Email Management with EMS Agent

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NetDocuments Email Management Service (EMS) - includes EMS Folders and EMS Profiler

NOTE: EMS Folders and EMS Profiler support Office 2010 also.
Click here for information on Understanding EMS Folder error messages.

Click the icon below to view videos about EMS Folders and EMS Profiler and which to use.

EMS Folders - The EMS client that has been previously available, is now being renamed to EMS Folders. Nothing changes in how that client works.
EMS Profiler - The additional client is named EMS Profiler and is available as an alternate interface to manage emails.

CAUTION: We do not currently support both EMS clients being used at the same time on one computer. A user should install one or the other, but not both. They will not function properly on the same computer.

We recommend that if you are managing other users' Outlook Inboxes, you use the EMS Profiler program. It will avoid issues that could occur when using the EMS Folders client when using multiple inboxes.

If the cabinet has NO custom profiles, you must use the EMS Folders client. If the cabinet has custom Profiles, you can choose to use either method, but the new EMS Profiler client may be easier to use.

NOTE: The Cabinet Administration settings must be defined to use EMS prior to users installing and using the EMS client software.

Workstation requirements for either EMS Add-in:
EMS works better with more PC memory and a faster processor.
We suggest a minimum of 1GB of memory and at least a 1 GHz CPU.

1. Outlook 2003 SP3, Outlook 2007, or Outlook 2010 (R3-2010 in July)
2. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7
3. Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 +

Installing and Using the EMS Folders Add-in

Step 1 - Install the EMS Folders Add-in

- Close Outlook and go to My Account in NetDocuments.
- Select the Application Settings menu.
- Click Download and Install under the EMS Folders Section at the bottom.
- Select "Run" and "Next" when prompted, then Close. The install takes about 30 seconds.
(.NET Framework 2.0 is required. It will prompt you to install it, if you need to).

Step 2 - File emails into the NetDocuments EMS Outlook folders

After you have installed the EMS Add-in, the next time that you open Outlook, you will be prompted with a small login page if you do not use Automated Login for NetDocuments. You will then see new folders in the left folder pane mirroring your Navigation menu in NetDocuments.

Initially only the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder will be visible. If you have more than one NetDocuments cabinet with EMS enabled, you will also see folders for the Repository and Cabinets as shown below. These folders are not visible if you only have one NetDocuments cabinet.

Expanding Folders -
To expand the NetDocuments folders, click the yellow folder icon next to that folder name and then click the plus sign after the plus sign appears.

NOTE: This important step is used for any of the folders under the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder tree and initiates the computer to "retrieve" the current list of folders from NetDocuments to display in Outlook under the respective parent folder.

In Outlook, you will see all of your NetDocuments Folders and Workspaces (if used) that you have in your NetDocuments Navigation Pane.

Directly under the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder, you will see folders representing the repository if you have more than one repository and then under the repository will be displayed a folder representing the Cabinets if you have more than one cabinet.

Filing Emails into EMS Folders -
You can drag or file emails whenever you choose into any folder whose name starts with a > sign. If a folder does not have a > sign, you should NOT drag emails into it.

Caution: If you drag an email to a folder that does not have a > next to it under the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder tree, you will receive an error message when the next Archive occurs telling you that it cannot be archived. You then need to drag it from that folder to the correct folder or you will continue to receive an error message stating it cannot be archived.

TIP: You can open an email and drag only an attachment to an EMS-based folder if you do not want the complete email. It will copy the attachment. You can also drag and drop a document from any Windows location, such as you Desktop, to any EMS-based folder and it will be copied to NetDocuments. (The CTRL C and CTRL V shortcut keys to copy and paste can also be used - Outlook does not provide a Paste right click menu option).

Emails will inherit the profile values of the folder. If however, the folder has a blank custom profile field that is required and that value has a value defined in the Cabinet Administration page under the EMS Section, that value will be stamped on the document.

Adding and Renaming Folders -
If you want to add a new NetDocuments folder, go to NetDocuments and add it and then return to your Outlook and click that folder's Parent folder icon and then the plus next to it. The newly added folder will then display.

You should never rename an EMS-based folder in Outlook. If you want a folder renamed, go to NetDocuments and rename it and it will be reflected in Outlook the next time the folders are refreshed. Any EMS-generated folder that is renamed in Outlook, will revert back to the NetDocuments folder name, when the next Archive occurs.

There are 2 exceptions to renaming an EMS-based folder. If you choose to rename either top-level folder names; ND - Send to NetDocuments or ND -Archived (View Only), that is OK and the new name will be retained. All Outlook folders are listed alphabetically. Some customers will rename the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder so it is at the top of their folder list or so it appears just under the Inbox. Some customers will rename the ND -Archived (View Only) so that it is toward the bottom of their folder list to avoid accidentally filing emails into any of the subfolders. You may want to rename the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder so it is in all caps to make it easier to identify.

