Content-Type: text/html Some of our general rules/guidelines are as follow: User's are only responsible for keeping/cataloging the E-mails they sent (Internal & External) and the E-mails they receive from outside the agency (External only) which were created in connection with the transaction of official business. - This limits the users responsibilities, identifies the E-mail Record Copy and minimizes the risk of having multiple copies of the same E-mail kept/cataloged into the system User's are only required to keep/catalog the last E-mail and all E-mails with attachment(s) in a chain of E-mails. - Again this is to minimize the risk of multiplication, without the loss of any E-mail attachments. All Transitory Messages (Records that are created primarily for the communication of information, as opposed to communications designed for the perpetuation of knowledge; Examples of Transitory Messages are: My Phone number is 555.555.5555 or Meeting reminders) and Personal Messages (Examples are: Discussion over lunch, out of work activities, professional association correspondence or Health issues) can & should be removed from you E-mail Account. - This minimizes the risk of Junk E-mails being kept/cataloged into the system and encourages the users to clear out their E-mail Accounts No user should write anything in an E-mail that they would not write on any other type of communication (Letter, Fax, etc..). - This is a important point to be made during any training session. Too often we hear about inappropriate E-mails hurting a Company or Agency. _____________________________ We catalog E-mails into our EDRMS (TRIM Context), but for the purpose of making the rules/guidelines a little more universal I changed the language from simply "cataloged" to "kept/cataloged." Furthermore I have the following recommendations: I would disallow the use of fancy colorful backgrounds. The Extra Storage requirement for one E-mail is not that much, but multiple that by the thousands of E-mails the user will send out with the background. I would work with IT on the setup of a "Public FTP Site" (Anybody internally can add/view files and anybody externally can view files) and a "Restricted FTP Site" (User Id & Password gets provided by a administrator to give access to specific part of the restricted FTP site.) Limit incoming E-mails to a total of 5 MB Have IT run a list of the E-mail Accounts with the current storage requirements. With that information you can pinpoint who needs to be encouraged to go through there E-mails and delete the ones that are Junk, Personal or just not there responsibility to keep. With that information you can also find out who is deleting simply all E-mails and needs to be encouraged to keep the E-mails that were created in connection with the transaction of official business. Final comment: I recommend you to go with a User based E-mail Management solution, if you go down the road of wanting to implement E-mail Management solution. Server based solutions are not Records Management solutions. They are quick solutions to the problem of archiving and recovery, but provide no real Lifecycle Management. MY 1 Cent (Sorry didn't have 2 to give) Simon T. De Witt Records Information Analyst Tampa Bay Water 2575 Enterprise Road Clearwater, FL 33763-1102 [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Singley, David Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 11:17 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [RM] Email Reduction All - I have been asked to research ways to reduce the volume of emails our employees send/receive in the course of business. I have found examples of companies that have issued writing guidelines (be concise, don't copy everyone, etc.) but am wondering if there is more that a company can do to enforce appropriate email usage. Perhaps an application of some sort. If any of you have been involved in implementing something similar, or if your company has something in place, I would appreciate your guidance. David Singley __________________________________________________ NNA Records Management Administrator Corporate Policies and Records Management Nissan North America, Inc. *: 615-725-3147; Fax 615-725-9515 *: [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]> List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance Tampa Bay Water scans all email for viruses, worms, and inappropriate material and blocks email deemed harmful or inappropriate. Email service is provided to Tampa Bay Water users for business purposes and is subject to public records laws. List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance