User's guide - version 4.0.

The main queue page - where messages from your customers are displayed.

When you login, the first place you land is on the main queue page. The queue page contains all of the incoming email from your customers laid out in up to 6 different queues designed to guide work flow.

We use the term Queue to illustrate the concept, but they don't act like traditional Queues in that they do not require first-in-first-out action. You can choose to answer any message at any time and in any order.

In our example we show all the active queues: Alerts, Assigned, Owned, Pending, Open, and All. Each queue tab displays the number of messages waiting in that queue. To view the contents of any queue just click on the tab of the queue you wish to view.

New messages flow primarily into the Pending queue where the majority of work gets done. If the Alert address has been given out, new messages can flow into that queue as well. In order for messages to land in the Open, Assigned, or Owned queue they must be placed there by a user. All messages, in all queues, regardless of who owns them, appear in the All queue.

Tabs for Alerts, Assigned, Open and Owned only appear when they have messages in them. The only two Queues which will appear even when empty are Pending and All.

All the messages are given a time and date stamp the moment they arrive, as well as a stamp for the team the message was sent to.

At the top of the queue page, a series of tabs help you navigate to other sections: Messages shows the message archive, Replies shows your replies inside the message archive, Contacts shows all the contact records in your contact list, and Templates shows the list of answers to frequently asked questions prepared for customers.

The last two tabs are user directed. Settings displays the user's preferences and password, and Logout is used to exit the program.

Queue selection by tab - navigating the main queue page with ease.

All of the email arriving for each team you have set up will flow into the Pending queue on the main queue page. As the Pending queue is where the majority of daily work will take place, the main queue page defaults to display the contents of the Pending queue when you login.

To see the contents of any other queue just click on the tab of the queue you wish to view. To see the messages in the alerts queue, click the Alerts tab. To see messages in the pending queue, click the Pending tab. To see your owned messages, click on the Owned tab. To see your assigned messages, click on the Assigned tab. To see the contents of the open queue, click on the Open tab. To see all of the messages in all of the queues click on the All tab.

To clear the filter and go back to the pending queue, you can click on the Queues tab in the top most row of navigation tabs.

Users, teams, tags and links - the information fields along the left column.

The left column of the main queue page displays information about who is online with you, the teams you have access to, the list of universal tags and links to web pages that help you get work done.

Users lists the other people logged in and working with you. Users granted Queue Manager status can see the count of owned and assigned messages for all users, displayed beneath each user's name. Queue Managers can click a user's name to view the contents of their Assigned and Owned queues.

Teams lists the teams you have access to. Each team link acts as a filter to display the messages for just that team on the main queue page, in the message archive, or in the replies archive. To filter using the team list, click on the name of the team you want to see. This will display messages only within that team. To view all the messages for all the teams again, click the Queue tab.

Tags lists the tags associated with your contacts and messages. To filter messages or contact by tag, click the name of the tag. Since tags apply to messages and contacts you can filter the main queue page, the message and replies archive, and the contact list.

Links lists the links to other web pages that are necessary to take care of customers or get business done. When you click a link the resulting page opens in a new window.

Viewing messages - just like using a desktop email application.

To get started reading your email, click on the subject line of any message to see the contents - you can read it, find attached files, and see who it is from.

The message viewer page - Contact info, tags, Quick Reply, action list, and comments.

Clicking the subject of a message displays the body of the message through the Message Viewer. Inside the message viewer you have access to the actions described below as well as the customer's contact information, Quick Reply template responses to frequent questions, tags and any internal comments.

All you need to do to work with messages is select an action.

To add a Tag to the message click on the appropriate gray tag. To remove a tag click the blue tag. To create a new tag click the Create Tag link and a text field will appear for you to type in. Use as many words as you like, separating your tags with a comma, and when updated they will appear in the Tags listing.

If the message can be answered by a Quick Reply select the correct template from the drop list, choose the status of your message (Complete, if it should be stored in the archive, Open to move it to the open queue, or Pending to return the message to the pending queue).

The actions you can take with any message are:
Reply - drafts a reply to the customer.
Assign - assigns the message to another person in the same teams you are in.
Escalate - sends the message to another email address for guidance or comment.
Redirect - sends the message to the intended recipient if you are not it.
Transfer - moves the message to another team so other reps can answer it.
Complete - stores the message in your message archive, removing it from the pending queue page.
Open - moves the message from the pending queue to the team's open queue to await further action inside your group.
Pending - moves the message back to the Pending queue for another rep to answer.
Download - downloads a text version of the message, including header information, to your computer.
Print - creates a view of the messages suitable for printing.
Lock - prevents another rep from taking the message while you read its content.
Destroy - destroys the message, removing it from your archive forever.

The message viewer page - Tagging, adding, editing, or reviewing a contact's info, and view their entire message history.

Messages from customers link directly to their contact record using the email addresses and telephone numbers entered in their contact record. You can store several email addresses with each contact to keep track of all their email.

If you receive a message from a customer who is already in your contact list their name and contact information will display inside the message header.

To augment or edit a customer's contact information click on the customer's name to reach the Quick Contact editor.

To view the customer's contact record and all of their previous email exchanges with your business click the green arrow next to their name.

