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This page contains a list of some frequently asked questions, and our answers. If you cannot find the answer to the question that you want to ask about Cyber Communications Manager, or if you do not understand an answer that we have given, please contact us and we will be happy to help you. Also, please let us know if you think this page is missing an important question or answer, so that we can make our site as useful as possible.

What is Cyber Communications Manager?

Communications Manager is an advanced system for sending personalized emails and faxes to extended groups of recipients. The system is also excellent for sending stock emails and faxes (such as an email with a catalogue or brochure attached) to single recipients.

Communications Manager can store details of a virtually unlimited number of mailing lists, email templates, senders and customization details. It is easy to select these items for any one mailing, or completely new details can be entered for one-off use.

What is a mailing list?

A mailing list is a set of names, email addresses, and any other information which you wish to record. When you run a mailing, each row of the mailing list is used to create one email.

How many rows/names can I include in one mailing list?

With the most powerful Edition of Communications Manager there is no limit. The only restriction is your system (see System Requirements).

Why do some editions of Communications Manager impose limits on the number of rows/names in one mailing list?

This is because more names require more processing power, and we wanted to provide lower cost versions of Communications Manage for users with lower processing requirements.

How many columns can my mailing lists have?

As many as you wish. Each column contains information used to personalize emails and set up a mailing. For example if you want to include customer account numbers in the subject line of an email, and send the emails only to customers who live in Australia, you will need columns containing account numbers and country or residence.

How many mailing lists can I use?

As many as you wish.

How many emails can I send in an hour?

This depends mainly on the size of the email and the capacity of your Internet connection. A large email with attachments will take longer to send than a short plain text email. Most users of Communications Manager use a regular mail server to send email (just like you use when you send email with Outlook, Eudora, etc).

Will my ISP think I am spamming?

You should be able to send legitimate business emails through your ISP without hitting any limits. Some ISPs do try to restrict spamming by imposing restrictions on the number of emails that one user sends in, say, an hour. If these limits interfere with your legitimate (non-spam) business, complain to your ISP. However, note that Communications Manager can be told to pause for a given number of seconds between emails, and to pause for a given number of minutes after sending a given number of emails. These options allow you to work with your ISP and spread the load.

How do I manage my mailing lists?

Lists can be built and maintained in Communications Manager, using the built in Mailing List Manager, or you can use almost any external system such as Word, Excel, Access, SQL, Oracle, etc. Communications Manager is designed to work with you, it won’t force you to change your working practices.

Can Communications Manager read Excel files?

Yes, Communications Manager can read Excel files, text and ascii tab or comma separated value files, and many other common formats.

Do I have to send an email to everyone on the selected mailing list?

No. One of the key features of Communications Manager is the way that it lets you create mailing list views, and then send emails to names included in one view only. You could, for example, elect to send an email only to people who live in Singapore, or only to customers with accounts above a certain size.

What is a mailing list view?

A subset of a mailing list is known as a view. You can use complex criteria to produce these views. For every view (ie, every customer who purchased a widget in January) there is also a complementary view containing the rows which do not match the criteria. For future reference, you can copy and paste any view, export it to Excel, or save it in various other formats.

Can I send an email to one recipient only?

Yes, of course. You can create a mailing list, or a mailing list view, containing just a single name.

Is there any special provision for bringing new names into my mailing list?

Yes. If you maintain your mailing lists in Communications Manager, click the Add Rows button, add details for as many new names as required and click OK. The advanced mailing list options are automatically set so that the next mailing will be sent to those new names only. You can then send a welcome email or other introductory document to these new names – and they are on the list for all future mailings.

What is a project?

The combination of an email template, mailing list, sender, and mail server is known as a project. You can save projects for future recall and use.

Can I create mailing and send it immediately?

Yes. Click Create and send.

Are there safeguards to avoid mistakes?

Yes. Because it is so easy to create and send emails, Communications Manager has extensive safeguards built in to avoid mistakes. You cannot send an email with a blank subject or body, without a sender, with personalization which will fail, etc. Moreover, before a mailing is generated, Communications Manager shows you a complete summary so you can review the broad details, check the mailing list, and even preview each email individually to ensure that it looks good.

Can I create a mailing for future release?

Yes, mailings can be queued and released when you are ready. They can also be move to an on hold queue if you decide to temporarily delay sending them, or deleted if you change you mind.

How can I review a mailing which has been processed?

There are possible ways to review a mailing: Mailing views, logs, and sent/failed items.

What are mailing views?

Mailing view are very powerful. They are similar to a mailing list views. Each view shows you a summary of a mailing on a single line (mailing list, email template, sender, number of emails sent, number of failed emails, etc). With a single click you can view the complete list of recipients, and the list of names where the mailing failed, as well as each successful and each failed email.

What are logs?

Logs (available only with the Business Edition and above) contain all the detail from a mailing view, except that logs do not include a copy of the full mailing list or the email. In other words, the logs provide a list of who received the mailing, and another list of failed emails.

What are sent and failed items?

Sent emails are similar to those you are familiar with when you use Outlook or a similar email system – they are copies of the successfully personalized and sent emails. They are saved in the send items mail box in Communications Manager. Failed items are similarly stored in the failed items mail box.

What is an email template?

An email template is simply an email which is used as a basis for a personalized mailing. You can create email templates in Communications Manager, or import them from another program.

Can I send plain text emails with Communications Manager?

Yes.

Can I send rich text (HTML) emails?

Yes.

Can I send emails which contain both plain text and HTML versions?

Yes. In fact, if you send HTML email, you should usually include a plain text version for recipients with systems which cannot read HTML emails.

What is the difference between rich text emails and HTML emails?

