Agent Outlook
INTRODUCTION This document outlines the use of the newest version of the web based email program provided to all agents of the William Raveis Real Estate company. This document assumes that the user is familiar with basic Windows functionality such as finding files through standard dialogs and the ability to follow on screen instructions and directions as provided by normal software programs. The web based email for Raveis can be accessed by logging into the Raveis Intranet site and clicking the link labeled as email on the left hand navigation bar. If you have any questions on how to use this product please contact Computer Support at 203.925.4537. Classes are held monthly in Shelton for this program. COMPUTER SUPPORT 2
AGENT OUTLOOK If you are already familiar with other online email programs such as Yahoo! Or AOL then you should have no difficulties using the web based email as provided by William Raveis Real Estate. AGENT MAILBOX The agent mailbox is, by default, divided into two panes. One pane contains shortcut icons, folders, etc. The other displays the information contained in whichever shortcut or icon the user selects (calendar info, inbox, etc.) Users can choose where they wish to go by clicking on the appropriate shortcut icon as displayed on the left. Clicking on the button labeled as Folders changes the view from shortcut to folders view (as displayed on the left). Note that a + (plus) sign in front of a folder indicates that there are additional folders within that folder. To get back to shortcuts, just click on the button labeled as Shortcuts. COMPUTER SUPPORT 3
INBOX When the user clicks on the Inbox choice from the shortcut bar, the following screen appears: Email messages that have not been read yet are bold faced. Previously read messages are not bolded (you can right click on a previously viewed email and choose Mark as Unread to rebold it, if needed). The toolbar that runs along the top of the window offers several choices for the user. Each shortcut, Inbox for example, has a new icon such as this: If you are in Inbox and click new, you can create a new message. If you are in Contacts, clicking new would create a new contact and so forth. There is a drop down arrow to the right of the word New, clicking on it reveals a menu: From here the user can create new mails, appointments, contacts, etc. Reply replies to the author of the email that is open or selected in the inbox Reply to All replies to everyone involved with the email. Those on the To:, CC:, and BCC: list. Be certain you want everyone to know what your thoughts are before clicking this. Forward forwards the note, as is, to a different user. You must supply the name of who it is to be delivered to. COMPUTER SUPPORT 4
Check for New Messages queries the email server to see if any new messages have arrived Search searches the Inbox, and any folders the user has created in the Inbox, for user specified criteria. The results are returned on the same page Move moves currently opened email, or mails selected in inbox, to a user specified folder Delete deletes currently opened email or emails that are selected in the inbox or user created folder Empty Deleted Items empties all deleted items. Use frequently. Show / Hide Preview Pane splits inbox portion of window horizontally allowing the user to read an email without having to double-click to open it in another window Address Book opens William Raveis global address book with access to users Contact list in this email program View choose how your inbox displays your emails. If it is set to anything other than Messages you will probably not like the results. Leave at default setting of Messages for best results EMAIL This section covers creating email, replying to email, and adding attachments to email. Creating Email Click on the button labeled as New when in Inbox. A new window appears: COMPUTER SUPPORT 5
Entering in email addresses: The user can type the address directly into the desired line. For example: bob@msn.com or agent@raveisre.com Users can also click on the buttons labeled as To:, Cc:, or Bcc: to access the global address list seen below: Note on the top right of the window is states that the user is currently looking at the William Raveis Global Address List. Users now have access to all Raveis agent and employee email addresses. If the user has their own addresses in Contacts they can click the drop down menu and select it. Their contacts would then show in the window. To search for names, enter in the first name in the field labeled as Type Name or Select from List and a list of names should appear. Choose the correct one and click on the button labeled as To, CC, or BCC. When done, click on Close. Once the addressees have been entered, click down into the text area and type in your message. There is an icon for a spell checker (it looks like save anything back to the dictionary, should you try. ). You cannot When done, click on the button labeled as Send. Reply, Reply to All: When viewing an open email (or if the email message is highlighted in the inbox) click on the button labeled as Reply. A new window should appear; if it does not it means that there is pop-up blocking software on your system and you must allow pop-ups for web.raveismail.com see the documentation that came with your software for instructions on how to do this. COMPUTER SUPPORT 6
