aug_epic story_6: CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Implementation

[anazariz]

Requirement Helper

1. Requirement Definition (What & Why)
- [ ] -Insert Requirement-
2. Verification Method (How) - [ ] Documentation of requirements - Review of definition of the requirements. - [ ] Analysis - Code, data, model reviewed. - [ ] Test - Procedures must be well documented. - [ ] Inspect - Purpose, methods and procedures must be well documented so result can be duplicated using the same inspection procedures. May include inspection of design or an algorithm (aka process map of process). - [ ] Demonstrate - A comprehensive demonstration and/or application of the functions and features of the system or its components. - [ ] Infer - from “Why”/purpose of requirement definition.

3. Reviewer (Who) Within Workgroup Member Verify across workgroups Required or Optional?

Feature Description: What is the goal of this feature and why are we working on it?

The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) folder in TeamPSD documents how the MTL team conducted a series of market research activities in 2018 and 2019 in search of a suitable platform for handling the support and informational needs of the MTL learners. Microsoft Dynamics was selected because of its native integration with the Microsoft Outlook platform.

Microsoft Dynamics comprises the following modules:

1. Finance and Operations
2. Retail
3. Talent
4. Sales
5. Customer Service (provides ServiceDesk functionality)
6. Project Service Automation
7. Field Service
8. Marketing

Microsoft Dynamics includes components that cover all aspects of Customer Relationship Management. Upon selection of the Dynamics Platform, two Microsoft Exchange Shared Accounts (HELP and INFO) were created to perform a Proof of Concept (PoC). However, as the full implementation of the Dynamics platform was not aligned with the MTL project’s go-live timeline, decision was made to implement an interim request management system using the existing shared accounts. The strategy would fulfill the project's critical need of managing Learner’s requests and it would also ensure ease of transition to the MS Dynamic platform. Based on that decision, the project was divided into two phases:

• Phase I - Capability to effectively manage inbound emails for Help and Information as well as the responses to those requests by the Facilitators and the Support staff
• Phase II - Implementation of additional CRM capabilities as needed

This card addresses the Phase I of the feature.

1 - Design shall differentiate between inbound help and information requests (What)

- [x] Met **Step 1 - Requirements Definition (Why)** - [x] Met Responses to help and information requests will be different. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met See history TeamPSD CRM documents **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met See history TeamPSD CRM documents --- **Step 2 - Design Definition (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Create two Exchange Shared VA email accounts for HELP and INFO **Why** - [x] Met Both email accounts can be accessed (are co-owned) by the Co-Facilitators and the HQ Team Support Staff. For inbound Help requests, Co-Facilitators will be the responders and HQ Team Support Staff will provide support to the Co-Facilitators when requested. For Information requests, HQ Team Support Staff will be the responders. When Co-Facilitators or HQ Team Support Staff respond to a request, the other support partners can see the response in ""Sent Items"" of the shared account. This reduces the possibility of unintended multiple (potentially inconsistent) responses to the same incoming request. Following figure depicts the flow of email traffic.  **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Request for access was created for TeamPDS members. See issue #1201 . Once access is granted, the grantee should see two new mailboxes when they start a new VA-based outlook session. **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met See issue #1201 --- **Step 3 - Build & Test (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Two Exchange Shared VA email accounts were created, one for HELP and another for INFO **Why** - [x] Met To keep the inbound Co-Facilitator requests for Help and Info in separate but share email accounts. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met 1 - When Co-Facilitators or a HQ Team Support Staff with approved access to the Help and Info share accounts log into their Outlook client, they should see the respective accounts. 2 - Co-Facilitators and HQ Team Support Staff should be able to see the inbound test Help and Info emails. They should also see the outbound responses in the respective Sent Mail. **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met See issue #1201

2 - Design shall provide the means for routing inbound requests to designated recipients (What)

- [x] Met **Step 1 - Requirements Definition (Why)** - [x] Met Rules (who is should receive the email) determine the routing of inbound help and information email requests from Learners to their Facilitators and Support staff. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met See history TeamPSD CRM documents **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met See history TeamPSD CRM documents --- **Step 2 - Design Definition (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Design a configurable email routing system accessible by all support partners. The design consists of two components 1) An automation Engine and 2) A Data Store.  The Automation Engine routes emails based on the entries in the Data Store. The Automation Engine and the data store are independant of each other. Following shows various options.  The initial design under Automation Engine 4 may no longer be efficient for an all-remote team. Hence, the design Automation Engine 0 (PoC) was added for consideration. **Why** - [x] Met Facilitators and their Support staff should be able to maintain a shared routing system.. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Test cases of inbound emails and routing table entities were created prior to each PoC Walk-through to demonstrate design capability and viability. Test Cases will be used to test each design. 1 - PoC Demo - See Engine 4 in the attached PowerPoint 2 - PoC Demo - See Engine 0 in the attached PowerPoint **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo 1 - Automation Engine 4 - PoC walk-through Meeting: #mm, coplan, CRM Actions Monday, March 23, 9 AM - 12 PM Los Angeles 2 - Automation Engine 0 PoC walk-through Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Actions Monday, April 13, 9 AM - 11 AM Los Angeles --- **Step 3 - Build & Test (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Two PoC's were created. **Why** - [x] Met To demonstrate the viability of solution. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Upon approval of the PoC ""Automation Engine 0"", Pilot testing will commence. **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020

3 - Design shall be configurable by the support staff (What)

- [x] Met **Step 1 - Requirements Definition (Why)** - [x] Met Because the list of Learners can change. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Check accuracy of this requirement **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo Suppoer staff --- **Step 2 - Design Definition (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met The two PoC designs both address the Data Store as well as the Automation needs of this requirement. Design ""Automation Engin 0"" can be performed manually or it can be automated via the Ruels Engine of Excahnge (Outlook).      **Why** - [x] Met Less time spent on an interim solution will leave more time for CRM implementation. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met via PoC **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo Suppoer staff --- **Step 3 - Build & Test (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Build PoC for ""Automation Engine 0"" **Why** - [x] Met ""Automation Engine 4"", built eariler, may no longer be a viable option with a full-remote team. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met PoC walkthrough **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020

4 - Design shall allow for the viewing of a response by all designated recipients (What)

- [x] Met **Step 1 - Requirements Definition (Why)** - [x] Met To prevent multiple (potentially inconsistent) responses to the same request. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Check accuracy of this requirement **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo Supprot staff during the 9 AM Monday Meetings. --- **Step 2 - Design Definition (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Facilitators and Support staff should be able to see the Inbox and Sent Items of both Help and Info accounts. They shoulld also see the inboud and outbound test emails. **Why** - [x] Met To validate the accuracy of this step of the design **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Visual **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo Supprot staff during the 9 AM Monday Meetings. --- **Step 3 - Build & Test (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met 1-Test the viewability of both accounts 2-Test viability of inbound and outbound emails by other co-account owners. **Why** - [x] Met To validate design **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met 1-Visual 2-Send test emails to see if support partner can view **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020

5 - Design shall not remove the original request after rerouting (What)

- [x] Met **Step 1 - Requirements Definition (Why)** - [x] Met The original record of the inbound request will be needed for various reporting including measurement of average response time. Records can be archived for historical purposes upon completion of the downstream processes. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Check accuracy of this requirement **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo Supprot staff during the 9 AM Monday Meetings. --- **Step 2 - Design Definition (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Regardless of the opted design, records of the emails should stay within the account or its sub-folders. **Why** - [x] Met For additional processing such as analysis and improvement of response times. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Post processing (regardless of the method utilized) in/outbound emails should remain in their accounts or their sub-folders. **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo Supprot staff post test runs. --- **Step 3 - Build & Test (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Make sure that email records do not get deleted post processing **Why** - [x] Met To validate design **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Records are not deleted **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020

6 - Design shall provide a path for transition to the Microsoft Dynamics platforms (What)

- [x] Met **Step 1 - Requirements Definition (Why)** - [x] Met This is an interim solution **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Check accuracy of this requirement **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @staceypark QIIC team @anthonycpichardo Supprot staff during the 9 AM Monday Meetings. --- **Step 2 - Design Definition (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met TBD **Why** - [x] Met TBD **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met TBD **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met TBD --- **Step 3 - Build & Test (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met TBD **Why** - [x] Met TBD **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met TBD **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020

7 - Design shall provide minimal reporting capability for tracking responses (What)