None. In the 1990’s some software vendors including Microsoft experiment with an email format based on the document format called rich text format (.rtf). This was quickly supplanted by HTML emails, but some systems including Microsoft Outlook still refer to rich text emails (by which they actually mean HTML email).

What is HTML?

HTML stands for hypertext markup language. It is a way of marking up plain text so that it can be displayed using various fonts and colours, with complex layout and images, etc. It is the basis for all web pages and formatted emails.

What is the difference between the HTML source view and HTML preview?

The HTML source view shows the markup (source code) used to generate the HTML view. HTML emails are always sent as source code. Mail clients (eg, Outlook) convert source into an HTML view on arrival, or if they do not support HTML email they should look for and display a plain text version of the email. Systems which render source into an HTML view usually vary in the way that they display the HTML view. The Communications Manager preview is a totally accurate display (or at worst a very close approximation) of the way that the MS Outlook, Outlook Express or Internet Explorer (the versions installed on your system) will display the HTML email. Different versions might display it slightly differently, and Eudora, Netscape and other mail systems might also render it differently. The source view is the “authoritative view” of how the HTML component of the email will be sent.

Can I include images in my emails?

Yes. Communications Manager supports as many images as you want to include (but beware of creating monster emails).

How do I create plain text or HTML email?

You can type them directly into Communications Manager (from the menu choose Email Templates, Edit Email Body for maximum flexibility). You can also create them in any other editor (Notepad, Word, an HTML editor) and copy and paste or import them into Communications Manager. Note that the Communications Manager Email Editor also has an import text option which allows you to add additional text from a file into an email body.

I don’t know how to write HTML!

No problem. You can create HTML emails by typing directly into the Communications Manager Email Editor HTML preview window.

When I edit the plain text (or HTML source, or HTML preview) view, the other views do not change?

Editing one of the three views of an email does not automatically change either of the other views. This is because experienced email professionals often want to fine tune or even completely redraft each view. Click the Convert buttons to carry the changes through to the other views.

Can I include attachments with my emails?

Yes.

What format can I use for attachments?

Attachments can be in any format (images, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, etc).

How many attachments can I include with one email?

As many as you wish. The constraint is the capacity of your Internet connection to transmit emails with attachments which have a large total file size. Of course, it is considered bad form to send people very large emails without asking for their permission first.

Does Communications Manager send cc or bcc copies of emails?

No. The key principle behind Communications Manager is that it sends personalized emails one at a time.

The system is fully compatible with common office software. It can read and save MS Excel spreadsheet files, Microsoft Outlook Express emails, all standard formats used for emails, and all accepted formats used in data exchange, including comma separated value (CSV) files.

How are email personalized?

Each mailing list has a hearer row at the top which identifies the columns (name, email address, county, etc). You can insert these descriptions in your email (using double angle brackets; eg, <<Name>>). When the emails are sent, these markers are replaced with the actual values found in the body of the mailing list. For example, if you start your email with Dear <<Name>> and the first entry in the name column is Chris, the first email will be addressed Dear Chris.

Is it easy to personalize an email?

Yes. All you have to do it point and click. Communications Manager generates a list of columns which can be used for personalization, and a single click inserts them in the subject line or body of an email.

How much personalization can I include?

As much as you wish. A mailing list can have as many columns as you need, and all the information can be used to personalize emails.

What happens if I include a personalization marker which does not exist?

You cannot send the email. Communications Manager works hard to avoid embarrassing blunders. It will not let you send an email with incorrect personalization. For example, if you prepare an email template using the personalization marker <<country>>, and try to use it with a mailing list which does not contain a column headed country, Communications Manager will ask you to make the necessary corrections (change the mailing list or remove the marker).

Note that the plain text and HTML source are separate. You need to insert personalization fields manually in both. This is because for top quality HTML emails you will want to manually create and edit a plain text version (so that you give the best possible impression to recipients whose systems do not support HTML email.

How many names and email addresses for senders can I store in Communications Manager?

As many as you wish.

Can I use a non-existent email address as the sender?

Yes, so long as you are not doing anything illegal. For example, it is often legitimate to use an address such as norepy@mydomain.com.

How many sets of details for mail servers can I store in Communications Manager?

As many as you wish. Note that the Industrial Power Edition allows you to send from multiple mail servers at once to speed up large mailings.

Can I fix the date and time that appears in an email?

Yes, with the Corporate Edition or above you can specify any date and time that you wish. This is useful if you want the email to appear to have been sent at a specific moment in time.

Can I fix the country that my email appears to come from?

Yes, with the Corporate Edition or above you can specify any time zone that you wish. This is useful if, for example, you want to the email to appear to have come from your New York office when it was actually prepared and sent by your back office in India.

Can I imply that the email originated from a specific server?

Yes, with the Corporate Edition or above you can make it appear as if the email originated from a specific company or server. Note that expert observers can view the email header and identify the actual originating computer – as part of the anti-spam, anti-abuse measures built into Communications Manager.

Can I add a hidden reference number to my emails?

Yes. You can enter any reference number or text that you want to include the header of an email. This reference will be hidden in the email header, although users who know how to view headers will be able to see this. (Use personalization to include different references in each email).

Can I add additional headers?

Yes. With the Corporate Edition and above you can add any additional information that you wish in an email header.

Does Cyber Communications Manager contain spyware?

No. Cyber Communications Manager does not contain spyware. Spyware collects information about you and your computer and transmits it to third parties. Cyber-dynamics despises such software.

Does Communications Manager collect or transmit any information about me or my computer?

No. Communications Manager does not collect any information about you or from your computer, except the mailing list and email details which you give it. Communications Manager does not transmit any information without your express permission. Communications Manager sends the emails you create to the recipients that you specify. It also sends your user-registration details to Cyber-dynamics if and only if you give it permission to do so. Nothing more.