Once the new window appears the To: line already has the recipient(s) in it. If you had chosen the Reply to All button, there could be several recipients. Be mindful of the fact that when doing a Reply to All anyone who might have been included in the original BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) also receives your reply. Exercise caution in your replies. Enter in your message in the text area and click on Send. The only difference between Reply and Forward is that you must add in the persons email address when you Forward a note on. Tools available for Creating, Replying to Emails: To send your message to the intended recipients Add Attachment adding a document to be sent with your email (covered in next section) Check Names if you don t know a persons entire name, enter in what you do know and click this button. The system will try to find the correct name for you Spell Checker Checks spelling of your emails Thesaurus look up alternate words High Importance check this if you wish the email to be sent with high importance. It does not mean that the recipient will read it any faster though. Also beware that not all email programs support the Hi / Low importance flags from other programs Low Importance see above Click on this to open the Options window: Click on the drop down arrow for Importance to choose Hi / Low Importance. Click on the drop down arrow for Sensitivity to alert the recipient that it is a confidential or personal message. If the CC or BCC is not showing on an email you are wishing to send out, click on the check box you wish to enable. You may also click on the check box to request a receipt (Tell me when the message has been read check box). Theoretically, when this is checked, you should get a receipt back stating the recipient has read your note. Be mindful that not all email systems recognize this and that some of the email systems give the users the option of not sending you a receipt. These are not global changes intended to affect every email afterwards, it is for the current email you are creating only. COMPUTER SUPPORT 7
Font Dialog allows you to choose different fonts on your system to create your email in. Keep in mind that if you use a font that your recipients don t have installed on their systems they will still see your message, but in a font like Times New Roman or Arial Font Drop Down Menu this drop down allows for five system safe fonts. Meaning that virtually any system that has Windows 95 or later has these fonts installed on it by default Font Size Drop Down Menu choose the size of the font you wish. Ten or twelve is usually good Font Color You can choose from up to sixteen different colors (don t use white obviously) Bold, Italic, Underline Used for formatting your text. Click the buttons on or off Left, Center, Right Justification of your text Bullets or Numbered Lists create either bulleted lists or numbered lists for your note Decrease or Increase Indent decrease or increase the indents of your bulleted or numbered lists ADDING ATTACHMENTS With an open email the user can click on the icon that looks like a paper clip or click on the button labeled as Attachments: The result is the same either way. The following dialog appears: The user will follow the buttons down the dialog; first browsing to locate the file, then attaching the file (adding more if necessary) and finally closing the dialog. More on following page. COMPUTER SUPPORT 8
Click on the button labeled as Browse. The following appears: Using the Look In drop down or the icons on the left hand side of the dialog locate your file. Click on the filename then click on the button labeled as Open. You are then returned to the screen where you clicked on Browse. Then click on the button labeled as Attach. The file is then listed in the dialog: The user can go back to Browse and continue downloading files if needed. When done, click on the button labeled as Close. You are returned to your email which should be ready to send. Things to Keep in Mind When Emailing Attachments Let your client know that you are sending them an email with an attachment (people are leery about opening emails with attachments even if they are from people they know one bad experience with a virus is a good teacher) Raveis mail only allows 4 megabytes of attached materials Does your client have a program that will open the attachment? And if they do, is their version of the program compatible with yours? If you are sending attachments to a work email address keep in mind that they might get blocked (unless you have already sent attachments to the address previously) COMPUTER SUPPORT 9
CALENDAR Clicking on the calendar icon in the shortcut toolbar displays the following: The default display is the day-at-a-time window. There are icons at the top labeled as 1 for daily display (default), 7 weekly calendar display, 31 for monthly calendar view. If you wish to set an appointment, double-click anywhere on the daily calendar at the appropriate time the following window appears: The user can populate the Subject and Location lines as well as the text field (at the bottom of the window) as needed. If start / finish times are required those can be set as well. If this event is to occur more than once click on the menu choice labeled as Recurrence; the following appears: COMPUTER SUPPORT 10