- [x] Met **Step 1 - Requirements Definition (Why)** - [x] Met See ""Questions related requirement 3:"" in the Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020 "" - Is it possible for people to mark that they will respond to a message and have a notification to check if something hasnt been responded to?"" Why: to analyze and improve response cadence. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Ask was appeded as Requirements #7 at the meeting. **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020 --- **Step 2 - Design Definition (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met Bring in data from the two accounts into an Excel workbook for simple reporting **Why** - [x] Met a viable available option that is relatively (5 points) low in level of effort. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020 A PoC will be scheduled for a walkthrough **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met TBD --- **Step 3 - Build & Test (What & Why)** - [x] Met **What** - [x] Met First PoC work (""Automation Engin 4"") will be leveraged. **Why** - [x] Met To reduce the level of effort required. **Verification Method (How)** - [x] Met PoC - Date TBD **Reviewer (Who & When)** - [x] Met @lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark Lucid Meeting: crm, fac cybersem Monday, April 13, 2020

3. Review:

Verify that all of the above requirements have been met and signed off on.

Once all checkboxes are marked this feature should be moved to the done column.

[lzim]

Decided at #manuscriptmonday that @anazariz will create this new split off Issue from Issue #1299

• Create a new issue card in May Priority Epic and walkthrough the rules creation process with
• @staceypark will be lead  provide feedback and Define SOP for how we define the following Outlook Wizard Rules with @dlkibbe

a) inbound rules b) outbound rules c) We will ALL have full team visibility on email inbox/outbox team sub-folders, but use of Outlook Rules Wizard provides no additional reporting functions as a back-stop against slow responses, missed responses, teams that are particularly active etc. (cross-ref #1023).

[lzim]

Questions from the #manuscriptmonday meeting 4/13/2020

@branscombj questions 

1. Is it possible to set up a rule in outlook that makes sure the FROM address is by default help@mtl.how  when it's to an email in that account? If not, what are the ramifications if I forget to change the response email address?

2. The flip of that is the risk of my sending emails that should be from my VA address that look like they're from help@mtl.

3. Can we think of a way to "call" or "assign" who will respond to a given question? May just be a workflow understanding, e.g. I will forward an email to Gayle, my co-fac, if I see it first and think she'd be the better one to respond; or to Jen if I'd like to ask her to respond. "Calling it" would be to avoid two people simultaneously working on responses and the learner getting 2 responses.

4. Is it possible for people to mark that they will respond to a message and have a notification to check if something hasnt been responded to?

5. Can these rules be integrated with any type of dashboarding that would let us catch missed emails?  Answer: Yes we can do reporting through Excel

6. If we forward an email does it show up as though it's been responded to? Answer: We can send a copy of the email to responders email address or potentially send a notification

• We should document the questions asked so we can create standard responses over time

- Other next steps for @anazariz

1. Flesh out requirement 6 for transition to full CRM.
2. Bring in the reporting requirements

[branscombj]

• We should document the questions asked so we can create standard responses over time

Not sure how heavy the flow of questions will be, but this could be a ton of work. If it's a manageable amount, seems like a task for HQ Team Supports to code incomings and compile the responses that have been sent on similar questions; then the full Co-Facs team can decide if we want to standardize a response.

We may also want to have a practice of checking the COP before tailoring a response if the question is already answered. A personal reply would still be good, but it could just link the learner to the answer in mtl.how issues (meanwhile elevating the visibility of that resource).

[dlkibbe]

@branscombj I actually deleted the question because I recall @anazariz saying on our "orientation" call that there would be something in the spreadsheet or rules that would look for key words. @anazariz - Ash, is that the case?

[branscombj]

3. Can we think of a way to "call" or "assign" who will respond to a given question?

One way to "call" it would be to use the Flag option in Outlook. When I see it flagged, I'll know someone is on it. If I don't see it unflagged within __, I can check in with my co-fac/hqts.

-> Question: When we're sharing an email account, will it be apparent which one of us created the flag?

I didn't know this until now, but if you right-click the flag, you can specify when you're going to respond by and generate a reminder for yourself.

-> Question: Will that reminder go to everyone who shares the account in Outlook, or only to the person who flagged it? If the former, ditch that idea!

