Apr 6, 2021 — Version 18.4.6.0. Setup and User Manual. For Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Last Update: April 6, 2021 ...
Version 18.4.6.0
Setup and User Manual For Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Last Update: April 6, 2021
Contents
Description ............................................................................................................................... ..... 4 Email Delivery ............................................................................................................................... 4 Auto Email License ........................................................................................................................ 5 Setup of Auto Email ...................................................................................................................... 5
First Time Setup: Auto Email Setup Wizard ............................................................................... 5 Emailing Documents ................................................................................................................. 6
Email Accounts (Enhanced Email Feature) ............................................................................ 6 Email Scenario Assignment ................................................................................................... 7 SMTP Setup (Deprecated) ..................................................................................................... 8 Auto Email Setup....................................................................................................................... 9 General Tab ........................................................................................................................... 9 Statement Options .............................................................................................................. 11 Monitoring Tab ................................................................................................................... 12 License Tab.......................................................................................................................... 12 Actions ................................................................................................................................12 Auto Email Templates ................................................................................................................. 13 Copy Email Templates ............................................................................................................. 15 Merge Fields for Templates..................................................................................................... 15 Template Wizard ..................................................................................................................... 16 Customer Setup ...................................................................................................................... 17 Auto Email To's ....................................................................................................................... 18 Auto Email Template Groups .................................................................................................. 18 Copy Email Template Groups .................................................................................................. 19 Email Template Group Flow .................................................................................................... 19 Vendor Setup .......................................................................................................................... 20 Job Queue Setup ......................................................................................................................... 20 Permissions .................................................................................................................................21 User Manual................................................................................................................................23 Special emails.......................................................................................................................... 24 Email Customer Statement ................................................................................................. 25 Email Collection................................................................................................................... 25 Custom Email Settings............................................................................................................. 26 Auto Email Log ........................................................................................................................ 27 Auto Email Dashboard............................................................................................................. 28 Test Mode ............................................................................................................................... 29 Auto Email Customer Statements ........................................................................................... 30 Auto Email Attachments ......................................................................................................... 31 General Attachments .......................................................................................................... 31 Specific Attachments........................................................................................................... 34 Handling Email Exceptions ...................................................................................................... 34 How to Make Exceptions..................................................................................................... 35
Trial Period and Activating/Renewing a Subscription ................................................................. 36 Customer Support and Request for new features....................................................................... 37 Frequently Asked Questions ....................................................................................................... 38 SMTP Trouble Shooting............................................................................................................... 39 Job Queue Management............................................................................................................. 41
Errors in Auto Email Log .......................................................................................................... 41 Errors causing the "Send Emails" Job Queue Entry to fail ....................................................... 42 Customer Statement Modification.............................................................................................. 43 Customizing Auto Email Functionality......................................................................................... 44
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Description
Automatically email sales and purchase documents to customers and vendors without any effort.
Send a collection email to a customer that includes a statement and all supporting documents with one click.
Remind customers if they have short-paid or non-paid invoices with a single click. Send monthly statements to all customers automatically and without user interaction. Review email log to see when emails were sent and by whom. Save hours every day having Auto Email do the hard work of collecting documents,
writing email bodies, emailing and storing evidence that emails were sent. Send specific and default attachments with sales and purchase documents. Email templates decides how the email experience will be for each document type. Email template groups allow you to set up customer email experiences depending on
the customer. Setup custom rules who get which emails depending on the document type. Allow users to edit email settings just before email delivery. Documents supported: sales quotes, sales orders, sales return orders, sales invoices,
sales credit memos, sales shipments, purchase orders, service invoices, service credit memos, customer statements, collection notices (statement and supporting documents), short-paid notices, reminders, and finance charge memos. Support for additional documents can be provided via extensions (from Microsoft Partners or SimCrest). Auto Email is simple to use and saves you a lot of time.
Auto Email is a solution that makes it effortless to send out emails and at the same time release the user immediately even when sending 1000s of emails. The solution uses an email log to place all the emails in and let Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central do the rest of the work. Auto Email can also be set to automatically email invoices, credit memos, shipments, reminders, and finance charge memos as they are being posted or issued. For accounts receivable, Auto Email can send customer statements and collection notices with all open and past due invoices and credit memos at a single click of a button and if a customer short-paid an invoice, Auto Email can send a notice to the customer about that too.
Email Delivery
Auto Email is using an email log for the emails and the Job Queue to email the logged documents. Auto Email has an entry log that is populated every time a document is submitted to be emailed. The Job Queue will check the log every X minutes and if there are entries that have not been emailed the system will automatically start emailing the documents until all have been emailed. The log will be updated once the document has been emailed with a status to ensure that the document is not emailed again. This means that there is nothing emailed from the client and the user is instantly released once the document has been submitted.