It is up to the user to determine the pattern of recurrence in order for the appointment to appear on their calendar on the scheduled date(s). CONTACTS Clicking on the Contacts shortcut displays the following: The contacts are displayed in list fashion and the user might have to scroll through the list to see all contacts. To open a contact, or distribution list (displayed with the triple-face icon) just double-click on it. COMPUTER SUPPORT 11
NOTE: When entering in contact information into the web-based system, please keep in mind that there is no way of automatically exporting the contacts you have entered. Likewise, there is no way of automatically importing contacts into this contact system. Adding a New Contact Click on the New icon to create a new contact. Enter in the information accordingly. The user can enter multiple addresses (physical and email) by clicking on the drop down arrows for each choice. Attachments such as documents, pictures, etc. can be added to a contact for later retrieval if desired. There is a text field at the bottom of each contact where the user can enter in information pertinent to this particular contact. After entering in all required data be sure to click the button labeled as Save and Close. There are a couple of good icons on the toolbar that might prove to be useful: Display Map for this Address: clicking on this icon will pull a map for the address currently being displayed in the contact COMPUTER SUPPORT 12
Send Mail to Contact: choosing this will pop open an email addressed to the contact email address(es) for this contact. Work with as you would a normal email Address Book: Selecting the address book icon will pull up the Raveis Global Address list (your contacts can also be selected from the drop down menu labeled as Show Names from the:) - as shown here: Enter in the name you want in the Type Name or Select from List: text field. Once the name appears, click on it to highlight and then click on the button labeled as Add to Contacts. They are then added in a new contacts window. This icon is also available off of the main contacts screen which is even more convenient. Creating a Distribution List Click on the down arrow next to the New button on the Contacts toolbar: Choose Distribution List from the menu that appears a new window opens as displayed below: COMPUTER SUPPORT 13
Start at the top of the dialog; enter in a List Name:. Next, enter in any names (one at a time) in the text field below (Add to Distribution List) and then click on the button labeled as Add. The name should then be added to the large text area toward the bottom of the dialog. Email addresses from Raveis will display an icon that looks like a card from a Rolodex any email addresses that are non-raveis will have an icon of a globe next to them. Once the names have all been entered (you can always go back and add / delete from list) click on the button labeled as Save and Close. COMPUTER SUPPORT 14
OPTIONS Click on the Options shortcut on the left hand navigation bar. Most of the options are self-explanatory but this section will cover a few of the more important ones. OUT OF OFFICE ASSISTANT By default, the choice is Currently in the Office. If the user is to be away and not able to access email they should select the button labeled as Currently out of the office and type in a message in the text box provided. Anyone sending the user an email will get a reply back reflecting the message that the user had entered in the text box. Be sure to shut this option off when back in the office. Click on Save and Close when changing this option. REMINDER OPTIONS Users have the ability to view pop-up reminders that they set in their calendar as an appointment or meeting. Select the check box labeled as Enable reminders for Calendar items. SIGNATURE COMPUTER SUPPORT 15
Any agent can setup an email signature by clicking on the Send signature on outgoing mail check box and then clicking on Edit. In the window that then opens, users can make the changes they wish: There are tools on the top bar for modifying the text by Bolding, Italicizing, or Underlining. Different fonts can be used as well. Currently, Connecticut agents must employ an email signature containing the following (a more definitive reading can be found on the Intranet site, under What s New and Legal Alerts. Look for the document labeled Website Advertising Regulations): 1. Agent s name and office address as it appears on the agent s real estate license; and 2. Name of the broker as registered with the Real Estate Commission (i.e., William Raveis Real Estate); and 3. List of all the states in which the agent hold a real estate license The informational requirements contained above must be included in all outgoing emails, instant messages, and bulletin board communications relating to an agent s practice of real estate agency (not personal emails). This requirement applies regardless of whether the agent is using the Raveis email system or a private provider (e.g. aol, earthlink, etc.). COMPUTER SUPPORT 16