Another way - probably better - would be to use the Categorize option. This puts a color-coded box on the email and we can assign names to the categories. This would stay with the email forever once it's handled, so we'll know who responded to what. Here, I've put some category markers on my VA emails as an example. The pink one is one I had named Admin, so you see the big pink bar labeled Admin above the email preview as well. This would say Lindsey, David, Rita, etc.

[branscombj]

@branscombj I actually deleted the question because I recall @anazariz saying on our "orientation" call that there would be something in the spreadsheet or rules that would look for key words. @anazariz - Ash, is that the case?

Ahh - good question, @dlkibbe - Since Ash has moved to using built-in Outlook functionality to do the sorting and tracking rather than the spreadsheet, I'm not sure. It's definitely possible to search through a specific (or set of) email folders for keywords as one way to more quickly do the hand-sorting.

[anazariz]

Sorry I was working on a different item. Please let me absorb the feedback and respond to the questions shortly. Thanks.

[anazariz]

@lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark
Is it possible to set up a rule in outlook that makes sure the FROM address is by default help@mtl.how when it's to an email in that account? If not, what are the ramifications if I forget to change the response email address?

Ash: When you start from a mailbox by default it becomes the "From". Please make sure that you have the From field turned on just to be sure. In this example I started from a personal mailbox, which is only partially shown here.

The flip of that is the risk of my sending emails that should be from my VA address that look like they're from help@---.

ASH: I think if you remember to start from the help Account, you should be fine. All you have to do is click that account (which effectively switches you to it).

Can we think of a way to "call" or "assign" who will respond to a given question? May just be a workflow understanding, e.g. I will forward an email to Gayle, my co-fac, if I see it first and think she'd be the better one to respond; or to Jen if I'd like to ask her to respond. "Calling it" would be to avoid two people simultaneously working on responses and the learner getting 2 responses.

ASH: This in fact is a workflow item. As I mentioned during my last walk-through of "Automation Engine 4" (a few weeks ago) there are extra user-define fields (e.g. Category), which can be used for these kinds of assignments.

Is it possible for people to mark that they will respond to a message and have a notification to check if something hasnt been responded to?

ASH: Use a user defined field (see above). There are views in outlook that will allow you to customize the fields you see. What you see on the screen is what Microsoft starts with initially. Not sure how many user-defined field are in there. But I'll check.

Can these rules be integrated with any type of dashboarding that would let us catch missed emails? Answer: Yes we can do reporting through Excel

ASH: Yes as I mentioned during our walk-through, I will change the "Automation Engine 4", which we walked through last time around to get this done. Excel is not the most efficient but it should give us the minimal amount of reporting we need.

If we forward an email does it show up as though it's been responded to? Answer: We can send a copy of the email to responders email address or potentially send a notification

[anazariz]

@branscombj I actually deleted the question because I recall @anazariz saying on our "orientation" call that there would be something in the spreadsheet or rules that would look for key words. @anazariz - Ash, is that the case?

ASH: Yes we should be able to bring emails into Excel for analysis. I would not recommend Excel for real-time work (intercepting inbound/outbound emails). Because Exchange rules, which we walked through today would do a much better job there. But for reporting and analysis Excel may do OK.

[anazariz]

One way to "call" it would be to use the Flag option in Outlook. When I see it flagged, I'll know someone is on it. If I don't see it unflagged within __, I can check in with my co-fac/hqts.

ASH-Marking inbound emails with Flags can also be automated with the rules engine. Also, as mentioned above, we can use the user-define fields (they're not in the default views that Outlook comes with).

Question: When we're sharing an email account, will it be apparent which one of us created the flag?

ASH: Not sure. But I would think so because these are shared accounts (created for that purpose). Would be easy to check.

I didn't know this until now, but if you right-click the flag, you can specify when you're going to respond by and generate a reminder for yourself.

Question: Will that reminder go to everyone who shares the account in Outlook, or only to the person who flagged it? If the former, ditch that idea!

ASH-sorry not sure. But we should be able to test these out.

[anazariz]

Ahh - good question, @dlkibbe - Since Ash has moved to using built-in Outlook functionality to do the sorting and tracking rather than the spreadsheet, I'm not sure. It's definitely possible to search through a specific (or set of) email folders for keywords as one way to more quickly do the hand-sorting.