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Auto Email License
Auto Email can be acquired as an App in the Extension Market Place inside Dynamics 365 Business Central. Just click Free Trial to install and try out the solution. The trial will last for 30 days. A subscription can be purchased from SimCrest or a Microsoft Partner.
Setup of Auto Email
There are a couple of steps needed for Auto Email to work.
First Time Setup: Auto Email Setup Wizard
You need to run the Auto Email Setup Wizard that will guide you through the initial setup. Search for Auto Email Setup Wizard:
The Wizard will start:
Explanation: Domain Name: Specify the email domain name to update email addresses in the setup and templates to the domain name your company uses. Omit the @ sign. Create or Update templates with domain name: Update domain name above in all templates. Transfer customers email: Transfers the email from all customers to Auto Email. If there is an email address in Auto Email "Email To" already, it will not be overridden.
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Default send from email addresses are only available if using SMTP setup (deprecated). We suggest using Email Accounts instead.
Monitoring: Enter emails and create job queue entries. Create Job Queue Entries: Will create all the relevant Job Queue Entries. Entries can be
edited afterward as needed. You can run the Setup Wizard as many times as you like, just note that templates may be updated (if turned on in wizard).
Emailing Documents
Auto Email can send emails via two methods: Using Email Accounts (enhanced email features) Using SMTP Setup (will not be supported by Microsoft at a later version)
We recommend using Email Accounts because they are easier to use and more reliable than using SMTP. Enhanced Email capabilities are turned on under Feature Management:
Once turned on, SMTP Setup is ignored.
Email Accounts (Enhanced Email Feature)
Auto Email is using Email Accounts, which is a standard feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
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We recommend setting up Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes for Auto Email. Notice that if you had an SMTP account it might have been converted to an Email Account. Auto Email supports Email Scenarios to use different email accounts to send certain documents by email. See next section for more information.
Email Scenario Assignment
Email Scenarios is a standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central feature that Auto Email supports. You can set up all the different Auto Email document types under each Email Account and Auto Email will pick the email account that has been set up in the Email Scenario Assignment. If a document is not assigned, the default Email Account is used instead. This also means that if no Emails are assigned, the default Email Account will also be used.
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Notice that Auto Email only supports documents that start with "Auto Email". Example: Since Auto Email Sales Invoice is assigned to SimCrest Billing, it will be sent from this email account using the name "SimCrest Billing" and using the email address "billing@simcrest.com".
SMTP Setup (Deprecated)
Auto Email can use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central's SMTP mail service to send emails. For the system to email via SMTP, you will have to specify an SMTP server. The feature is deprecated and will not be available in a future version. We recommend using Email Accounts instead. The SMTP service is of the utmost importance. Many SMTP services may have issues sending emails consistently and securely, so we recommend using an SMTP service with your Office 365 subscription. Search for SMTP Mail Setup.
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Specify the server's name or IP address along with the other fields as needed by your SMTP provider. You may have to consult with your IT administrator to get this information. Test the setup before you continue.
Auto Email Setup
You will also have to set up Auto Email to be able to email documents. Search for "Auto Email Setup". The setup table is populated during the installation.
Here is an explanation for all the fields in the setup table:
General Tab
Send from Email Address and Name (deprecated) These are the email address and name that will show as the sender of all emails sent via Auto Email unless an email template overrides them (see templates below). Make sure the email address is the same as you use in the SMTP setup (the name can be different if
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you like). Will not be available if using enhanced email features. Use Email Scenario Assignments instead. Email Sent Message Delay (in milliseconds) Each time an email is sent, the system will display a message. This field displays the time (in milliseconds) where the message is displayed until it goes away. If set to 0 (zero), the message will show until the user clicks OK. Email Body Format Specifies the format of the email bodies for templates. If set to "Plain Text", new lines are converted to HTML automatically by the App (HTML is still allowed, but HTML line breaks are not needed). If set to HTML, all formats must be using HTML. Test Mode, Test Mode To Email If Test Mode is checked, all emails will be sent to the Test Mode To Email unless overwritten by document email templates (see later). This is used for testing that emails and documents look correct before you start sending them to customers and vendors. Log Monitoring Email This email address is used to send issues with the auto email log. Some issues with the emailer can cause the Job Queue that sends emails to stop with an error. This email address will get a message if that happens. If not filled out, no issues will be sent. Job Queue Monitoring Email This email address is used to send issues with the Job Queue that is sending emails. This will warn the user(s) that emails are not being sent out. If not filled out, no issues will be sent. Logger Email Address This email address is used to log all emails going out. The App will bcc all emails sent via Auto Email to this address (or addresses if more than one is entered). If a logger email is specified on the email template, it will take precedence over the logger email in the setup table. Email Invoices When Posting If checked, invoices will be emailed automatically when they are posted. This can be overridden by the Auto Email Template Group (see later). Email Cr. Memos When Posting If checked, credit memos will be emailed automatically when they are posted. This can be overridden by the Auto Email Template Group (see later). Email Shipments When Posting If checked, shipments will be emailed automatically when they are posted. This can be overridden by the Auto Email Template Group (see later). Email Prepayment Invoices When Posting If checked, prepayment invoices will be emailed automatically when they are posted. This can be overridden by the Auto Email Template Group (see later). Email Prepayment Cr. Memos When Posting If checked, prepayment credit memos will be emailed automatically when they are posted. This can be overridden by the Auto Email Template Group (see later). Email Reminders when issued
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If checked, reminders will be emailed automatically when they are issued. This can be overridden by the Auto Email Template Group (see later). Email Finance Charge Memos when issued If checked, finance charge memos will be emailed automatically when they are issued. This can be overridden by the Auto Email Template Group (see later).