Tags are applied to contact records as well as messages to help target broadcast messages. To add a tag to a contact, click on any of the gray tags listed. To remove a tag, click on the blue tags listed. To add a new tag, click the Create Tag link and a field will appear for you to type in. You can use as many words as you like for a tag, just use a comma to separate each tag you input. Once updated, new tags will appear in the Tags listing.

The message viewer page - Quickly create a new contact record using the Quick Create Contact link.

When you receive a message from a customer you do not have entered in your contact database, the customer's name and email address will appear in the header of the message below two options for entering their details in a new contact record.

When you create a contact record for new customers you begin tracking all of the new customer's communication with your business. Any tags applied to messages from the customer are also applied to the customer's contact record. This includes the contact in the groups described by your tags which are used to include them in future broadcast messages.

Click the Create contact link to gain access to text fields which allow you to type the customer's contact details by hand.

Click the Quick create contact link to have the customer's contact info pulled from their email message and entered automatically in a new contact record. If you notice an error after using the Quick create contact link, simply click on the customer's name to edit their details.

A contact records can be created for a customer at any time during their communication with your business. Once a contact record is created for a customer, all of the messages in the main queue page and in your message archive are scanned for that customer's email address in order to collect and display them at the foot of their contact record page.

The message viewer page - Using the Contact editor or automatically scan for details inside form email.

Using the Contact editor allows you to enter the customer's name and the other fundamental contact info. Their email address gets established as their work email address. To enter other addresses for the customer, view their contact record through the contact database where you will have access to several other address fields.

You can also add customer specific notes in the contact record, which are indexed and searchable.

In order for the record to update successfully, the customer's first name, last name, or company information must be entered with the email address. Once any of these fields are filled, click the Submit button and your new contact record is created.

To harvest contact details from Web generated form email or a garbled email click the Search body for contact info link. This directs the quick contact editor to scan a message for contact information. This is especially handy for extracting contact data from web forms. You do not need to search most of the time, only if your contact's email information is embedded or obscured. Most of the time the quick contact editor will pick up customer data automatically.

Edit any details necessary and click the Submit button to accept and enter the contact record in the contact database. You can click Cancel to leave the customer out of your contact database.

The message viewer page - Tagging in viewer to quickly label customer messages and provide better organization.

For new customers and newly received messages, the message viewer allows you to add a tag to the message in order to speed the organization of the messages in your queues and archive.

Tags already applied to the message appear in blue, while tags that have not been applied to the message appear in gray. To add a tag to a message, click the gray tag and it will move to the front of the list of tags, and turn blue. To remove a tag form a message click the blue tag and it will return to its alphabetical location in the list of tags and turn gray.

To have the tags you selected applied to the customer's contact record, click the create new contact link or the quick contact link if the customer does not have a contact record filled out. If the customer does already have a contact record, the quick contact link and the create new contact link will not appear. Instead, the customer's name and contact details will fill the header and any tags you apply to the message will automatically be applied to the customer's contact.

The message viewer page - Receiving files attached to messages from your customers.

Attachments sent in along with messages from customers are displayed in the header of the message. To view or download an attachment, click on the link displayed in the header.

If the attachment can be viewed using the web browser, as in the case with an image file, it will display in a new window. If the attachment requires another different application in order to open, you can save the file to your desktop and open it with the required application.

The message viewer page - Quick Reply and Type2Find templates deliver answers, no typing required.

Pre-written Template replies are hung inside the message viewer at your finger tips. You can reply to frequently asked questions by selecting the appropriate template from the drop list, then set the status of the message (the default setting is Complete - this moves the message into your message archive after you have answered it), and click the Quick Reply button to send the reply to your customer.

Once you have composed your templates, you can use them to answer as many different emails as you need. Just read and reply. Templates are arranged alphabetically, but you can also use the Type2Find function - just type the first few letters of the template or its content and the likely choices will be displayed in a list. Click the template you want to use from the list of suggested templates and it will be entered in the text field of the message.

The reply will be sent to the customer's address in the 'From:' field displayed in the message header. To send your reply to an email address contained within the body of the message just click on the address in the message, this will draft a reply message to that address instead.

The message viewer page - Add internal comments to a message to provide guidance to others now and in the future.

All messages can contain internal comments that the customers will never see. The notes are very useful for passing along important information.

To enter a comment about a message all you have to do is click the Create Comment link and a compact text field will appear beneath the header and the quick reply tool in your message viewer. You can enter anything you like, as much as you like, to help describe the customer, the issue, or the transaction. When you finish adding your note, click the Submit button to save the comment to the message.

The author of the comment's information, along with date and time information, is appended to the note once a comment is saved, for future reference.

A message can have as many comments as you need. Comments can be edited or destroyed by clicking the edit or destroy icons associated with them.

The message viewer page - Editing comments to focus the details of your notes.

At any time a comment can be edited by clicking the edit icon. A window containing the comment text will open and the content can be trimmed or supplemented as necessary. When finished, simply click the Submit button and the edited comment will be retained.

The author of the information, along with time and date details, will be updated to reflect the editor's contribution.

To remove a comment from a message, click the red destroy icon.

The message viewer page - Comment layout inside the message viewer provides internal threading.

Comments can be about anything and become part of the message so they are always there to provide further information.

Internal comments added during Assignment and Escalation will appear in line in the same location as comments written directly into a message.

The Reply action link - Working with the Message Editor to set message status and send replies to customer email

To reply to a customer's email click the Reply link, the first in the list of action links in the message viewer, to access the Message Editor.

Set the 'From' information you want for the message. Generally, your reply to the customer will be sent out from the email account of team the customer wrote in to, unless you have specified a different default team in your personal user settings. If you reply from a different team than the one the customer sent their email into, message threading will not collect as threading takes place for messages and replies within the same team.

When the customer receives your reply, it will appear in their email client as coming from the team name, "Support" in the example pictured, and use the team's reply-to email address, again in this example, <support@mailtank.com>. That way if the customer needs to reply, their email client will draft their reply to Support, <support@example.com> and keep the conversation loop going. Your team can have any name and reply-to address your business uses. You can create as many teams as you need to collect incoming email for all your business' email accounts.

To add tags to your message in the Reply Editor just click the tags you want, and they will appear automatically inside the tag field separated by commas in the event of multiple tags. If you want to create a new tag, type it into the tag field manually - you can use as many words as you like for your tag - just separate tags with a comma. Once the message is sent, the new tag will appear in the universal tag list in the left column of your browser and be available to be applied to other contacts and messages.

You can also set the Status of your reply. 'Pending' will move the customer's message back to the Pending queue after your response is emailed out, 'Open' will place it in the Open queue after your response is emailed out, and 'Complete' will store the message in the Archive, paired with your reply, after your email is sent out. From time to time, replies to customers will take a few minutes to leave the outgoing mail server, so if your message does not appear in the message archive immediately do not panic. It is just waiting in line to go out to your customer.

Click the Send button to deliver the reply to the customer.

The Reply action link - Using templates in the Message Editor or customize your template replies.

When you choose a template from the drop list in the message editor, its content is placed in the editor's central text field. From this point you can either send it directly or edit it to meet the customer's needs as you see necessary.

The title of the template is for internal use, as replies adopt the subject chosen by your customer. When you are drafting a new message that uses a template you choose the subject for the message.

If you choose the wrong template, simply select the correct one and the content will automatically replace what was entered.

Templates appear in the drop list sorted alphabetically.

In the section that covers template creation you will see how to use built in 'wild cards' that let you automatically personalize responses.

Type2Find selects the right template from large libraries.

Type2Find is a search method that speeds template selection when your template list gets long. A template response can be created for every message you receive because any message you receive twice is a frequently asked question.

With Type2Find, you can quickly scan your templates to find the correct response to deliver to the customer regardless of how much time has passed since you heard the question last.

Just type a few letters or words related to your template and the list of possible choices will appear. Click the template you want to send and the content will be placed in the field for the message body.

Tagging in the Editor - adding tags when replying to customers or drafting a new message.

Tags are a powerful way to provide organization inside your message archive, and an equally powerful way to filter messages to find the exact group you are looking for.

You can add tags to messages you have received from customers in a number of locations, including the reply editor during the course of creating the reply to your customer.

To add tags to your message in the reply editor just click the tags you want, and they will appear automatically inside the tag field, separated by commas in the event of multiple tags. In some cases a leading comma will appear, but that is ok - it helps the system keep your tags organized. If you want to create a new tag, type it into the tag field manually - you can use as many words as you like for your tag - just separate tags with a comma. Once the reply is sent, the new tag will appear in the universal tag list in the left column of your browser and be available to be applied to other contacts and messages.

Using the Status list - moving messages to other queues after delivery.

Using the Status menu at the bottom of the message editor, answered messages can be placed in the appropriate location.

Select Pending to return the message to the pending queue if it needs to be addressed a second time by another rep.

Select Open to move the message to the open queue if the message requires action inside your group to take place before the issue is completed.

Select Complete to move the message to your message archive for storage or future reference.

The default setting for replies is Complete, but you can change the answered message's destination using the Status drop list.

Message Options - adding attachments, carbon copy addresses, setting reminders, reply to all and quoting in your reply.

The extra options in the message editor are used to expand the function of an outgoing message.

To attach files click the Attach files link. This will display three Choose file buttons so you can add up to three attachments to your reply.

Click the Add CC link to access the Carbon Copy address field where you can enter the address of a second recipient to your reply. If you want to copy an address on every reply you send out from your team, you can set a BCC address on the Team settings page. Carbon Copies are sent to any standard email address you enter. To send multiple carbon copies you can enter multiple addresses separated by commas.

Click the Set reminder link to display the reminder date field. The Set reminder feature will move the message back to the pending queue for all reps to see after a certain number of days elapse. Enter the number of days you would like to pass before the message is returned to the Pending queue on the main queue page.

Click the Reply to all link to address the outgoing reply to all of the original recipients.

Click the Quote body link to quote the customer's original message in your out going reply. This will bring the message text into the Reply editor's central text field formatted as an in-line reply.

Adding a file to an outgoing message - choose up to three different attachments

Attach a file to an outgoing message the same way you would in your email client.

Click the Attach files link. This will display three Choose file buttons. Click the Choose file button and, using the resulting file browser, navigate to the file you wish to attach to your message.

Click the choose button and the file will be sent to the customer along with your message. Message attachments are stored in the message archive along with their message.

Assigning messages to another representative and moving messages inside your team.

Messages can be assigned to other team members by clicking the Assign link. From there, select a team member from the list of available reps and add an internal comment to help orient the rep to the issue. The internal comment is never seen by the customer.

Messages can only be assigned to other members of the team that received the message. To assign a message to a person who is not in your team, the message must be transferred to the team the person is in. After transfer it can be assigned to a member of a different team.

When a message is assigned to a member of the team, it is removed from the pending queue and appears in the assigned queue of the person it has been assigned to, and the owned queue of the person who assigned it. This way, if the person the message is assigned to is not in a position to respond quickly, the message can be taken back by the person who assigned it.

Internal comments - add internal notes to Assigned email so the entire group can stay on the same page.

As in an escalated message, an assigned message can carry internal comments, which the customer never sees, to help guide the rep who is getting the assignment. Just type the comments in the text field provided.

If the rep is not logged in at the time the message is assigned, they will receive an email that contains the content of the internal comment and message body of the original message. If the rep is assigned multiple messages, they will receive notice of the scope of work awaiting their attention.

The email address the notice is delivered to is set by the rep under their settings tab.

Working with Assigned messages - understanding and locating assignments.

Messages assigned to you will appear in your Assigned queue. To view your assigned messages, click on the Assigned link. The only other person who can see the message once it is assigned is the person who assigned it to you. It will appear in their Owned queue to help track the message's progress.

The Assigned queue does not appear if you do not have any assigned messages.

Working with an Assigned message is just like working with any other message. Click the subject to see the contents of the message, review any internal comments, and respond to the customer or the person who Assigned the message to you.

If you are not logged in when work is assigned to you, you will receive email notification describing the scope of the work. As well, when you login a banner will appear detailing your assignments. The banner will disappear once another action is taken.

Working with assigned messages - accessing your Assignments from the main queue page.

To see the contents of your Assigned queue, click on the Assigned tab at the top of the main queue page. This will shift the focus from the email flowing into the Pending queue to the assigned messages in your Assigned queue.

When you are looking at your Assigned queue the Assigned Tab will turn blue. As you switch tabs on the main queue page the tab of the queue you are looking at will always turn blue while tabs of queues that are hidden will remain black.

Assigned messages will remain in your Assigned queue until you respond to them. If you cannot respond to your assigned messages, either a queue manager or the person who assigned them to you can take charge of them. This ensures that customers get timely answers to their questions.

Escalating messages that need a second opinion and mail a template reply to the sender. Add comments and attach files.

Escalating a message allows you to send a message to another party to receive clarification or advice on how to answer the message. This step 'outside' is included in the threading of the conversation so it becomes part of the communication history of that customer. To escalate any message click the Escalate link. You can escalate messages to addresses inside or outside of your organization, depending on where you need to get a response.

Each team can have a pre-set escalation address, specified in the Team settings page, if your escalations consistently go to the same person, but any rep can edit the content of the address field to make sure the message goes to right person to advise on it.

You can simultaneously reply to the customer with the template of your choice. Just select the template from the included drop list. This way the customer can be informed that progress on their issue is being made while you wait for the advice of the higher up.

Escalated messages can contain an internal comment, never seen by the customer, to help guide the conversation, as well as an attached document if supporting material is necessary. Click the Choose file button to add a file. To add comments type them in the provided field.

Comments appear to the person to whom the message was escalated, formatted above the content of the original message to preserve clarity.

Managing escalated messages - organizing messages while you wait for response.

Escalated messages can be marked as Pending, Open or Complete so the message remains organized inside the work flow while waiting for response.

Marked Pending, the message will be moved into your Owned queue after it has been escalated.

Marked Open, the message will be moved into the Open queue after it has been escalated.

Marked Complete, the message will be stored in the message archive after it has been escalated.

When escalated messages are answered by the authority, the answer arrives in the Pending queue along side all the other incoming messages so the response can be delivered to the customer by any representative who is logged in. Because of the message threading, the customer's original question is brought along with it. You can reply to any message inside a thread just by clicking on the subject of the message you want to reply to. This will bring the message to the top most position in the thread so you have access to the action links.

The advice contained in the message, from the higher authority, remains a part of the message history for future use.

Transferring Messages - getting messages sent to the wrong department in front of the right eyes.

From time to time a customer will send a message to the wrong department so recipients inside the business are capable of transferring the message to the correct department.

To transfer a message to another team, click on the Transfer link, and then select the appropriate team from the drop list. You can only transfer messages to teams you have access to. Once you click the submit button the message will be inserted in the correct team's pending queue on the main queue page so the entire team has access to answer it.

A message can be transfered as often as needed to make sure it receives the correct attention.

Redirecting messages - getting messages to their rightful owner.

Redirect performs the same function it does in your email client. It delivers the message to a different recipient, and removes it from your message archive.

To redirect any email that erroneously comes your way, click the Redirect link.

Simply enter the address you wish to redirect the message to in the provided text field and click the Submit button. To cancel the action and return to the message viewer click the Cancel link.

Once a message has been redirected out of the pending queue no history of it remains.

Complete, Open, and Pending - using the action links to move messages to different queues.

You can place a message in the message archive by clicking the Complete link.