ASH: The rules can be complex. You could force an email to be routed based on it's TO: field as well as keywords. You can also route it to a Sub-Folder within Sub-Folder......e.g. Group1/Technical Group1/Other ...etc. However, if we want to do that, I'd have to know so that I can put recursive logic in the reporting code to go thru all the folders and their sub-folders.

[anazariz]

@lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @anthonycpichardo @staceypark

This tutorial shows how to create user defined fields in Outlook. In fact, the example talks about how a new field could be used to keep track of emails that have not received a response. Second example talks about a notes field, which may also be useful. Please ignore the part that talks about automation via VBA coding. My experience has been that VBA code place in Outlook is deleted by the nightly cleanup process.

[anazariz]

Thanks @anthonycpichardo.

@lzim @dlkibbe @branscombj @staceypark

I added/updated the items we covered in the following Lucid meeting: crm, fac cybersem Actions Monday, April 13, 9 AM - 11 AM Los Angeles

[lzim]

Cross-ref #1023 - Bridging to CRM

• Call scheduled for Friday 4/16 at 11AM w/Enterprise Cloud Computing

[staceypark]

Summary from Friday 4/16 at 11AM w/Enterprise Program Management Office

• CRM is consistent w/VHA Modernization

We decided not to retire the current instances, but instead Reyes will try to pursue continued funding for the instances (support for current license instances cost $15000). With Ash on board, we think it will be useful to delegate Ash to explore/develop in the environment and take this further. In another year, at the next renewal of licenses, we will have a better idea of whether we want to continue pushing forward.

We will be working with Reyes and his team, where Mimi will be our main POC.

Next Steps:

1. Reyes requested OIT funds.
2. Once we have funding, Reyes will reach out to Enterprise License Agreement Contract Representative to modify contract
3. Give Ash developer access to create an environment at the application level
4. Follow VA compliance and mandate requirements once we go to PROD with live VA data:
   • Register system publicly on VA Systems Inventory (VASI).
   • Authority to Operate (ATO).

Ownership Role defined:

1. Lindsey - elevated privileges in the environment
2. Ash - Developer
3. Anthony - Compliance
4. Stacey - User case

Contacts: Reyes will connect us with Mimi via email. Attendees: @anazariz @anthonycpichardo @lzim @staceypark

[lijenn]

8AM WG Leads 8/10:

• Review @anazariz's prototype and #841 team_tracker due to dependencies at Support WG meeting.
• Record the meeting as a MVP prototype for people missing at the Support WG and to orient those that will need to use it and can identify pain points and feedback for it.

[anazariz]

CRM Phase I Refresher

Note: This is not the final design nor a tutorial as MS Dynamics has similar features, but may be executed differently.

The What (Requirements):

Recap:

1. Design shall differentiate between inbound help and information requests from Learners
2. Design shall provide the means for routing inbound requests to designated recipients (Co-Facilitators & HQ Support Staff)
3. Design shall be configurable by the (Co-Facilitators & HQ Support Staff)
4. Design shall allow for the viewing of a response by all designated recipients (Co-Facilitators & HQ Support Staff)
5. Design shall not remove the original request from Learner after rerouting
6. Design shall provide a path for transition to the Microsoft Dynamics platform (Phase 2)
7. Design shall provide minimal reporting capability for tracking responses to Learners

The How (Implementation Method):

Phase 1 (interim solution choices - discussed here) -

1. Method 1-Using Microsoft Outlook only
2. Method 2-Using Microsoft Excel

Phase 2 -

1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM (future phase not discussed here) Note - in phase 2 the "How" will be replaced but the "What" (Requirements) will be preserved.

Below, the two Phase 1 methods for handling incoming emails into the MTL Help and MTL Info Shared Exchange Mailboxes are discussed.

Method 1 - Using Microsoft Outlook only

Both the Co-Facilitators and the HQ Support staff must have access to both Shared Exchange mailboxes. This can be verified by logging into your personal VA email.

As the shared folders are two large buckets that will hold all incoming emails to all co-facilitators and HQ Support staff, use the following method to group them as needed.

Right Click on the MTL Help or MTL Info inbox to create a new sub-folder. Name the sub-folder as you wish for your team.

