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The Business of Email By:
William Vincent Several months ago, I was traveling and forced to communicate with my office via email. Zoe, our computer queen of all that is technical, sent me a message concerning the design of our new database. I read the message several times trying to understand exactly what she was saying. I emailed a response, which prompted another email and eventually a telephone call. Of course, she was not in the office when I called and later in the day, was on the phone. Eventually we did talk and after just a few seconds the confusion was over. The time, effort and cost of this useless exercise occurred because of a poorly written email message. Not in the sense that the spelling, grammar or punctuation was incorrect but because the recipient (me) did not or was not able to understand the message. When I returned, Zoe laughed at my inability to understand her email message, which dealt with "coding" (the backbone of all databases). Feeling uncomfortable, I changed the topic to email and how it should make life simpler, not more confusing. We began to tell stories of how email can or has caused major business problems and severed relationships. I mentioned to Zoe that differences of opinion seemed to escalate to hostility on list servers, based on the language or tone of the posts (email messages). This hostility was divisive and did not contribute to the effectiveness or purpose of the organizations involved. Was this the intent of the email? Did these problems occur because of email? Should email be used on a regular basis? Will email become the standard of communication in the future? Is it secure? How should we communicate our thoughts and ideas using email? How do we effectively convey our business presence utilizing email? PROFESSIONAL THEME Consider the amount of time you may have spent in choosing letterhead, brochure design and business cards. Email is an extension of the time and costs you have spent in developing a professional presence. This concept should always be paramount when composing a business email message. Business email will become the most utilized tool of the near future. As the fax replaced the Fed Ex, so too will the email replace the fax. Prepare now for the future. Begin to structure your email techniques to convey the theme of your business. Consult with your colleagues, coworkers and clients about the utilization of email. WHY EMAIL? There are several reasons why email will become necessary for every business. Our clients and associates will force even the most traditional in the investigative community to invest in this technology. You may come dragging and screaming but eventually you too will be digital.
STRUCTURING BUSINESS EMAIL Before you start banging away on the keys, think about what you are trying to convey. Put yourself in the place of the recipient and think of the message from their perspective. The following suggestions apply to all business emails and should always be considered before striking the SEND key.
SIGNATURE LINE The signature line is the best way to establish your business identity through email. The signature line gives impact and provides information about you and your company. The signature line is a block of text that includes items such as your name, company, email address, home page, phone and fax, and something about who you are. A well-written signature line (sig) provides subtle advertisement about the type of product you and your company provide. Netiquette requires that a signature line should not be more than four lines high and approximately 60 characters wide. Avoid blatant commercialism in your sig. Famous quotes are often used to convey a philosophy but consideration should be given to professionalism. Some readers may find these quotes offensive or not in line with their personal ideology. Is this potential loss of business worth the quote? Once created, the signature line can be configured to be inserted automatically at the end of all your business email messages. The sig line can be created in your word processor or WordPad and saved as a text file. Your browser is then configured to place the sig line at the end of the email message. Send test messages to yourself to review how your sig appears when received as a message. Often tweaking will be necessary to obtain the proper appearance especially when using the two-column effect. SENDING OR POSTING Make sure that before you hit the SEND key that you verify where your message is being sent. Be extra careful when responding to a post on a list server. Your intention may be to send a private email to the poster and the message will inadvertently be sent to everyone on the list. Always check this before sending. A mistake like this can be very embarrassing and potentially costly. Email is easily misunderstood. By its very nature email seems informal causing quick and flippant responses. Email takes on the form of a conversation without the vocal and facial tones. Humor, sarcasm and innuendo therefore do not lend themselves well to this medium and should be avoided. A great deal of unnecessary time can be spent apologizing or informing the recipients "I was only kidding." Since email is typed, people with poor typing skills use too few words. Those with good typing skills often use too many. Usually neither group reads the email before sending. This should be considered when responding. Put the email in this context before continuing a response or thread that deteriorates. Email does not always require a response. You do not have to say, "you're welcome" to a message reading thank you. Respond only when necessary. This saves time and bandwidth. Email does not require an automatic or instantaneous response. The sender needs to be considerate of the recipient's time. If the message requires immediacy or is of a sensitive nature, email is should not be the communication vehicle anyway. Email is not secure unless it is encrypted and authenticated. Encryption requires both the sender and the recipient to have the encryption program. Encryption is the coding of the message so only the intended recipient can read. Authentication is a method to validate the identity of the sender. FLAMING This is a term meaning to express displeasure to another via email or in a chat group situation. Not following proper net etiquette can cause one to receive hundreds of emails expressing this displeasure. It is prudent to review any FAQs (Frequently Ask Questions) or general procedures before posting a message to a newsgroup or list server. For instance, the NALI list serve encourages all types of communication with the only restrictions being that the message is investigative or NALI related. No jokes or flaming is allowed on the NALI list serve. Debate, disagreement, requests for assistance, tips and any ideas remotely related to the investigative profession