CREATING FOLDERS FOR STORAGE IN INBOX Emails arriving in an agent inbox will stay for ninety-days only; after that they are deleted. If an agent wishes to store emails long term they must set up a folder(s) in the inbox. To start, click on the button labeled as Folders at the top left of the email window as shown to the left. The folders of the inbox then display: To create a folder you can either click your right mouse button on Inbox and choose New Folder from the menu or you can click on the down arrow to the right of the New button Folder. The following appears: and choose Make sure Inbox is highlighted in the display. In the text field next to Name: enter in the name of the folder you wish to create then click on OK. The folder is then created. Additional folders are created in the same manner. You can create folders within folders if needed. Once the folders are created, access them by clicking on the Folders button again it might look a little different this time though as seen below: COMPUTER SUPPORT 17
When the folders are accessed you will now see a plus sign ( + ) in front of the Inbox. Click on the plus sign results are below: When you click the plus sign, the folder opens to display all sub-folders you have created. Under Inbox is TEMP and TEST. The folder labeled as 11_10 is actually a sub-folder of TEST. You can nest folders in this fashion in order to better organize your inbox. To put an email into a folder that the user has created, there are a few options. With the email in question open, observe the toolbar: Click on the icon that looks like a piece of paper going into a folder. The following appears: The user must click on the plus sign ( + ) next to the Inbox. Their subfolders are located there. As shown below: COMPUTER SUPPORT 18
When the plus sign was clicked on, the Inbox folder opens to display two subfolders. The folder named TEMP is now highlighted. If the OK button is pressed at this time, the email will be moved in the TEMP folder. Any other folder could have been selected that was under the main Inbox folder (in this example, the other folder available is TEST). Click OK when the correct folder has been selected. Users can also click and drag an email to a folder. To do this, click on the button labeled as Folders in the top left hand corner of the email program: The user can then click on the plus sign to the left of Inbox to open it up to see which subfolder is to be used as shown below: The folders are now in view. The user need only click and hold their left mouse button on the email in question and drag it on top of the folder name on the left hand side. When the mouse pointer is directly on top of the folder name, release the left mouse button and the mail gets put into that folder. Emails kept in folders created by the user have no time limit of how long they are stored. COMPUTER SUPPORT 19
MEMORANDUM TO: Sales Managers/Sales Agents FROM: Raymond Cashen, General Counsel DATE: August 17, 2004 SUBJECT: New Real Estate Commission Internet Advertising Law Effective Immediately The Connecticut Real Estate Commission recently unveiled new law that regulates several areas of internet/website advertising by real estate agents. This memorandum briefly summarizes the key aspects of the new regulations as they apply to real estate agents. The new regulations provide that agents who engage in advertising through websites they own or control must include the following information on their home page: 1. the agent s name and office address as it appears on the agent s real estate license; and 2. the name of the broker as registered with the Real Estate Commission (i.e., William Raveis Real Estate); and 3. a list of all the states in which the agent holds a real estate license; and 4. the last date on which property information shown on the website was revised. The informational requirements contained above must also be included in all outgoing emails, instant messages, and bulletin board communications relating to an agent s practice of real estate agency (not personal emails). This requirement applies regardless of whether the agent is using the Raveis email system or a private provider (e.g. aol, earthlink, etc.). The new regulations also impose four (4) additional important requirements. First, real estate agents and brokers may not advertise other brokers listings without that brokers permission. Second, real estate agents may not modify or change listing information of a real estate broker (including Raveis listings) without the broker s permission. Third, real estate agents must update their websites advertising every seventy-two (72) hours to insure that the information is accurate. Fourth, real estate agents must conspicuously indicate which listings do not belong to William Raveis Real Estate if they are advertising other brokers listings (again, provided proper permission has been obtained to display the listings in the first place). Finally, the new regulations provide that real estate brokers who permit other nonaffiliated agents or brokers to advertise its listings must get permission from their clients in order to do so. As a result of this new requirement, our listing agreements have been amended accordingly to encompass said permission. The amended listing forms are now available on the Raveis intranet.