Name the sub-folder as you wish for your team. Do this for the inbox and outbox, as seen below.

Incoming emails (to MTL Help and MTL Info) will be routed to these folders via Outlook Rules.

If you do not see the Rules button just go to the File menu and there you'll see the "Manage Rules and Alerts" button.

The objective of creating incoming and outgoing rules is to direct the respective emails to the folder(s) you just created.

Outlook Rules are powerful. You should create separate rules for inbound and outbound mails.

• For inbound (Inbox) “From” is the list of LEARNERS – multiple LEARNERS can be selected from VA GAL (Global Address List) – this is where maintenance is required. Emails that are not moved to the folder you have created, have not been included in the “From” (inbound) rule and should be added there. The items that were not processed by the rule can either be manually moved to the right folder or they can be picked up by running the rule once they’re added.

• For outbound (Sent Mail) “From” is the Help or Info account. CO-FACILITATORS & HQ SUPPORT STAFF can send emails from Help and Info account by choosing them in the right From account before sending emails. To display the From field click on the Options tab and select From in the Show Fields section. Now the From field will be displayed when composing a message in the future. 2) When composing a message click on the From in the drop-down box and select Other E-Mail Address.

There are numerous internet resources for creating and managing Outlook Rules such as this one by Microsoft.

🔶 Please note that all the above (moving emails to the correct folder) can be done manually as well.

How to organize emails once they are in your correct Inbox/Outbox Folders.

Outlook emails have user define fields that can be used as flags or other purposes such as "Have I responded to this email or not?"

This tutorial shows how to create user defined fields in Outlook. In fact, the example talks about how a new field could be used to keep track of emails that have not received a response. Second example talks about a notes field, which may also be useful. Please ignore the part that talks about automation via VBA coding. My experience has been that VBA code place in Outlook is deleted by the nightly cleanup process.

Method 2 - Using Microsoft Excel

In this method an Excel workbook is used to fetch the Help and Info emails. The person running the Excel workbook must have a VA email account and must also have access to the shared accounts. The work contains a mini program that grabs the emails using the person's account (as thought the person was logged into his/her account). A spreadsheet inside this workbook contains the links between email sender ("Inbound Email" column - see below) and his/her assigned recipients ("Support" column). Each inbound email can be assigned to many support emails. The Excel program then forwards the incoming emails to their support emails.

The “Process Emails” button starts the email rerouting program.

All emails with Categories of blank and “MISSING” are targeted for reprocessing. “MISSING” emails are rechecked for a “Support” email and if a match is found, they are rerouted and marked as “PROCESSED”. This process does not touch the Sent emails.

The program uses the "Categories" field, which is a user-defined field to mark the records that have been processed.

If an incoming email is missing a support handler in the spreadsheet, it is so marked in Outlook.

Windows security will repeatedly pop up with a warning. Picking 10 minutes (max value) will reduce the pop ups.

Please note that with this method the program must be manually run and no action takes place until then.

Q&A:

Q-1 Is it possible to set up a rule in outlook that makes sure the FROM address is by default help@mtl.how when it's to an email in that account? If not, what are the ramifications if I forget to change the response email address?

A-1 If the responder (Co-Facilitator or HQ Support Staff) starts the response email from the Help or Info accounts (not from a personal VA account), the "From" field is automatically filled.

If a new email is started (by the Co-Facilitator or the HQ Support Staff), then the field must be filled using the "From" dropdown method. Please see below for how.

Q-2 The flip of that is the risk of my sending emails that should be from my VA address that look like they're from help@mtl.

A-2 If you start composing your personal VA email while in one of these accounts, your personal email will be automatically fill the From field (because you are not responding to an incoming email).

Q-3 Can we think of a way to "call" or "assign" who will respond to a given question? May just be a workflow understanding, e.g. I will forward an email to Gayle, my co-fac, if I see it first and think she'd be the better one to respond; or to Jen if I'd like to ask her to respond. "Calling it" would be to avoid two people simultaneously working on responses and the learner getting 2 responses.

A-3 As discussed below, you could use the user-define fields for any purpose you wish including assigning a responder to an incoming email.

Q-4 Is it possible for people to mark that they will respond to a message and have a notification to check if something hasn't been responded to?