If you need to add or rename a folder, do it in NetDocuments and then they will appear in your Outlook the next time the folders are "refreshed".

Step 3 - Archive Processing - automatic and manual

Once an email is dragged to a folder under the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder it will be moved (archived) to NetDocuments as follows.

Automatically - Every 60 minutes, a program will automatically move (archive) all emails you have filed into the EMS-based folders.
The 60 minute automatic archiving cycle occurs whether you manually Archive or not.
In other words, the automatic archiving is independent of any manual archiving.

Manually - If you want to "force" an archive sooner than the regular 60 minute automatic archive, you can click the ND Archive Now button in Outlook as shown below at any time.

Step 4 - Optional - Accessing archived emails in Outlook.

If your Administrator has configured your cabinet to also keep a copy of emails in Outlook which have been moved (archived) to NetDocuments, you will see a new top-level Outlook folder named as follows after you archive your first email:

ND - Archived (View Only)

If this folder tree does not exist, then your Administrator has not selected this option, you have not moved (archived) any emails, or you have deleted it. If you delete this folder, it does not affect emails which have been archived to NetDocuments. It will just delete the copy of the emails that were retained in Outlook. The next time you archive an email, the ND -Archive (View Only) folder will be recreated.

Note that this folder tree only shows folders to which emails have been archived. The folder in which the email is filed gets created automatically when an email is archived to it. So only folders containing archived emails show under the ND -Archive (View Only) folder.

ND Archive Now button

To locate a archived email in Outlook, if your organization is using the ND - Archived (View Only) Folder, we suggest that you always click the ND Archive Now button first and then go to the desired folder under the ND - Archived (View Only) folder. By clicking the ND Archive Now button first, it ensures that all archived emails have been archived first.

If you do not run the ND Archive Now option first, you will also need to check for emails filed in the ND - Send to NetDocuments folders.

If this archive or "copy" feature is configured for your cabinet, when archiving is run manually or automatically, emails which have been filed into the ND - Send to NetDocuments folders are moved out of those folders into NetDocuments and are also copied to the ND-Archived (View Only) folders at the same time.

Folders under the ND-Archived (View Only) folder are automatically created when an email is moved to these archive folders.

If you are using Workspaces, notice that in this Archived tree, there is just one folder for all Workspaces where you have filed an email. Workspaces are not separated into My Workspaces and Recent Workspaces under this folder tree.

You should never drag anything to the ND -Archived (View Only) folder tree. YOU WILL NOT BE PROMPTED WITH AN ERROR IF YOU FILE AN EMAIL BY MISTAKE TO THIS FOLDER TREE.

ND Search button

Use the ND Search button in the Outlook menu at anytime to search emails which have been moved to NetDocuments. The Email Search page will appear as shown below.

This Email Search page has two options in the top blue ribbon menu to select Emails from you and Emails to you (to: & cc:). You can quickly view archived emails you have sent or that have been sent to you by clicking those options.

To locate an archived email, you should first click the ND Archive Now button and then select the ND Search option to find your archived emails in NetDocuments.

Using this method, your emails can always be located either in NetDocuments or in your Outlook Inbox if you have not yet archived them.

Note that if you have highlighted a Workspace folder before clicking the ND Search button, the related client and matter values will be defaulted into the search form.

Also, if you click either "me" link shown by the green arrow on the bottom right, it will automatically enter your email information into the field, so you don't have to type it in manually.

ND View button - Only active if you have highlighted a Workspace folder first.

The ND View button on the Outlook menu allows a Workspace to be selected under either the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder or the ND-Archived (View Only) folder and viewed in its entirety.

To use the ND View button, go to either folder tree and highlight the Workspace you want to view and then click the ND View button. You will be taken to the complete workspace.

The ND View button will be grayed out if you are not using workspaces or do not have a workspace highlighted.

Deleting from the ND -Archived (View Only) Folders

You determine when and how the ND-Archived (View Only) email copies are removed from your email system.

If you choose to periodically delete the ND-Archived (View Only) folder, all the folders and emails underneath will also be deleted. The ND-Archived (View Only) folder will be regenerated the next time your Archive process is run. Of course your archived emails are still located in NetDocuments after they are deleted in Outlook.

Defining Rules to Delete Archived Emails
You can also define various Outlook rules to perform the deletion process based on oldest dates, etc. if you choose.

For example, Outlook allows users to specify Auto Archive for individual folders. By right-clicking on a folder, you can go to Properties and choose the options under the Auto Archive tab. One of the options is to delete items in the folder after a specified number of days. You can specify by days, weeks or months.

