The first step to add a new letter to the system is to create a Letter. Creating a letter is consisted of defining a letter code and name. The next step is to build the template or Word document associated to it.

• Click the Actions drop-down.
• Select Create Letter.
• The Create Letter screen appears.

There is no functionality difference when selecting a letter versus selecting a form.

• Click Save or Save and Close to save and return to the Letters & Forms page. The new letter populates in the grid. Click Cancel to return without saving. The next step is to build the letter template.

Edit letters to change the Letter Code, Letter Name, description and whether or not it is a form or letter.

• Click to highlight the letter that is to be edited.
• Click the Actions drop-down. Select Edit Letter.
• The Edit Letter screen appears. Make any necessary changes to the letter.
• Click Save or Save and Close to save the letter and return to the Letters & Forms page. Click Cancel to return without saving.

• Click to highlight the letter that is to be copied.
• Click the Actions drop-down. Select Copy Letter.
• The Copy Letter screen appears. Make any necessary changes to the copied letter.
• When finished making changes, click Save or Save and Close to save the new letter and return to the Letters & Forms page. The new letter populates in the page.

• Click to highlight the letter that is to be deleted.
• Click the Actions drop-down and select Delete Letter.
• A confirmation message appears. Click Yes to delete the letter. Click No to return to the Letters & Forms page without deleting.

Letters associated within a workflow cannot be deleted. A message appears if attempting to delete a letter already associated within a workflow. To delete the letter, the workflow(s) it is associated to must be edited to remove the letter from it.

• Click to highlight the Letter to edit or create a new template.
• Click the Actions drop-down and select Edit Template.

When a Letter is created for the first time, a default template is automatically created. The default letter template should be edited rather than creating a new template.

• The Letter Template screen displays. The General and Roles tabs are enabled.

General Tab

General attributes are located on the General tab:

Attribute	Description
The letter for which the template is created	Displays the letter for which the template is being created.
Letter Template Code	Enter the template code for the new template. The template code carries over from what was defined when the letter was created. Akcelerant recommends keeping the code the same as the letter for consistency purposes. This is a required field.
Letter Template Description	Enter a description for the new letter template. This is a required field.
Letter Generation Method	Select the letter generation method: On Demand – This requires the end-user to print the letter within the workflow step. This allows the end user to edit that specific letter when executing that workflow step. Batch Print – The letter is sent to the Framework’s Batch Letting Printing feature. Any user that has permissions to the Batch Letter Printing feature can then Print whenever he/she desires. The end-user does not have the option to view/edit or print the letter when executing the workflow step. Outbound Export – This method is only utilized with Letter Exporting. The user running the workflow does not have the option to view/edit/print the letter in the workflow step. Users are also not able to view/edit/print the letter from the Letter History screen. Letter Export settings are set in System Management>Exports>Other Actions.
Letter Category	Select a letter category from the drop down menu. This is for reporting purposes.

Criteria

The criteria attribute is located on the criteria tab. It allows administrators to define criteria for a letter/form that may have multiple templates associated to it. Specify the conditions that determine which template should be used.

For example, an institution may have customers in three different states; New Jersey, Delaware and New York. Because of statewide regulations, the templates for each state have to be designed differently to conform to the regulations for each state. When building a template for the state of New Jersey, the administrator can set the criteria to look for the Primary’s home state to be New Jersey so when the letter is sent, it is only sent to appropriate customers in New Jersey.

Roles

The role attributes, on the Roles tab. A list of all roles defined by the System Administrator in System Management > Role Types is displayed.

Attribute	Description
Assign Roles	Select the Role types that should receive the letter. The system automatically generates a letter to the person(s) with the role types selected.

For example, the institution needs to send a letter on all of Audrey’s delinquent accounts and any joint owners on her accounts. The system administrator of the Framework selects Primary and Joint Owner in the Roles tab for this letter.

 

When finished determining the information on the General, Criteria and Roles tabs, click the Click to Launch Template button at the top of the New Letter Template window. The Template Editor opens containing a Fields tab and a Grids tab.               

Fields Tab

Grid Tab

• Click to highlight the letter template that is to be copied.
• Click the Actions drop-down. Select Copy Template.
• The Copy Template screen appears. Make any necessary changes to the template information and the fields in the template editor.
• When finished, click Save or Save and Close to save the new template and return to the Letters & Forms page. Click Cancel to return without saving.

• Click to highlight the letter template that is to be deleted.
• Click the Actions drop-down and select Delete Template.
• A confirmation message appears. Click Yes to delete the template. Click No to return to the Letters & Forms page without deleting.

When a new letter is created it is assigned a “default” template. Default templates cannot be deleted.