Statement Options
These options are used for the two statement reports that can be used for the Statement and Collection templates. The report numbers are 70163326 (plain black and white statement) and 70163327 (colorful statement) for the online version and 93326 and 93327 for the On-Premise version. If you use your own statement report, it must be modified to set the statement options below in the report. Check the last section in this manual for more information about modifying statements for use with Auto Email.
Start Date This is the start date of the date filter on the statement lines.
Statement To-date Formula This information is needed for the Auto Email Statement report. The formula is used to determine if a customer has a balance due as of the date calculated using this formula in relation to the work date. Example. Work Date = 05/05/20. If the formula is `-1M+CM' the balance as of 04/30/20 is used to determine if the customer has a balance as of this date. If so, the statement will be emailed. If not, the statement for this customer is skipped. The date formula is also used to determine the statement date. If you are using the statement report provided by the Auto Email App, the statement date on the report is calculated using this formula also.
Print All with Entries The statement will be printed if the customer has entries. The customer also needs to have a balance due by the To-date above.
Print All with Balance The statement will be printed if the customer has a balance. The customer also needs to have a balance due by the To-date above.
Update Statement No. This will update the customer's statement no. This is only applicable for reports 70163326 and 93326.
Statement Style Will show Open Items or Balance only. This is only applicable for reports 70163326 and 93326.
Aging Method This is used to show an aging band. Options are None, Due Date, Transaction Date, or Document Date. This is only applicable for reports 70163326 and 93326.
Aging Method (2) This is used to show an aging band. Options are None, Due Date, Transaction Date, or Document Date. This is only applicable for reports 70163327 and 93327.
Length of Aging Periods
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If the Aging Method is different from None, this will show the date formula for the aging periods.
Monitoring Tab
Log Monitoring Email This is the email address (several can be entered separated by semicolon) that will get an email if there are errors in the auto email log.
Job Queue Monitoring Email This is the email address (several can be entered separated by semicolon) that will get an email if the send email job queue entry stops for any reason. See more information in the Job Queue section.
License Tab
Expiration Date This is the expiration date of the subscription. The app will stop working after this date.
Trial Period You are granted a 30 days trial period upon installation of the app.
Licensed Company Name This is the company name that owns the subscription. It must be the exact same as the company name in the system. This field does not apply to trial versions.
Actions
Here is an explanation for all Process Actions: Email Attachments These are standard attachments that can be assigned to a document type. See later for more details. Email Log This is the email log that will show all emails sent with statuses. See later for more details. Email Templates Access the Email Templates used to determine how emails are sent for each document type. Subscription o Activate Subscription This is used to activate or renew a subscription. See later in this document how to activate a license.
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o Initialize License and Setup Used when creating new companies after the app has been installed. It makes the company ready for Auto Email.
Auto Email Tools o Auto Email Setup Wizard This wizard is used when doing the initial setup of Auto Email, but can also be used later as needed. o Process Emails When clicked, Auto Email will simulate running the job queue. This should usually only be used for testing. o Create Job Queue Entries Create the job queue entries used by Auto Email to automatically send emails and errors. You could also use the setup wizard to accomplish the same. o Copy emails from customers Transfers the email from all customers to Auto Email. If there is an email address in Auto Email "Email To" already, it will not be overridden. o Delete empty email log entries This is used to delete log entries with no email address in the Email To field. Should only be used if instructed so by SimCrest or partner.
Create Email Templates Default templates are created upon installation of the App. At any time after the installation, this will recreate the templates if they were accidentally deleted. Existing templates will NOT be overwritten.
