Sending Reports as Email Attachments Overview

You can send copies of Vision reports as attachments either to standard email messages or to email messages created from templates. The main difference is that the subject and body of email templates can contain database fields. When you send the email message, Vision replaces the fields with actual data, such as an employee name from the Employee Info Center.

When to Use Standard Email Messages

With standard email, Vision sends the message to one primary recipient. All other recipients receive copies of that one email message.

The following are examples of when to use standard email rather than email from a template:

• You do not need to use database fields in the Subject or Message fields of the email.
• It is appropriate (for performance reasons, perhaps) to send only one email to all addresses, rather than sending separate email for each record selected in the Records field, as must happen with email from templates.
• You only want to use the content of the email once, and you only want to send it to one contact, lead, or employee.

When to Use Email Based on Templates

Each recipient in the Records field of the Email Templates dialog box is sent an individual email message. Each recipient in the Emails fields on the To, CC, and BCC tabs is sent one email message for each recipient in the Records field.

For example, suppose you select ten records in the Records field, and you select one record in the Emails field on the CC tab. When you click Send, each of the ten recipients in the Records field receives one email message. The email contains merged data that personalizes the message for that individual (for example, with his name in the salutation). The one recipient in the Emails field on the CC tab will receive 10 emails, one for each person in the Records field. Vision merges different data (for example, a different first name) into each email message, so each message is unique.

Here are some examples of when to use email templates rather than standard email:

• You want to use fields from the database in the Subject or Message fields.
• You want to use the email content more than once, and you want to send it to different employees, leads, or contacts.