To place a message in the Open queue click the Open link.

To place a message in the Pending queue click the Pending link.

By default, new messages arrive in the Pending queue, which is where the majority of work is focused. If a message from a customer needs no further attention, in the case of a thank you note, for example, you would click Complete to move that message to your message archive. If a message needs action inside your group to take place before you can answer it, you would click the Open link to move that message to the Open queue.

To return any message to the Pending queue, so the entire team can have access to answer it, click on the Pending link.

Print and Download - reviewing full headers and getting messages into the real world.

Sometimes a message has to come into the real world so the Download and Print links are included in the action list at the top of the message viewer.

The Print link - formatted for ease of read and compatibility.

Clicking the Print link prepares the message for printing.

It is formated simply and contains some basic header information.

The Download link

Click the Download link to send a copy of the message to your desktop. Technically the message is still in the virtual world, but it can be opened in your favorite text editor or printed out for distribution.

Like it's counterpart, the Print link, it is formatted simply but it contains more detailed header information.

Locking and Unlocking messages - protecting against multiple answers to the same question and wasted time.

In order to prevent two people from working on the same message at the same time, anytime a you click an action link (Reply, Assign, Escalate, Redirect, Transfer) the message you are working on becomes locked so you cannot be interrupted when working with a customer.

You can also lock a message for yourself if your are reading the message in the message viewer. All you need to do is click the Lock link and it will prevent any other rep from responding to the same message.

To unlock the message click the Unlock link.

Work uninterrupted - notification of work in progress by another representative.

If you try to answer a locked message another rep is already working on, or that someone else owns you will not be able to access any of the action links.

To prohibit people from answering the same question at the same time a warning is displayed in the message viewer. Other reps can still see the content of the message but only the person who owns the message can reply to the customer.

Destroy - verb [ trans. ] put an end to the existence of (something)

The destroy link appears in a number of places through out the program and in all cases it is used to remove data.

The Destroy link must be used with caution - you cannot recover destroyed information.

Since there is no going back once something is destroyed, a warning dialog that you must consent to is issued before the program will follow your command and remove the data.

Destroy privileges are granted to reps by your Admin and can be turned on or off at will.

Owning messages - accessible by you, the queue managers, and visible within the All queue.

You take ownership of a message when you click the action links Reply, Assign, Escalate, Transfer, Redirect, or Lock. Your owned messages are visible to you and to anyone viewing the contents of the All queue. Your owned messages are not accessible to others viewing the All queue. Instead, they are designated as owned by an icon. When you take ownership of a message it no longer appears on the Pending or Open queue pages for other reps to work with.

Using the Reply link, you will own a message if you begin typing a reply, and then decide to return to the main queue page without clicking the Cancel link in the Reply Editor. You can return to the main queue page by clicking on the Queue tab at any time.

Using the Assign link, you will own the message once you have assigned it to another rep. The message appears in your Owned queue so you can keep track of the messages you have assigned to others.

Using the Lock link, you will own a message if you lock a message and then return to the main queue page.

To give a message back to the group you can click the Unlock link, the Open link (to place the message in the Open queue), or the Pending link (to place the message in the Pending queue) . If you have Assigned a message only the person to whom it was Assigned can return it to the group.

The All queue - instant overview of every message outstanding among your team.

To see the contents of the All queue, click on the All tab on the main queue page.

The All queue contains all of the messages that are awaiting answers from your group. It displays messages that are collected in the pending, open, assigned and owned queues.

While pending and open are shared queues, assigned and owned are unique to the members of the teams that receive email from your customers. The All queue gives you a quick and easy way to identify the work that remains unanswered from your customers.

You do not need special privileges to access the All queue.

Working with multiple messages - anything you can do with one message you can do with up to 50 different messages.

You can perform a number of actions on up to 50 different messages at once from the Pending queue.

Select the messages you want to work with using the check boxes. You can select all of the messages in a queue by clicking the Check icon to the left of the action links on the queue page.

This way, you can move groups of messages into the different queues on the main queue page. Click the Complete link to move the messages to your archive. Click the Pending link to move messages to the pending queue. Click the Open link to move messages to the open queue.

Replying to multiple messages simultaneously - Rapid reply answers messages in the Pending queue in bulk.

On the main queue page select the messages you want to work with using the check boxes and click the Reply link.

This will take you to the Rapid Reply editor, where you can choose a template to send in response to the messages you have selected, draft a custom response, or create a hybrid to meet the customers' needs.

You can set the status for the group of messages. The default setting is Complete, to file the messages in your archive after sending. Choose Open to move messages to the open queue after sending. Choose Pending to move the messages to the pending queue after sending.

The subject lines of the messages you have selected are all displayed for reference.

Click the Reply button to send your response to all of the messages you have selected.

Assigning multiple messages - distribute work across the whole team or to specific individuals.

On the main queue page select the messages you want to work with using the check boxes and then click the Assign link.

This will take you to the assignment editor where you can choose a team member to receive the assignment.

The subjects of the messages are all displayed for reference.

You can add a private comment, never seen by the customers, which will go to the team member you have selected.

Click the Assign button to assign all of the messages you have selected to the team member responsible for them. If that team member is not logged in at the time of the assignment, they will receive an email notice containing details of the assignment.