Auto Email Templates
Each supported document needs to have a template set up for the document to be emailed. The default templates (templates flagged as "Default) are used to email documents unless you have set up Auto Email Template groups (see later for more info). Search for Auto Email Templates:
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Here is the Sales Order Template:
Here is an explanation for all the fields: Code A unique code for the template Description A description of the template Default This is the default template for this document type. You should only have ONE default template. If you have more templates for the same document type, they can only be selected if you assign an Email Template Group to the customer. Document Type This is the document type of the emailed document. You can have several templates of the same document type (if the code is different), but you should only have one default template per document type. If you have more than one default template per document type, only the first template will be used unless you use template groups (see later). Customer Type This is used to determine if the sell-to or bill-to customer is used for the document type being emailed. In the above screenshot, the sales order will email the bill-to customer. Report No. Type the report number for the report you would like to use for this document type. Report numbers can be found by searching "Report Layout Selection". The collection report has seven report no's (one for each supported document type). The below 3 are the minimum you have to define.
The report number for the statement report should be 70163326 or 70163327 (Online version) or 93326 or 93327 (On-Premise Version). Email Address From and Name (deprecated) These are the email address and name that will show as the sender of all emails sent via Auto Email for this particular template. Make sure the email address is the same as you use in the SMTP setup (the name can be different if you like). Will not be available if using enhanced email features. Use Email Scenario Assignments instead. Email From User (deprecated)
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When checked, the Auto Email Name and Email in the User Setup table are used as the email from. This overrides all other settings for Email From. Will not be available if using enhanced email features. Use Email Accounts instead.
Email Subject Here the subject line is provided. You can merge one field from the document into the text (use %1 place the fields in the text). The merge fields for each document are provided in a table below.
Email Body Text Here the email body is provided. You can merge two fields from the document into the text (use %1 and %2 to place the fields in the text). The merge fields are provided in a table below for each document.
Custom Email Settings This allows the user to edit the email settings before the email is sent. If a document is automatically posted or issued during posting, custom email settings will not apply.
Test Mode and To Email This works just like the same fields in the Setup page, but these two fields override the setting in the Setup table.
Logger Email Address This email address is used to log emails going out for this template only. The App will bcc all emails sent using this template via Auto Email to this address (or addresses if more than one is entered). If a logger email is specified on the setup table, the logger email on the template takes precedence.
Copy Email Templates
Email templates can be copied as needed. Click Actions Copy Template.
Merge Fields for Templates
Merge fields are used to substitute %1 in the subject line and %1 and %2 in the body text. Here
are the fields for each document type:
Document Type
%1
%2
Sales Quote
Quote No.
Customer Name
Sales Order
Order No.
Customer Name
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Sales Return Order Sales/Service Invoice Sales/Service Credit Memo Sales Shipment Short Paid Notice Statement Collection Purchase Order Reminder Finance Change Memo
Return Order No. Invoice No. Credit Memo No. Shipment No. Invoice No. Customer No. Customer No. Order No. Reminder No. Finance Charge Memo No.
Customer Name Customer Name Customer Name Customer Name Customer Name Customer Name Customer Name Vendor Name Customer Name Customer Name
Example for a sales order: "Please find sales order %1 for customer %2 attached". It's possible to extend the Auto Email App to support additional merge fields. Contact your partner or SimCrest for more information.
Template Wizard
There is a template wizard that allows you to be guided through the process of creating the templates. From the Template List, Click Actions, Create New Template:
The wizard will be launched. Follow the instructions and click Next (and Back if needed) until Finished.
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Customer Setup
On the customer, the Auto Email information is found on the Auto Email tab. Here you will specify, for each customer, how they should have documents emailed.
A checkmark in Auto Email Statements is used to indicate that the customer will receive automated statements via email rather than printed and mailed. You must have Email To filled
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out (unless you are using the Auto Email Tos functionality). ccEmail and bccEmail are optional. You can specify several addresses by separating them with a semicolon (;) and no spaces.
Auto Email Tos will show how many email tos you have defined. Email To's will allow advanced per-document email addresses per customer. See below for more information.
Auto Email Template Group is a group of templates assigned to the customer. These templates will override the default templates previously mentioned. If no group is assigned to the customer, default templates will be used instead.
If no "Email To" is specified on the customer card or in Auto Email Tos, the system will try to use the standard email address on the customer card. If no email address is found here either an error will occur upon log creation or SMTP email submission.
Auto Email To's
On the customer card, you can specify email addresses for all documents. This means that every document you email will be sent to this/these address(es). If you like to specify different email addresses depending on the document type being sent, you need to set up Auto Email To's. Click Process, Auto Email Tos:
Specify document-dependent email addresses on this page. If an email for a document is not found on this page, the default email addresses on the customer card will be used instead. If no email is found on this page or the customer, an error will be displayed and/or generated in the Email log.