Whether and when Auto Archive runs is set under Tools, Options, Other. If you do not want Auto Archive to touch any other folder, it's possible to set it to do nothing except to folders where you have specifically changed the properties to archive and/or delete.

Using EMS Folders Add-in with Outlook Web Access

NOTE: EMS Profiler is not available when using Outlook Web access.

If you also use the Outlook Web Access (OWA) to access emails, you will only see those folders/workspaces that you have "expanded" using the standard Windows Outlook client. If you frequently use the OWA, we recommend that while using the Windows Outlook client you expand any folders or workspaces that you may want to access later with the OWA.

Once the folders have been expanded, when you use the OWA, all your folders will be available to you. You can then drag emails to those folders or workspaces using the OWA. If you have not expanded a folder with the Windows Outlook client, you will not be able to expand that folder using OWA.

If you have a tendency to forget to expand the folders prior to using OWA, you may want to create an Outlook folder called "To be Filed" or something similar.

After creating the "To be Filed" folder, you can then drag emails to that folder while using the OWA and later, when you again have access to the Windows Outlook client, you can drag the emails from your "To be Filed" folder to the appropriate folder under the ND - Send to NetDocuments folder.

NOTE:

We recommend that the Cabinet Administrator allow users to file directly to a Workspace in Outlook. To enable this feature, the Cabinet Administrator must set the flag to "allow users to file in Workspaces" as shown below. (You will not use the "Force Filing in a Folder" option if you select this option)

If this flag is not set and an email is filed directly to a workspace folder in Outlook, you will be prompted with an error message telling you it cannot be archived to NetDocuments. For more information, contact your Cabinet Administrator.

If an email is dragged directly to a workspace in Outlook, it will be profiled with the appropriate profile values of the workspace such as Client and Matter. It will also be profiled with other values as set by the Cabinet Administrator, such as Author and Document Type. Usually, the Cabinet Administrator will set both of these values to be "Email".

If you drag an email directly to a folder in a workspace, the profile values will be inherited from the folder itself. If a value is blank, it will be completed as described above from the default values set by the Cabinet Administrator. Generally, workspace folders are pre-profiled with Document Type values.

EMS allows a maximum of a 200MB email being imported. The same as a standard document.

Uninstalling the EMS Folders Add-in

If at anytime you need to un-install the EMS Folders Add-in, first use the Archive Now button to make sure everything is archived. Then go to Start, Control panel, and select the Add/Remove programs option. Locate the NetDocuments EMS Folders Add-in, and select the remove option. You will then need to dispose of the folders and archived emails in Outlook as you choose.

3rd Party Add-on Software to assist in filing emails

Some customers have purchased add-on filing software to assist users in the EMS Folders Add-in filing process. Below is a link to one that has integrated with NetDocuments EMS Folders.

Quickfile 4 Outlook http://community.netdocuments.com/app.php?a=15

Installing and Using the EMS Profiler Add-in

Step 1 - Install the EMS Profiler Add-in

- Close Outlook and go to My Account in NetDocuments.
- Select the Application Settings menu.
- Click Download and Install under the EMS Profiler Section at the bottom.
- Select "Run" and "Next" when prompted, then Close. The install takes about 30 seconds.
(.NET Framework 2.0 is required. It will prompt you to install it, if you need to).

Step 2 - Open Outlook

- Open Outlook and it will prompt you to login. Use your standard NetDocuments login.
- You will be prompted to go to Tools, Options, EMS Profiler tab.
- Select the cabinet you will use. (Only one cabinet can be defined).
- Select if you want to retain an email copy in Outlook.
- Select if you want to be prompted when Sending messages.

Step 3 - Archive Emails

- Select one or more messages and enter the key value(s) in the new toolbar and click NDFile.
- If you selected to retain a copy of the mesasge in Outlook, you will see a Yes next to the message.
- Retained messages can be manually deleted at any time without affecting the archived copy in NetDocuments.
- If you did not select to prompt for Sent message, you can use the new Send and File button.
- The EMS Profile toolbar is available on any Outlook folder or message.

NOTE: Usage of the EMS Profiler is only available when using the Outlook client. It cannot be used with Outlook OWA.
Also, when using the EMS Profiler, if you need to file to specific folders in NetDocuments, we suggest you use the NetDocs Save button.

Items to be aware of when using either EMS Folders or EMS Profiler

Links to Emails when Archiving and de-duplication

When two people archive the same email into NetDocuments, the email will be archived in the NetDocuments location where the first person archived. When the second person archives the email, a link to that email will be placed in the location where that person archived the email.

