This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Message Types
When we refer to message types in GroupWise, there are many different meanings, and different message types have different purposes. Six different message types can be created by the GroupWise client. (Additional message types are available if you have an enhanced system, such as voice-mail messages and fax messages. Check with your system administrator if you are not sure whether your system has enhanced capabilities.) Each message type is indicated by a unique icon. Message types include
Mail
Appointment
Task
Reminder Note
Discussion Note
Phone Message
Figure 3.2 displays several of these message types.
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Figure 3.2 Several different message types appear, as denoted by the various icons representing them.
Each message type is discussed in the sections that follow.
Mail Item Type
The mail item type, also known as an email item, is the most commonly used item type in GroupWise. It contains a sender and at least one recipient. There may also be Carbon Copied (CC) or Blind Copied (BC) recipients of an email. You can attach files to mail items also. Mail messages can be received from users inside your GroupWise system (internal email messages) or from users outside your system (email from the Internet or another mail system).
Appointment Item Type
Two types of appointments can be created in the GroupWise calendar: posted appointments and regular appointments (also referred to as meeting notices). Posted appointments are entries you make in your calendar to keep track of your personal engagements and to block out time periods within your calendar when you are busy with important tasks or tentative appointments. You cannot send a posted appointment to another user.
Regular appointments are group appointments that you can use to schedule meetings with other GroupWise users. By default, when you compose an appointment, you are automatically listed as a recipient of the meeting.
When another user sends you a request for an appointment and you accept it, the meeting automatically moves to your calendar. If you decline a meeting request, the message status information in the sender’s Sent Items folder tells the sender that you have declined the meeting. From the status information on your sent item, you can also tell if the user accepted the appointment as busy, free, tentative, or out of the office. Chapter 8, "Advanced Features," discusses how to set sending options for additional alerts when meetings are accepted or declined.
GroupWise meetings include information such as the date, place, start time, and duration of the meeting. If you send a request for a meeting to a user outside your GroupWise system, it may be received as an appointment for the external user. How it is received depends on how both your GroupWise system and the recipient’s mail system are configured. Check with your GroupWise administrator to see whether your GroupWise system has been configured to allow appointments to pass to external (Internet) users as appointments using the iCal standard.
Figure 3.3 displays an Internet recipient receiving an appointment sent from a GroupWise user.
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Figure 3.3 Using Novell NetMail to accept an appointment sent from GroupWise.
When appointments are sent, the time of the appointment should be from the sender’s perspective. For example if you schedule a meeting with a GroupWise user, you do not have to worry about what time zone the recipient(s) may be in. Simply create the appointment at the time that is relative to you, and the GroupWise system will take care of making sure that each recipient sees the appointment at the correct time relative to his or her time zone.
To create a posted appointment, double-click the time in your calendar that you want to place the appointment. Alternatively, click the small down arrow next to the New Appointment icon and select Posted Appointment. Notice that there are no To, CC, or BC fields because posted appointments will exist only on your calendar.
Task Item Type
You can use a task message to delegate or assign tasks to other GroupWise users. You can also create posted tasks for your personal Task List.
When someone receives and accepts a task, the task appears in the task section of the recipient’s Calendar view. The task is carried forward each day until that person marks it as completed. If the recipient does not mark a task completed by the specified due date, the task turns red in the Calendar view.
To create a task, choose File, New, Task. This allows you to create a group task to send to other users. To create a posted task (a task for yourself), double-click in the task area of your calendar.
Reminder Note Item Type
You can use reminder notes to create notes for yourself or to send reminders to other GroupWise users. When someone receives and accepts a reminder note, the reminder note automatically moves to the Notes area in the recipient’s Calendar view. Unlike a task, however, a reminder note is not carried over from day to day. You enter reminder notes into the calendar only on the date specified.
To create a personal reminder note, open your Calendar view and double-click inside the Notes field. To send someone else a reminder note, choose File, New, Reminder Note.
You can send reminder notes to members of your workgroup notifying them of days and times when you are away from your desk, in meetings, or on vacation. This action reminds the people in your workgroup where you are on the specified days.
Discussion Note Item Type
Discussion notes are primarily used in shared folders or when working with newsgroups. Discussion notes are discussed in further detail in Chapter 8.
Phone Message Item Type
You use phone messages to inform other GroupWise users about phone calls you have taken for them. A phone message is similar to an email message. The Phone Message window includes fields for caller information (such as name, company, and phone number) and a description of the call (Urgent, Please Call, Returned Your Call, and so forth). GroupWise phone messages are basically electronic versions of preprinted phone message forms.
To create a phone message or "while you were out" message, choose File, New, Phone Message.
Because phone messages are so similar to regular email messages, with the exception of the fields in the view, we do not need to discuss them further.