Auto Email Template Groups
Email templates are used to determine how an email should be generated to the customer. The default template we discussed earlier will apply to all customers, however, you can define Email
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Template Groups and assign them to one or several customers, to customize the email experience for each group.
Above is an example of an email group for large account customers. Each group will have one or more templates assigned, including if emails should be sent upon posting/issuing of documents. You can create as many groups as you like and assign them to your customers. If a customer is assigned an email group, you MUST specify templates for all applicable document types that this customer could potentially receive. If not, you will receive an error if an unsupported document is emailed. Template Groups will follow documents created from the customer and can be changed along the way to make special exceptions for documents if needed. For example, an order has been created and the customer's email group has been automatically assigned to the order. You can change the email group and thereby change the way emails are sent to the customer. If you do not assign an email group to the customer, the default templates will be used instead.
Copy Email Template Groups
It is possible to copy template groups. Click Actions, Copy Template Group.
Email Template Group Flow
It's important to understand how Email Templates Groups are flowing from the customer. Here is an example:
1. The customer is assigned an email template group called "LARGE". 2. A quote is created for the customer and the group is set to "LARGE" inherited from the
customer. If a sales quote is emailed, the system will use the Quote template from the "LARGE" group to email it.
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3. The quote is converted into an order and the template group is inherited from the quote. If a sales order is emailed, the system will use the Sales Order template from the "Large" group to email it.
4. Shipments and or invoices may be posted from the email based on the templates and information in the "LARGE" template group.
5. At ANY time, the user can change the template group to something else, for instance, "SMALL", and make a different email delivery based on the new group's setup.
6. Once posted, documents will inherit the template group, but the group can no longer be edited.
Vendor Setup
The vendor has a simpler setup because only Purchase Orders are currently supported for vendors.
You must have Email To filled out; ccEmail and bccEmail are optional. You can specify several addresses by separating them with a semicolon (;) and no spaces.
Email Template (PO). Here you can specify the email template to use for sending Purchase Orders for this vendor. If no template is specified, the default PO template is used instead.
Job Queue Setup
You will have to set up the Job Queue. Use the Auto Email Setup Wizard or Go to Auto Email Setup. Find the action Create Job Queue Entries.
Click it to create a new Job Queue Entries for Auto Email. Now search for "Job Queue Entries". Auto email creates three job queue entries.
1. Send Emails This job will send auto email log entries that are ready to be emailed.
2. Log Monitor
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This job will monitor the auto email log for errors. If one or more errors are found, it will send an email to the "Log Monitoring Email" in the setup table. The job will send an email if errors are found every time it is run, so it's suggested to set the "No. of Minutes between runs" to 1440 (every 24 hours). 3. Job Queue Monitor This will monitor that the "Send Emails" entry is still running and if not, it will send an email to the "Job Queue Monitoring Email" to warn that emails are no longer going out. Here are the three job queue entries (Online version):
Codeunit numbers will be different for the OnPrem version (93325, 93340, and 93341). Here is an example of how the "Send Emails" entry is set up.
Set the recurrence to your preference. We suggest emailing every 5-15 minutes, but that can be adjusted up or down as needed. Once you have tested the solution thoroughly, Set Status to ready. The same goes for the monitoring job queue entries. Please check the section Job Queue Management at the end of this document for more information.
Permissions
A permission set for Auto Email is created when the Extension is installed. It's called `SIMCREST AUTOEMAIL'.
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Assign this permission set to all the users that should have access to Auto Email.
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User Manual
The ability to email documents has been added to several pages (cards and lists): Sales Quotes Sales Orders Sales Return Orders Posted Sales Invoices Posted Sales Credit Memos Posted Sales Shipments Posted Service Invoices (only available in premium version) Posted Service Credit Memos (only available in premium version) Purchase Orders Reminders Finance Charge Memos
Here is an example from a posted invoice:
Once you click the Email button, you may see the queued message (depending on your setup):
The Show Email Log button will show all the related log entries for the document you are standing on. Here is an example for a Sales Order.
The Process Emails action in the Auto Email Log can be used to force the emails to be sent if you can't wait for the Job Queue to process them. This is usually only used for testing. Here is an example how a sales order would look like in the email:
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Special emails
Short-paid/Non-paid invoices. You can email a short/non-paid notice. If the invoice is past due and the original amount is the same as the past due amount, Auto Email will send a non-paid email with the invoice attached. Use the Non-Paid body text in Auto Email Setup to tell the customer whatever you like. If the invoice is partially paid, Auto Email will send a short-paid notice (also with an invoice attached) using the short-paid body text in Auto Email Setup for this purpose. Short-paid notices can be sent from posted invoices and the customer ledger.