Tagging multiple messages - organize contacts and messages by Tagging them with labels familiar to your business.

On the main queue page, select the messages you want to tag using the check boxes and then click the Tag link to display the list of tags to add to messages.

Click the tag you want to use and the contacts and messages will be labeled with the tag you have selected.

Destroying multiple messages - removing groups of messages from the main queue page.

To destroy multiple messages from your main queue page, select the messages using the check boxes and then click the Destroy link. The cautionary dialog will appear to authorize the destruction of the messages. Click OK in the dialog box to destroy the messages. If you do not want to destroy the messages, click Cancel and the messages will remain on the main queue page.

Queue manager status keeps you informed - view the owned and assigned queues of other team members.

Team members with queue manager status have a slightly different view of the User list in the left margin. In the User section the list of team members shows the count of their assigned and owned messages. This enables a queue manager to know how much work is not contained inside the Pending, Open and Alert queues.

As well, the queue manager can click on the name of any of the team members and the queue page will redraw displaying the contents of that team member's Owned and Assigned queue. In the event a team member cannot respond to a customer a queue manager can 'reach in' to their Owned and Assigned queue and take action on their messages. The queue manager can assign the messages to different reps, move them to another queue, or answer them.

Queue manager status is granted as part of each team member's User settings. It can be granted and revoked at any time with the click of a link. To add or change a team members status click the Control Panel tab, and then the User tab, and then the name of the person who's status needs adjusting.

The message archive - collected knowledge about your business.

To view all of the messages in your archive click the Messages tab. The message archive is an indexed, searchable, collection of all of the email that has come into your business.

You can limit the number of messages displayed on each page in your user settings tab and the archive will paginate as a result. You can search for specific messages in the archive using the text field in the upper right corner.

The archive tracks incoming and outgoing messages in the form of conversations that take place between you and your contacts.

To view a conversation within your business, just click on the subject of a message to see the message viewer. Then click on the threads link to expand the messages inside the conversation.

Viewing a conversation inside your business - expanding threads to understand context.

Click on the subject of any message in your message archive. When you view a message in the archive you can also see the other threads associated with it. The threaded messages are displayed in an abbreviated view to save space.

Collapsed threads display sender information, as well as internal comments and by default, the first hundred characters of the contained message. To preview more of any message you can adjust the number the of characters in your user settings.

In the event you need to respond to an older message in a threaded conversation, click on the subject of the message you wish to reply to, and that will move it to the top most position and make contact, comment, tag, and template functions are available.

To view the entire conversation in full, click the Threads link to expand the view. In expanded view you can see the entire content of each message.

Filtering the message archive - viewing collections of messages by team and tag.

The message archive can be filtered quickly by clicking on the team links, the tag links, or both.

To further drill down into your message data you can use the search dialog in combination with your filters.

To change your filters, click on any other filter link you like.

To remove the filters click the Messages tab.

Filtering by Tag - viewing specific groups of messages in queue pages.

The same way that you can filter your queue pages by Team, you can filter your queue pages using Tags.

Decide which queue page you want to filter, the pending queue, the open queue, your assigned or owned messages, or the message or reply view of the archive. Once the page has loaded, click the tag you wish to see messages of.

The queue page will redraw showing only those messages with the selected tag applied. To filter further, you can click another tag. to clear your filter, just click on the tab of the queue page you are viewing and all of the messages in that queue will reload.

Drafting new messages - for occasions when you need to begin a conversation.

Most of the time, your teams will be replying to customers who have sent in their questions, but from time to time it may be necessary to begin a conversation with a customer.

To draft a new message out to your customer click the New message link.

The New message editor - used in the same manner as the reply editor.

In the New message editor you have access to the same tools available in the reply editor. The new message editor will send email out to your customers. It also allows you to keep notes of telephone conversations, that you can link to the customer's contact record, using the Create button.

Select the team you would like the message to be sent out from using the drop list at the top of the page.

When the customer receives your message, it will appear in their email client as coming from the team name, "Sales" in the example pictured, and use the team's reply-to email address, again in this example, <sales@example.com>. That way if the customer needs to reply to your message, their email client will draft their reply to Sales, <sales@example.com> to keep the communication loop tight. (Again, your team can have any name and reply-to address that your business uses. You can create as many teams as you need to collect incoming email for all your business' email accounts.)

You can use a template from the template library if you need to, just by selecting the desired template from the drop list above the central text field. This will enter the body of the template automatically, so you can customize it to meet your needs.

You can also set the Status of your message. 'Pending' will move the message into the Pending queue after it is emailed out, 'Open' will place it in the Open queue after it is emailed out, and 'Complete' will store the message in the archive, after your email is sent out. From time to time, messages to customers will take a few minutes to leave the outgoing mail server, so if your message does not appear in the message archive immediately do not panic. It is just waiting in line to go out to your customer. Just as in a reply, threading will begin as soon as you receive a response from your customer.

To send your new message to the customer, click the Send button. To take notes on a telephone conversation, enter the customer's email address in the To field and add your notes to the central text field. Add files, set a reminder, tag, set the status as necessary. When you are finished click the Create button. To assign the message to a representative, click the Assign button.

To discard the message or your notes of the telephone call, click the Back link to return to the Pending queue on the main queue page.

