Handheld devices pose challenge for email policies

Businesses trying to enforce an email policy may find life more difficult as smartphone use rises, says Andrew Millington

Millington: New rules will force customers to manage email better

On 1 October 2008, new rules came into force on how incorporated companies must demonstrate their legal identity while trading.

Outgoing business emails must now include the company’s registration number, place of registration (such as Scotland or England & Wales), and registered office address.

Non-compliance can attract a £1,000 fine.

Some companies tend to add, it seems, three pages of disclaimer to every outbound email. Some hand out email guidelines to new staff, leaving the rest to chance. This is potentially an administrative nightmare in the making.

Many of the basic firewall or anti-spam disclaimer tools are restricted to plain text and not managed using intelligent rules. They are typically sent out indiscriminately, with every outbound email.

That’s regardless of whether the email is a one-word reply in an existing thread or the recipient may be trying to read it on a small screen. Users may end up scrolling through pages of text to follow a short email thread or find contact details.

A more sophisticated tool is needed that offers personalisation and intelligent positioning of added text, and an ability to dictate what is sent and when, by recipient and context. This requires integration with Active Directory.

Disclaimers are a necessary evil, but can pave the way for some brand-reinforcing benefits. How many times has an email recipient been forced to the web or their email archive, merely to find a sender’s phone number or website?

Every email can be tagged automatically with the sender’s details, even if a message has been sent from a mobile or webmail. Applying adjustable rules means transferring disclaimer and signature management to the email server.

Businesses can vary their legal and corporate messaging by country, language, company department or employee status, simply by setting different rules for different users.

For example, you can set up tailored automated disclaimers for 35,000 users across various countries from a single, central Exchange server.

This could not have been achieved by a firewall-level disclaimer manager without the functionality to encompass mobile devices outside the company network. You can also apply formatting and fonts for improved design, or centralise the timely addition of advertising material.

Businesses must avoid potentially expensive legal trouble and maximise cost-effective marketing opportunities.

Andrew Millington is chief executive officer of Exclaimer