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Email Customer Statement
You must use the statement report that comes with the App. The number is 70163326 (Online version) and 93326 (On-Premise Version). On the customer card and the customer ledger, you have the option to send a statement.
You can send statements and collections (see more about collections below). The statements will use the values from the Auto Email Setup page.
Email Collection
A collection email is a special email that will send a statement (using the settings as described above) along with all the supporting documents (invoices, credit memos, finance charge memos, and reminders). On the customer card and the customer ledger, you have the option to send a collection email.
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Custom Email Settings
On the email templates, the Custom Email Setting field determines if the user will be able to change email settings upon sending the email via Auto Email.
When an email is sent using a template that has custom email settings turned on, the user will be presented with the following page before the email is sent.
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Edit all the settings needed and click OK to send the email. If you click Cancel, the email will not be logged and not sent. Email From and Email From Name are both deprecated and not available if using the enhanced email feature. Use Email Scenarios instead then. NOTE: Custom Email Settings are ignored for documents that are being emailed automatically when they are posted or issued. If the posted or issued document is being emailed later, the custom settings screen will show up like above.
Auto Email Log
Auto Email maintains a log file that will show all the emails that were requested to be submitted with their status. Search for Auto Email Log.
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The Email Name/Address fields are populated using the information from the actual email it was sent from (if using Email Accounts to send from). If you are using SMTP Setup (deprecated), the email address and name are coming from the email template. You can use the log to find out if emails went out correctly and see if there is an error to be corrected. If there is an error, you typically must resolve the error. You can also check if the job queue has stopped due to an error. If it has stopped, you must resolve the error before you start the job queue again. You can edit and delete entries in the log if you have permission to do that. By clicking on Entry No., you can see the Entry Page. Here is an example of the entry page:
The following actions are available for the log entries: Reset log entry This will reset the entry s it's ready to be emailed. It sets the Status to "Created" and clears the Completed flag, allowing the entry to be processed for email. Refresh Emails Will refresh the email addresses from the customer setup of emails. Use when entries are missing email addresses due to missing setup of customers.
Auto Email Dashboard
If you like to see an overview of the email log, go to Auto Email Log and click Dashboard.
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The Dashboard gives a quick overview of exceptions and emails sent:
Test Mode
In Auto Email Setup there is an option to put Auto Email in test mode.
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If checked, Auto Email will send all emails to the "Test Mode To Email" address instead of the actual customers/vendors. This is useful when setting up Auto Email and checking that documents are showing up correctly in the emails. Just uncheck again when the system is tested and ready to go. You can also set up test mode on the template. This setting will override the setting in the setup table. This way you can test certain documents while others are still in production.
Auto Email Customer Statements
Auto Email can send customer statements to all customers that have a balance due according to the date formula. Check the documentation for Auto Email Setup for more information. The customer must also be set up to receive statements via email ("Auto Email Statements" on Customer Card). To email the customer statement, search for Auto Email Statements and run the report. Specify any filter you like to have on the customer number.
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Once you run the report, statements will be queued for emailing.
Auto Email Attachments
Auto Email allows you to send attachments with sales and purchase documents. There are two ways to send attachments:
1. Send specific attachments saved on the sales or purchase document 2. Send general attachments related to sales or purchase document
General Attachments
General attachments can be sent with the sales and purchase documents. Let us say you like to send your "Terms and Conditions" and "Return Instructions" with all sales orders you email. Find the attachments page:
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Here is the attachment table:
Here are the fields used on the page: Email Type Here you pick the document type you are emailing Code This is a unique code used per email type Description The description of the document Attachment This will be checked if there is an attachment imported Attachment Name This is the file name of the attachment. Make sure you include the extension (pdf, docx, xlsx, etc.). Do NOT include the full file path, only the name and extension. Attachment Date/Time The date and time the file was loaded. Active Click Active to include this attachment for the email type selected. If unchecked, the attachment will NOT be emailed.
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Load Attachment
Create and new attachment:
Pick the Email Type and enter the code and description. Click Import attachment on the line just entered.
Pick the file and it loads it into the record we are entering. Make sure to enter the attachment name exactly like you want the customer to see the attachment. Do NOT include any file path. In the above case, two attachments will be sent with the sales order. Make sure Active is checked for the document to be included in emails.
If you use the Export attachment, the file will be downloaded to your Downloads folder. If you like to delete the attachment, delete the entire record.
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Specific Attachments
Specific attachments can be sent with the sales and purchase documents. Auto Email allows you to send the attachments that are associated with the standard Dynamics 365 Business Central functionality available for any document. Let's say you have a purchase order, and you would like to email special instructions with this particular purchase order. Open the attachments pane:
Click the number of Documents (in this case 0) and attach the document you would like to email with this particular purchase order.