A-4 Yes, all send email (using the rules discussed below) will be in the send sub-folder you've created.

Q-5 Can these rules be integrated with any type of dashboarding that would let us catch missed emails?

A-5
Yes we can do reporting through Excel (please see method 2 below), but since we are moving to MS Dynamics with the VA CRM team, we can bring up this need to them and see if it's possible.

Q-6 If we forward an email does it show up as though it's been responded to?

A-6 Answer: We can send a copy of the email to responders email address or potentially send a notification

Q-7 We should document the questions asked so we can create standard responses over time

A-7 Creating a Knowledge Based may fall outside of the scope of this interim solution and can be explored when Phase 2 is implemented.

Q-8 Can we think of a way to "call" or "assign" who will respond to a given question?

A-8 One way to "call" it would be to use the Flag option in Outlook. When I see it flagged, I'll know someone is on it. If I don't see it unflagged within __, I can check in with my co-fac/hqts

Q-9 When we're sharing an email account, will it be apparent which one of us created the flag?

A-9 I didn't know this until now, but if you right-click the flag, you can specify when you're going to respond by and generate a reminder for yourself.

Q-10 Will that reminder go to everyone who shares the account in Outlook, or only to the person who flagged it? If the former, ditch that idea! Another way - probably better - would be to use the Categorize option. This puts a color-coded box on the email and we can assign names to the categories. This would stay with the email forever once it's handled, so we'll know who responded to what. Here, I've put some category markers on my VA emails as an example. The pink one is one I had named Admin, so you see the big pink bar labeled Admin above the email preview as well. This would say Lindsey, David, Rita, etc.

A-10 Requires research - may be able to create a rule for this

Q-11 Since Ash has moved to using built-in Outlook functionality to do the sorting and tracking rather than the spreadsheet, I'm not sure. It's definitely possible to search through a specific (or set of) email folders for keywords as one way to more quickly do the hand-sorting.

A-11 Since you're working within the Outlook Application, all sorting and filtering that you can do with your own email in Outlook are also possible with the Help and Info emails (in and out bound). Also, variety of actions are possible using Outlook rules. Outlook rules can be complex. You could force an email to be routed based on it's TO: field as well as keywords. For example, you can route it to a Sub-Folder within Sub-Folder......e.g. Team1/Technical. This should cut down on the amount of search you need to do.

[lijenn]

Question/feature to bring up to Special Forces: Could we automate pre/post emails to go out using Dynamics? The 'Delayed Delivery' send function in Outlook itself is not really reliable/unresponsive based on how we used it with the tt-reports. If we could set up the pre/post emails to actually go out on time by themselves, that'd take the cognitive load off of having to remember to do it.

[lzim]

Do we have a GH issue task for @staceypark and @lzim (or possibly @lijenn) to review the user stories we hoped that Scott would re-send?

[lijenn]

Yes, I believe its #1497

[lzim]

Let's move this to nov_epic along with #1497. We have to prioritize R21, R01, IIR.

Thanks! @lijenn

@staceypark @anthonycpichardo I think this is likely really helpful information for the user stories workflow for Scott.

[lijenn]

We are now being supported by Liberty IT, configurations that need to be set up: Story 6 roadmap: https://lucid.app/lucidchart/4fb06b59-38f5-4d61-86f0-4620ceb93196/edit?page=0_0#

Configurations below in both lists need to be completed before may_epic:

• [ ] #1728 - Data Dictionary (All)
• [ ] #1885 - Exchange and Outlook (Ash)

• [ ] #1729 Campaigns against 3 MTL Phases (James and Matt)
• [ ] #1727 CRM Templates for pre/post email (Jane)
• [ ] 


#1726 Import Mapping of Teams Facilitator Asignment (Jenn)




Needs assignment:

• [ ] 



#1898 File Storage/Access facilitate
• [ ] #1897 Documentation/Notes facilitate
• [ ] #1896 10 Standard CRM & co-plan Dashboards
• [ ] #1895 Facilitator Assignment facilitate
• [ ] #1894 Outlook Integrations of Invitations facilitate
• [ ] #1893 Create and Send co-planning email templates facilitate
• [ ] #1892 Email Alerts facilitate


[staceypark]

@lijenn @hsnyder2 @apisano0920

Sharepoint Set-up in the context of Dynamics 365 - to have live caching.

