POs and other documents by e-mail, enter a boilerplate code.

•When e-mailing documents, SpendMap will generate and send the e-mail without manual intervention, so you will not be able to type a message (other than any comments that appear on the PO itself). Therefore, the boilerplate might include something like "Please process the attached order(s) and reply with receipt confirmation..." and/or might include additional contact information, etc.

Send documents as

•When e-mailing POs and RFQs to your suppliers, SpendMap can either

1) attach a PDF copy of the document to the email message itself, or

2) include a hyperlink in the body of the email, that the supplier will click on to download the PDF file using their web browser.

•If using the Hyperlink option, the PO Acknowledgment and RFQ Acknowledgment utilities will be updated automatically when the supplier downloads their documents, whereas these utilities would need to be updated manually (if desired) when using the Attachment option.
Note: the use of the PO and RFQ Acknowledgment features are optional.

•To use the Hyperlink option, you must have a website that is open/exposed to the public Internet, so that your suppliers have access to the files to download.

By default, if you are using SpendMap's Web App AND your website is open to the public Internet, SpendMap will use this website automatically and you do NOT have to setup another website.

However, if you are not using SpendMap's Web App or if your website is private, you will need to set up a separate, public website in order to use this feature (please contact SpendMap Technical Support for setup instructions). Also see the related settings, below.

More about the Hyperlink option..

Instead of the document being included as an attachment to the e-mail message itself, the document is placed on the web server and a link to the file is included in the body of the e-mail message (the file includes a random string portion that helps protect it from unauthorized access) .

When the vendor clicks on the link, the web server registers the document as "read" and returns it to the vendor to be opened in their web browser. SpendMap then uses this "read" status to automatically update the Acknowledgment Utility.

If you cancel the document, or modify and re-send it, or just re-send it, the existing file on the web server will be deleted so that the vendor does not accidentally use an older version of the document.

In addition, whenever the document is re-sent to the vendor, its acknowledged status will be reset back to unacknowledged. If the vendor clicks the link in an e-mail message referencing an older (ie. deleted) document, they will get an error message to that effect.

Once the document is fully closed, the document/file on the web server will be deleted and will no longer be available to the vendor.

If you have the Receiving Module included in your system, any POs that are received (excluding auto-receipt POs) will be auto-acknowledged by the system (since a received PO indicates that the vendor must have received the order).

NOTE: Since these document files are not stored in the SpendMap system folders, they may not be backed-up along with the other SpendMap files. Therefore, it is recommended that you also back up the website files along with your SpendMap backup.

Attachment prefix for external messages

•When e-mailing POs and other documents to your suppliers, the attachment filenames can either be system-assigned, incrementing numbers (e.g. 12345678.PDF) or you can use this setting to use filenames that will be more meaningful to your suppliers.

•To use meaningful attachment filenames, enter a filename "prefix" representing your company, such as "AcmeInc" or "ABC-Company". If so, the attachment filenames will look like...

ABC-Company-PO-1234567-YYYYMMDD-HHMM.PDF

...where "ABC-Company" is the prefix you enter here, "PO" is the document type (may show other document types here), "1234567" is the document number (PO number in this case), "YYYYMMDD" is the year/month/day of the document/transaction, and "HHMM" is the hour/minutes that the document was processed.

Physical path to website Common folder

•This setting is required when using the Hyperlink option in the "Send documents as" field, above, and you have set up a separate, public website for this feature (as opposed to using the Web App's website).

•Please contact SpendMap Technical Support for instructions.

Public website URL

•Please contact SpendMap Technical Support for instructions.

Send e-mail notification reminders every (days)

•The frequency, in days, to send automatic e-mail reminders of previous notifications, should the user not take action on the original notification. Enter zero (0) to disable reminders.

•This setting applies to the following e-mail notifications:

oNew invoice discrepancies logged

oRequisition waiting for your approval

oNew POs in your Work Area

oNew Requisitions in your Work Area

oNew Releases in your Work Area

oNew RFQs in your Work Area

Maintain a log of sent e-mail messages

•Check this box to keep a history/log of e-mail messages sent by SpendMap. You can view the e-mail history with Sent E-mail Log.

•If so, enter the number of months of e-mail history to maintain, in the adjacent field.

"Sender" of system-generated e-mail messages

Proper User Name
and
User E-Mail Address

•Enter the name and e-mail address to use as the "sender" for system-generated e-mail messages that are not associated with a specific user in SpendMap (and therefore cannot use the user's e-mail address for the "From" field in the e-mail message).

•A sender name and address is required for system-generated e-mail messages in case the recipient either replies to a message or if an error occurs during transmission (the sender would typically get an "undeliverable mail" message from the outgoing mail server if a transmission error occurs).

•You may choose to set up an e-mail account as "SpendMap" for this purpose (e.g. SpendMap@YourCompany.com).

•This may also apply to user-generatede-mails, depending on your selection for the settings "Sender of INTERNAL/EXTERNAL automatic messages" above.

SpendMap User ID...for return of unsendable server messages

•Enter the user ID to receive notification via the e-mail error log if a system generated e-mail cannot be delivered to the outgoing mail server.

•This setting determines who will see the error notification (red "X" in the bottom left corner of the Main Menu) if an e-mail is sent to the e-mail error log.

•This would typically be your System Administrator, as errors of this type typically mean that the system is not configured properly.

Server Folder

SpendMap On-Demand customers: If you are using the hosted/SaaS version of SpendMap, we take care of this for you (you will have no need to modify these settings).

SpendMap On-Premise customers: This is only used when installing the e-mail services in server mode. If so, please see the Installation Instructions for details.