Make sure to check the Auto Email checkbox. Any document you load here will be emailed along with the purchase order if the Auto Email field is checked. If not, it will not be emailed.
Handling Email Exceptions
On occasion, it might be needed to override the auto emailing of documents to certain customers. It could be that you don't want a particular invoice or credit memo being auto emailed, even though the system has been set up to auto email the document for the customer in question. Or, it could be a credit memo, that was made internally and that should not be auto emailed to the customer. Handling of exceptions has been implemented in the App, but will not prevent deliberate auto emailing, like emailing of collection notices with supporting documents or short paid notices. All accounts receivable functions will work as normal. Please note that the exceptions, if not checked, will not Auto Email the documents, if the customer template specifically says not to email the document in question.
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The following documents can have exceptions: Posted Invoices Posted Shipments Posted Credit Memos
Non-posted documents will not have exceptions, as the user can simply avoid auto emailing them.
How to Make Exceptions
Here is a sales order:
Two fields can make exceptions to auto emailing documents for this particular order: Do Not Auto Email Invoice Do Not Auto Email Shipment
If checked, these fields will prevent auto emailing of the specific document when this order is posted. It will also warn you if you try to email the posted document later on by accident. You will find similar fields on sales invoices and credit memos. If the fields are checked there is no auto email log generated for this document and consequently, the document is not emailed to the customer.
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Trial Period and Activating/Renewing a Subscription
When you have installed Auto Email, it will automatically run for a trial period of 30 days. During that time, you are free to evaluate the solution and there are no restrictions to the version running under the trial period. Once the trial period has expired, Auto Email will no longer send emails. To avoid that, you need to subscribe to Auto Email. Contact SimCrest to purchase a subscription. You can use this link http://simcrest.com/ContactUs to contact us. Auto Email is licensed per company and is tied to the company name. You can see the company name by searching for "Companies":
Pick the company name from the name column (not the Display Name) and send it to SimCrest together with the request for a subscription. Subscriptions usually run for 1 year at a time but can be customized to your specific needs. Once purchased, SimCrest will issue you an activation code. Here is how to activate the subscription:
Go to Auto Email Setup and click Subscription, Activate Subscription
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Note the Company name used for this activation. Make sure it's the same name as you provided to SimCrest. Paste the activation code into the field and click Activate Subscription
Here is an example of the resulting message
Customer Support and Request for new features
If you have questions about how to use Auto Email or have issues to report, we would love to hear from you. Please go to http://simcrest.com/ContactUs and send us a message. Use the same link if you like to request new features for Auto Email.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it possible to send sales orders to one set of email addresses and sales invoices and shipments to other email addresses for the same customer?
A: Yes. Under the customer, you will set up Auto Email Tos. For each document type, you can specify the email addresses. If a document type has no email addresses defined, the default emails on the customer card (under Auto Email) will be used instead.
Q: I like to send certain customers invoices that look different than those sent to other customers. The same goes for other document types like sales shipments. Is that possible?
A: Yes, you will need to set up several Auto Email Template Groups and assign them to the customers in question. Each group will define the templates with the different reports.
Q: Can I change the Template Group on a document and achieve a different email experience for that particular document?
A: Yes. On each document, the template group will be displayed on the General tab. Just change the group and the email experience will change to that of the new group assigned to the document. If the document is posted, the new email template will apply to this document also.
Q: I am getting errors in the Email Log. The error says "SMTP error" of some kind. How can I resolve this error?
A: Auto Email can use the standard SMTP email features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Any SMTP error that may occur will be related to connection issues with your SMTP provider or invalid email addresses or email domains not supported by the SMTP provider. Please contact your SMTP provider for more information. We suggest using Email Accounts instead as the SMTP email feature is deprecated and not supported in a future version.
Q: I have resolved the SMTP errors above, but the email log entries say they are completed. How can I send the emails that had errors again?
A: Find the entry and click "Reset log entry". The job queue will pick up the changed log entries on its next run. You can also click Process Emails from the log to force an email to run manually.
Q: I am getting the following error: "Rendering output for the report failed and the following error occurred: The Hidden expression for the tablix `LinesTable' contains an error: Input string was not in a correct format."
A: Rendering errors occur when the document report that's being used has errors. Make sure that all report numbers you are using are pointing to reports that work. Test the report on documents if you are not sure. If you are experiencing this when sending statements, make sure you are using our statement report and fill out the statement options in the Auto Email
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Setup. If you are using your own statement report, you will need to contact your partner, so they can modify it to work with Auto Email.