Additional fields - enriching messages or notes of telephone calls using tools inside the message editor.

To attach files, add an additional recipient, or set a reminder, click the links at the top of the page to reveal the necessary setting fields. You can attach up to three different files using the file browser. The set reminder feature returns the message to the pending queue on the main queue page after the specified number of days has passed.

To add tags to your message in the message editor just click the tags you want, and they will appear automatically inside the tag field, separated by commas in the event of multiple tags. In some cases a leading comma will appear, but that is ok - it helps the system keep your tags organized. If you want to create a new tag, type it into the tag field manually - you can use as many words as you like for your tag - just separate tags with a comma. Once the message is sent, the new tag will appear in the universal tag list in the left column of your browser and be available to be applied to other contacts and messages.

Broadcasting messages to groups - using tags to designate groups inside your contact list.

You can broadcast messages to groups of customers. Click the Message tab to access the Broadcast link.

To create a new broadcast click the Broadcast link.

Broadcast messages with the broadcast editor - creating outgoing messages to multiple recipients.

The broadcast editor follows the same logic as the message editor.

Select the team you would like to use to send out the message using the drop list at the top of the editor. This list will display all of your teams.

Tags determine who receives the content from the broadcast. Select the tag of the desired group of contacts to send your broadcast to.

Choose a subject appropriate for the message.

Then select a template response which you can send directly or customize a message to suit the desired goals. Messages can be written to take advantage of Markdown to enhance the look of your broadcast.

To send your broadcast, click Send.

The Replies tab - viewing the message archive from the point of view of your representatives.

The message archive organizes replies sent out from your teams to customers under the Replies tab. This way your business has a quick way to locate outgoing communication.

Like the message archive, the replies listing can be filtered quickly by clicking on the team links, the tag links, or both.

To further drill down into your reply data, you can use the search dialog in combination with your team and tag filters.

To change your filters, click on any other filter link you like.

To remove the filters click the Replies tab.

The contacts list - the universal information manager for all of your customers.

To see your list of contacts, click on the Contacts tab.

Contacts are displayed system wide, so everyone always has access to important contact information. Contacts can be hidden from public view by designating them as Admin only.

To search for a contact, enter the search criteria in the search field.

Contacts can also be filtered using tags, by clicking on a tag, so you can have an overview of groups within you contact list.

To create a new contact, click the New contact link.

To see any contact's information click on the name of the contact you wish to view.

Contact record details - email, telephone, and communication history all in one place.

All of the customer's contact information is displayed in the top portion of the contact viewer. To draft an email to the contact just click the email address you would like to send your email to and the message editor will appear addressed to the contact.

The customer's entire communication history is displayed at the bottom of the page. To view any conversation just click on the subject of the conversation you wish to review.

To remove a contact from your contact list click the destroy link.

To make additions or changes to existing content, click the Edit link.

Entering or updating a customer's contact info - multiple fields allow for the broadest possible collection of messages.

You can track standard contact information in the top part of the contact editor, where you can enter up to 4 different email addresses and telephone numbers for each contact.

The notes field can contain any information you wish to add to the record. Content in the notes field is displayed in the header of every message received from the customer so important notes are always in front of your group.

The Sync Key field is the access point for the built in REST API when communicating with other applications. This can be a customer number or an order number or any other common data you wish to use to link contacts to records in other places.

For information on how to use the REST API please contact technical support.

Tags applied to messages received from contacts are also applied to contact records as a means of segmenting the contact list into groups for broadcast messages and ease of identification.

To save your information, click the Submit button.

Importing contacts - bringing existing information into your contact list.

Importing contacts can either be done by the technical support group, or you can do it your self. To import contacts, click the contact tab, and then click the Import link at the top of the contact listing page.

To make importing easier for you, there is a limit of 500 customer records per import. If you have more than that,. just click the import tab as often as you need to import your entire group.

Generally technical support can import contacts in about a day. Older message import is available too, however it take slightly longer depending on the size of the .mbox file to import.

Contact file formats - preparing and previewing your contact import.

In the contact import manager, all you need to do is paste the contents of your contact list into the central text field that is presented when you click the import link.

Add the information you have for your contacts as a comma or tab delimited file. The fields supported in order are:
Company, First name, Last name, Work email, home email, Mobile email, Alternate email, Work phone, Home phone, Mobile phone, Alternate phone, Other notes, and Sync key.

once you have entered your information in the text field, click the Preview button to have the application sort and organize your content and preview it for you. If the preview meets your approval, click the Submit button and your contacts will be entered in your contact list.

Viewing the template list - an unlimited library of answers to customer questions.

As you create template replies to frequently asked questions they are saved and displayed in the template list.

To see the library of templates you have created, click on the Templates tab.

The library is visible to everyone, but only those who have the proper access can create new templates. If you have the proper access, to create a new template click the New template link.

To view or edit the content of any Template, click on the name of the template you wish to view.

Template viewer details - overview of content, attached files and chain information.

Like the message viewer, the template viewer displays the content of your template.

The title of the template is for internal use and can be written to direct your group to the correct template to send to customers. Templates used in a reply to a customer's message take on the subject chosen by the customer.

To remove a template that is chained to the template you are viewing, click the red cut icon.