Link to a location that can be live edited. Version control...transparency for the team. Sharepoint is the "catch all" on the backend for 365 apps, including Dynamics. The team starts being set up at the co-planning phase in D365, right now, we also create a Teams group, so they have a channel for:

• All their team meetings are scheduled from this channel.
• All their do cuments are here.

So, is Dynamics how we will set up Team channels for their team meetings and files, including co-planning documents. IDEALLY, YES.

Following the O.H.I.O. method, when set up a group in Dynamics, it would create a Teams group.

Has there been any progress on Teams integration with Dynamics? Are there any ways that creating groups in Dynamics would be more likely to translate to Teams groups, if/when integration between Dynamics and Teams becomes available?

@staceypark will show our current process by which a team's SharePoint is setup during next Wed 6/2's CRM meeting

[lijenn]

Thanks @staceypark!

@hsnyder2 @apisano0920 Some more context and the manual workflow on how we use the Microsoft Teams with the Learner teams before Wed. 6/2 meeting:

• Each MTL Team gets their own Microsoft Teams team with the meeting link generated in a channel:
  • Note: We do not add people into the auto-created Microsoft Teams meeting invite because we want the invite to come from MTL Help, see next bullet. We only take and copy the meeting link that is generated once setting up a meeting in the channel.
• Meeting link is copied and pasted to an Meeting Appointment from the MTL Help Outlook Calendar to send the meeting invites out

• We include the co-planning files/documents in the the Files tab in their Microsoft Teams for the Learners and Facilitators to refer to at any time

  Regarding the bulk upload/OHIO set up: Since Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and MS 365 Groups are all interconnected, this handles our Only Handle It Once set up and permissioning. This is the same idea we talked about on Wednesday regarding the idea of the excel file to set up Learners in the Sim: (FYI @jamesmrollins We may have an updated version of the excel file to test for the bulk load of setting up teams in the Sim UI that is exported from Dynamics)

  1. Microsoft Teams: We create a Microsoft Teams team and add the members in it. We use this platform for the team meetings, track the Chat and overall discussion, and refer back to co-planning files for the Learner and Facilitators.
  2. SharePoint: A SharePoint site is then auto-created and the files added to Microsoft Teams are automatically stored on the cloud --> live caching/can share and edit files with multiple people through a link.
• We have been modifying the SharePoint page to our style:
  3. MS 365 Group: A MS 365 group is auto created and generates a group email (acts like a distribution email) which we have been using in our pre/post emails and general emails to the MTL teams. We had also looked into this due to the possibility of bulk permissioning for Story 5.
• This is accessed via the Azure Portal in the Active Directory Admin Center, I believe there is a way to view these via Outlook, but I have not figured that out yet or do not have the right permissions.
• @staceypark @anazariz For Story 5, Anthony did a quick check to see if using the MS 365 Group emails could be used when trying to give folder permission on the new SharePoint site for mtl.how/data, at a glance it looked like the permission field accepted the group email. However, I recommend we still through a full QA test with it while testing the data files and folder permissions for Story 5.
  • Note: The email that is generated follows the name of the Microsoft Teams team, renaming the Microsoft Teams team does not change the email that is created. @staceypark That might be of concern if we're thinking about the most optimal state that we have discussed to have Microsoft Teams team for the Co-planning phase and then editing the title and transition it to be in the Team Meeting phase since the MS 365 email might not reflect the MTL team's name.
    5. Dynamics: See the 2 italicized questions from Stacey's post above.

[staceypark]

Update from 6/2 d365 meeting: @hsnyder2 @apisano0920 have not heard any updates regarding the Teams & Dynamics integration and feel that it is not possible to create a solution that is set up to integrate better if/when the integration happens as they are not able to predict what it will look like.

They are still working on the Outlook integration piece and we will be able to create calendar invitations from Dynamics through the MTL Help & Info emails. But we would not be able to create the Teams.

[anazariz]

@lijenn, do you still want to keep this card open for reference?

[mnallajerla]

Discussed @ Quant Operations 10/21/21

• Done with first iteration
• Backlog issues have all been tracked and have their own issue cards