SMTP Trouble Shooting
Auto Email can use the standard SMTP service of Dynamics 365 Business Central, which is communicating with your SMTP provider. Auto Email is simply sending the email information to the SMTP service that will take it from there.
If you see SMTP errors in the Auto Email log, there is an issue with one of the following: 1. SMTP Setup issue. Make sure the SMTP server settings are correct. 2. Connection issues. The SMTP service is not seeing the SMTP provider. Check login and password setup. Check port settings. 3. SMTP email violations. Emails are being sent with from email addresses that are not in the correct domain. You may try to send emails from abc@company_A.com and company_A.com is not your domain.
SMTP email violations are very common. SMTP providers are protecting against spammers and they usually will not allow from emails in another domain than the domain you have set up with them. Make sure all email addresses you are sending from are in your domain. If you use Office 365, make sure the email address you use in your templates and setup is the same as the email address used to log into the SMTP service.
SMTP errors can be challenging to troubleshoot, but here are some well-known errors and their most likely causes (errors may not be exactly like below). We suggest using the Email Accounts instead of SMTP setup that is deprecated and will not be supported in a future version.
Error: SMTP Error: Could not add recipient.
The Auto Email Log is having entries with no email address in the Email-To field. Delete all log entries with blank Email-To. You can use the function under Auto Email Tools to delete the entries.
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Error: SMTP Error: The remote certificate is invalid according to the validation procedure.
Likely issue: SMTP setup issue. The STMP server address is pointing to an unsupported host.
Error: SMTP Error: No such host is known
Likely issue: SMTP Setup issue. The SMTP Server address is not correct.
Error: SMTP Error: The operation has timed out.
Likely issue: SMTP setup issue. The port or authentication method is not correct.
Error: SMTP Authentication Error: The SMTP server has unexpectedly disconnected.
Likely issue: User ID or password is incorrect, or login expired or unsupported.
SMTP Error: Unable to read data from the transport connection: net_io_connect
Likely issue: User ID or password is incorrect, or login expired or unsupported.
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Job Queue Management
Auto Email is relying on the Job Queue to handle the following events in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central:
1. Sending emails that have been logged in the auto email log. Auto Email is using the job queue to send emails logged in the auto email log. If an entry is ready to be submitted, it will be emailed upon the next event triggering this job. All entries that are ready will be emailed unless an error occurs.
2. Monitoring the auto email log entries for errors. On occasion email settings are incorrect or missing information is encountered in the auto email log that will make the auto email entry fail to be processed. The log entry will be marked with the status = Error. In this case, an email is sent to the designated user(s) for this error.
3. Monitoring the "Sending Emails" job queue to see if it's running or not. Sometimes the job queue sending the emails from the auto email log may stop due to errors. In that case the monitoring job queue will notify the designated user(s) that an error occurred and that it needs to be resolved for emails to be sent again.
Errors in Auto Email Log
If an error is encountered during the processing in the "Send Emails" job queue event this could be an example of the offending entry:
Notice the Status=Error and the error message. If there was an issue with the email, correct it on this entry or delete the entry to make a new email from the customer or document in this context. An email will be sent to the log monitoring email (several emails can be entered separated with a semicolon) in the setup table:
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Reset the log entry once corrected: Or delete the entry and redo the transaction to recreate the entry correctly.
Errors causing the "Send Emails" Job Queue Entry to fail
On occasion, the job queue responsible for sending the emails stops due to more severe issues. In that case, an email is sent to the Job Queue. Usually, there is an entry in the email log that is causing this. It's most likely the entry following the last entry that was successfully emailed.
Once the issues are corrected, Set the status to Ready.
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Customer Statement Modification
If you are using your own customer statement report, it must be modified to be able to run unattended. The Statement Options in Auto Email Setup are used to set the parameters to allow this. See below for an example of how we implemented it into the two statement report we provided for Auto Email. Colorful Word Statement
Contact your partner to adjust the code to work with your customer statement report.
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Customizing Auto Email Functionality
Auto Email is fully extendable (customizable). This means that Microsoft Partners can extend the functionality of Auto Email if there are functional areas that need to be created and/or modified. Examples:
Adding new document types to be emailed. If there is a requirement to email documents not supported by the standard Auto Email App, they can be added and supported.
Changing email behavior to do something else than what is supported in the standard App. For instance, supporting additional merge fields or make more extensive HTML body texts in emails.
Sending emails without attachments to notify email recipients about certain events that happened in the system. For instance, an email could be sent to a user if the credit limit of a customer is exceeded.
Making additional checks of email message setup and content before it's being emailed. Please contact SimCrest or your partner to have them extend the functionality of the Auto Email App.
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Acrobat Distiller 21.0 (Windows)