To add a file to your template, click the Upload link and use the resulting file browser to locate the file you wish to attach.

To remove the template from the library click Destroy, to edit the content click Edit.

Creating or editing a template - adding wild cards and tags to personalize and categorize your replies.

If you have the appropriate access privileges you can create or edit the content of a template.

Enter a title for your template. This title is for internal reference only, as most of the outgoing replies will adopt the subject of the sender's original email.

All of the macros available for use in a template are displayed below the body window - to add one all you need to do is select it and paste it into your template text. So, if you open your template response with 'Hi ^^FIRST_NAME^^ -' the macro will place the customer's first name in the salutation of your response. Each macro must be surrounded by both carrots on the left and right.

Tags can be added to templates to simplify the message organization process. Tags added to templates are added to the contact records of customers who are sent the tagged templates.

For your convenience a preview of the message is displayed at the foot of the window so you can see exactly what your customer will see when they receive the template as a response from your business.

To save your template, click the Update link.

Creating chained template replies - automate communication with customers for up to 4 months.

Templates can be chained together to automatically follow up with customers. To chain a template to another template for follow up, select the first template to be sent from the template library.

Click the Add Chain link to use the template chain editor.

Chained templates can be sent as many as 120 days after the original reply is delivered to the customer. When you create a chained template and use it to reply to a customer's message that customer will receive all of the messages in the chain without further action on your part.

If you edit a chain after sending the original reply to the customer, the customer will receive as many messages as are in the chain at the time of edit depending on datelines described in the chain.

The chained template editor - designing follow up campaigns that keep customers active.

Using the chained template editor is easy. Choose the template you wish to follow up with from your library of templates.

Then specify the number of days after the original reply that you want the second template sent to the customer.

Any time you add a template to a chain, the number of days you choose should be calculated after the original reply is sent.

You can add up to four templates to be sent during the 120 days that follow the customer's original reply.

Using multiple messages in a chain - delivery, content, and modification.

A chain can have many templates added to it, and can run for up to 120 days after the original reply is sent to the customer.

As you add templates to your chain they are displayed in the template viewer for your convenience.

To add templates to your chain click the edit link. Remember that all templates are sent a number of days after the original reply goes out to the customer.

To remove any 'link' in the chain, click the red delete icon to the right of the template you wish to remove. The chain will remain intact and the deleted template will not be sent to any customers who have been sent the first template reply.

If you edit a chain after sending the original reply to the customer, the customer will receive all the messages that remain in the chain at the time of edit depending on datelines described in the chain.

Adding attachments to templates - sending files with answers to frequently asked questions.

Every template you create can have up to three files attached to it so customers receive files along with their answer. This is handy if you want to deliver additional instructions, credit card authorization forms, or other data along with the answers you are sending out.

Since the file is uploaded at the time you create your template, you do not have to wait for it to upload every time you email it out. This reduces the amount of time you require when answering customers.

To add a file, click the Choose file button, and the file browser will appear. Navigate to the file you wish to add to the template and click the Choose button. Repeat for each subsequent attachment until the template is full. Then process your attachments by clicking the Upload link.

Personal user settings - defining a password, time zone, language and more.

Each user has control over general settings for their account. To access your settings click the Settings tab.

You can update your contact email address and your current time zone. The email address is used to send you assignment notices and queue reports. The time zone setting guarantees the messages in the main queue page are displayed with the correct time specific to your location.

You can establish a default template if you predominantly use one. If you primarily work within one team, you can set that team as the default team your replies are drafted from so you do not have to select it each time you draft a reply.

The signature text field allows users to enter a personalized signature that gets appended to every reply they send out.

Items per page allows you to set the number of messages that appear in your queues. The queue pages will paginate if the number of messages exceeds the count set in your settings.

Each message in the queues is displayed with a preview of the message content to speed response. You can set the number of characters contained in the preview to lengthen or shorten the preview.

To save your settings click the Update button.

Settings continued - updating your personal password.

To update your password, click the Password link. The resulting page will display dual fields used to enter a new password and then verify the new entry. To update your password changes, click the Update button.

Your new password will be used the next time you login.

Settings continued - using the advanced settings to change display and remain informed.

You can specify the language in which you would like your controls displayed. Localized in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Japanese there are many options to choose from.

If you like, you can determine the next action to take after you reply to a message. You can either return to the main queue page or go right to the next message.

You can also enable queue reports with your settings page. MailTank will email you periodic messages detailing the number of alerts, pending, and assigned messages waiting in your MailTank. Queue reports are delivered from 9 AM to 9PM every four hours.

Ending trial period announcements - knowing the day your free trial expires.

During the last week of your trial period a yellow banner will display on your login page.

The banner will let you know the date your trial expires, and the number of days before that date arrives.

When you login, another yellow banner will contain a link to the Subscription tab where you can add or update your credit card details as well as the number of users that can login to answer email for your business.

Subscription term notice - keeping you abreast of access so you don't get locked out.

Each account comes with a free 30 day trial period to make sure that the program meets the needs of your business. As you approach the end of that trial period, beginning in the final week, a yellow banner appears at login and above the main queue page.

The banner lets you know that your trial period is coming to a close, and contains the link to the Subscription tab in the control panel that is used to enter your billing details and the number of users you require to answer the incoming email at your business.