are encouraged. Since email is so easy to use, messages are often sent quickly, without the proper consideration. One good method when responding while angry, upset, frustrated or irritated is to type the message and then place the email in the Send Later bin. Wait 24 hours and then reread the message before sending. If the email still seems appropriate then send. I usually feel relieved that I did not send and will either delete or modify. It can however be therapeutic to type the message. My trash bin is filled with email arrows that I am now happy I did not let fly. EMOTICONS AND ACRONYMS These are two common methods often used in email. I would discourage the use of these devices in business or professional email. These devices are best used in personal emailing. Emoticons are punctuation devices used to convey emotions. The following are commonly used emoticons: :) Smile :( Frown :-o Shouting Acronyms are used to save keystrokes. Business and professional email communication often require precision so acronyms should be avoided. It is common for the recipient to not understand the meaning of the acronym and therefore does not understand the message. Acronyms are very common in the law enforcement and investigative communities but differ from state to state or region to region. If the acronym is important to the message it is best to spell it out the first time with the use of parentheses to distinguish future use, i.e. Chicago Police Department (CPD). QUOTING This is the term used to repeat (quote) the theme or thread of the email message. Your email program is usually defaulted to automatically quote the email to which you are responding. While this is generally a good idea, if the email is long or several emails are attached, such is in a thread it is a good idea to cut and quote only the portion relating to the current topic of this particular email. Cutting and quoting only that which is germane to the present issue is good form or proper Netiquette. It saves bandwidth and makes reading much easier. CUT, COPY AND PASTE These simple techniques will make using email a snap. These functions work in email as they do in your word processor. The only difference is that you cannot cut from another's email. You can however copy. Learn the use of these stokes and you will save immense amounts of email time. You can copy another's or your own typed words by highlighting the selected text with your mouse. Then press the Control and C key at the same time. This places the selected text in your clipboard (part of your window operating system). Then move your cursor to where you want to place this text and hit the Control and V key at the same time. Viola! This works great when you want to quote only portions of the email to which you are responding. It is also a great tool when sending links or other email addresses that require exactness. Your clipboard only holds copied or cut items until it is used again. It then discards the previous and holds the new for placement. FORWARDING ANOTHER'S EMAIL This is very poor netiquette and bad karma. You should have the permission of the sender before forwarding. Do not assume that it is fine with the sender to forward. Litigation is not a pleasant experience. The "OK to forward" should be in writing or received as an email message. It is also important to remember that it is very easy for someone to forward your email to an unintended party. This can be done by the recipient, someone who has access to the their email or an unethical systems administrator. Since you may never discover the rogue it is best to keep your emails of proper decorum or encrypted if they are of a sensitive investigative nature. Unencrypted email is not the vehicle for case reports or sensitive letters. One method to ensure proper decorum is to let your mother read the message. If she would send, it is most likely proper. FORMATTING Until everyone catches up with the current technology it is best to send email in plain text. Many lists require plain text so that all members can read. There is nothing worse than to spend a great deal of time composing the meaning of life and then finding that no one could read your HTML formatting. It's all about the content not the cover. If you wish to use colors, backgrounds, pictures and sounds you first must be certain that the intended recipient can read. Current browsers such as Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Explorer will allow you to read these types of emails. There are also special email programs on the market that can handle the latest in this technology. ATTACHMENTS Attachment is a text or binary file included with an email. Attachments often require a special plugin or software so the recipient can read them. Attachments can also take a significant amount of time to download so make sure the recipient is aware of the attachment before sending. Do not send huge attachments unless it is absolutely necessary. Plain text email messages do not contain viruses but attachments can. Do not open an attached file if you either do not know the sender or you do not have a current virus software checker. Never send an attachment to a newsgroup or list server. This is very bad form and could cause you to be the recipient of flaming. The proper use of a recognized extension will assist the recipient in being able to open and read the attachment. For instance the extension for a Microsoft Word document is (filename) .doc with the .doc being the extension. A state of the art browser will recognize this extension and open the document in MSWord if the recipient has this type of software. It is therefore imperative to check with the recipient to determine if they have the capabilities and software necessary to handle your attachment. THE FUTURE OF EMAIL I have dusted off my crystal ball but since I am an investigator and not a lottery winner you are must be aware that the ball is often opaque. I do however believe that email is here to stay for the reasons previously stated. Future enhancements will include simple methods of encrypting and authenticating email. Not only email messages but also financial transactions. The theory is to make email as simple as sending a check in the mail. For now email is like sending a postcard with a stapled $5.00 bill. Photographs, videos, subpoenas and other legal documents will be sent via email. Video conferencing that allows many people to interact without traveling is evolving and is a glorified form of email. It will become routine to receive case assignments from our clients via email and reports will be transmitted to them utilizing this method. But no matter the means, the speed or the technological sophistication, content, clarity and professionalism will reign supreme. So as we wait for the sophistication to simplify let's work on emailing what we mean and meaning what we email. |
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