Emails archived to NetDocuments are automatically de-duplicated so that only one actual copy is stored in NetDocuments. That means that if Person A archived an email into Matter 1 and then Person B archived the same email into Matter 1, a second copy of the email will not be added to a link to the email will be placed in Matter 2.

The only exception to this is if Person B does not have rights to the location where Person A archived the email. In that case, an actual second copy of the email will be archived to NetDocuments where Person B archives it.

EMS Does not work after installing it on My PC

We have found some instances where the EMS Add-in would not work after installing it. The general solution is to lower the Macro Security setting in Outlook and then go to Tools, Trust Center, Add-ins and remove the EMS and then add it back. You should now be able to check the box next to the EMS under the COM Add-in for EMS.

McAfee VirusScan v 8.0.0.

We are aware of an issue when running an older version of McAfee VirusScan software, version 8.0.0 where you may experience a buffer overflow message as shown below.

The newer version of McAfee, version 8.5 resolves the issue. You can get more information about it from the following thread, http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1424339&SiteID=1.

Summary of the EMS Administrator Setup

In a nutshell, the following summarizes what needs to be done to run the EMS service.

To setup the Cabinet Administration EMS configuration:
Go to the NetDocuments Cabinet Administration page
Go down about 2/3 of the way down the page to the EMS Add-in section.
Make sure the radio button to allow EMS on all workstations is checked.

1. Determine Archiving Method (used for EMS Folders only) - check one of the following 3 options

1) Remove the item from Outlook
After a person drags an email to a NetDocuments-generated folder in Outlook and it is archived, it will no longer be available in Outlook – only in NetDocuments. If users want to look at old emails from Outlook, or see emails remotely using Outlook Web Access, you do not want this option. If it is sufficient for them to see the emails in NetDocuments after they file them in Outlook, this option would be fine.

2) Move the item to the ND –Archived folder tree
This option will do the same as the first PLUS it will automatically create a second folder tree in Outlook called ND –Archived (View Only) and when a message is filed into a folder as described in the option above and archived, a copy will also be placed under this Archived folder under the respective subfolder. If users have to still see emails in Outlook, this would be the best option.

3) Move the item to the ND –Archived folder tree and replace attachments with links
This option does the same thing as the option above, but for any email that has an attachment, for the copy that is left in Outlook, the attachment is removed and replaced with a link that takes the user to the complete stored email with its attachment in NetDocuments. This option would be used if people still want a copy of the email accessible in Outlook, but need to reduce the amount of storage the archived emails take on the Exchange Server.

If either Option 2 or 3 is chosen, users can still at anytime remove emails from their archived folder tree in Outlook either by deleting a folder (the folder is automatically recreated the next time an email is automatically filed to that folder) or selected emails in the folder. Outlook Rules can also be setup to automatically purge these emails.

2. Define default Custom Profiles for Emails (used for EMS Folders and EMS Profiler)

The definition of custom profile fields can be skipped if you are not using Custom Profile fields. If you are using Custom Profile fields, the purpose of this section is to provide automatic completion of required profile fields for emails archived to NetDocuments. We suggest that fields be entered as follows when using these custom fields:

For Author enter a value of Email
For Document Type enter a value of Email.

(These same values must be included in your lookup tables also).

We suggest these values, because in NetDocuments, there is no purpose in entering a specific Author or Document Type for emails. Emails can be located in NetDocuments by the From and To and the .msg extension.

The field values on which your workspaces are based, will automatically be completed when you profile or drag an email to the workspace.

3. Set the custom Profile attributes on which your workspaces are defined (used for EMS Profiler only)

These profile attributes will be the same as you defined when you setup your workspace template.

To finish, go to the bottom of the page and click the Submit button.

Now users can install the EMS Client software as described below.

To Install and Setup the EMS Client software

EMS Folders:
Close the Outlook application
Login to NetDocuments
Go to My Account
Select Application Settings
Go to the bottom and click the Install EMS Folders link.
Answer “Run” and “Next” when prompted.
Click “Close” when prompted.
DONE
When the user opens Outlook, they will see a new Outlook folder called ND – Send to NetDocuments (depending on the cabinet setting, an Archive folder will also be there). The user may also be prompted to login to the EMS Folder client with their Username and Password (using automated login will not require this after the first time).

EMS Profiler:
Close the Outlook application
Login to NetDocuments
Go to My Account
Select Application Settings
Go to the bottom and click the Install EMS Profiler link.
Answer “Run” and “Next” when prompted.
Click “Close” when prompted.
DONE
When the user opens Outlook, they will see a prompt to go to Tools, Options, EMS Profler tab. Set the defaults you want and exit. Now you will see a new Outlook Toolbar. The user may also be prompted to login to the EMS Profiler client with their Username and Password (using automated login will not require this after the first time).