You are here:

InterAction FAQs

 

Does the system collect client contact details from InterAction?

  • You can view InterAction lists and contact details from within Vx.
  • Client contact information is pulled in real time from InterAction by making a web call to the InterAction Application Server in exactly the same way as the InterAction Web Client.
  • This connection is authenticated with the Vx user's InterAction login and allows them to view all lists and contacts from within Vx that they would have access to if directly logged in to InterAction.

Once a mail out has been sent does the system add an IA activity to all relevant contact records?

  • Every email sent to an InterAction contact is automatically written back as an activity against that contact when the email is sent.
  • This is achieved by making a web call to the InterAction Application Server.
  • The activity is logged as being entered by the Vx user sending the email and the subject and optionally the unique id of the email are recorded.

If a sent email bounces back is an activity logged to indicate this?

  • The bounce-back address of all emails sent from Vx is set to a special bounce-back mailbox.
  • This mailbox is read periodically by Vx and the bounce-back are process and written back to both the Vx database and as an activity against the InterAction contact.
  • If a contact unregisters from receiving communications can they be added to a 'do not contact' folder in InterAction & removed from the marketing list?
  • Clicking on an unsubscribe link in a Vx-generated email automatically marks the user as unsubscribed from the relevant list in Vx.
  • This can be written back as an activity against the contact in InterAction and the contact is automatically removed from that marketing list and added to a specified ‘do not contact' folder in InterAction.

Does the system create an IA activity in the event of an email being opened and a link being clicked?

  • Each HTML Vx email contains a tracking image used to determine if a recipient has opened the email.
  • Once the image is downloaded an activity is written back to InterAction to indicate the email was opened.
  • If a link is clicked, Vx uses link redirection to track the link that has been clicked, write it back to InterAction and take the recipient to the web page they requested.
  • If they are not yet marked as having opened the email (because their email client is not set to download images) they will be marked as having opened the email.
  • Each link click can be logged as a separate InterAction activity, if required, linked by email subject or unique id.
  • Alternatively, it is possible to write all link-click activity for a given email into a single InterAction activity against a contact with the list of links clicked and date/time stored in the notes, and the total of links clicked stored in the activity summary.

Is the system a browser based solution accessed through a user log on & password?

  • Vx is 100% browser based with no software installs required.
  • Access is through an email address and password.
  • Users can be authenticated via the Vx SQL database or through Active Directory or other LDAP service.
  • Authenticated users are provided with a secure session key or token which can be held in a cookie or query-string if cookies are not enabled for the user.

Does the user interface have a wizard or step by step approach to ensure ease of use?

  • The Vx user interface is extremely easy to use, requires no technical or design skills and guides the user through each step of the process.
  • Does the system have the facility for marketers to save their work and return to it at a later date?
  • New emails created are automatically saved in the system and can be returned to at any time.
  • All edits can be previewed and saved or discarded before sending the email.

Can users select a pre defined template from a view listing different template styles?

  • The first step in the process for a user is to select from a range of pre-defined templates that can be created and managed by an administrator.
  • The user can preview the template and switch to a new template if required.

Can predefined email templates consist of non-editable zones and lock the font and style of text/content inputted into these zones?

  • Each email template can be tagged with editable and non-editable zones.
  • Font styles can be locked through CSS styles built into the template that ensure that text can only be input in a preset style.

Do the email templates accept text in different languages?

  • The Vx text editor can handle foreign languages and foreign character sets and includes an editable spelling and grammar checker in a variety of languages.

Does the system have an image library and banner library for the marketers to choose from?

  • Vx has a built in image library that can be split into containers according to department, country, sector or other grouping.
  • Each container can contain unlimited folders with unlimited images* grouped according to your requirements. (*dependent on your storage capacity)

Does the system have the ability to restrict image/banner library access to certain contact groups? (e.g. Sectors/Services only able to see their own images)

  • Users will automatically open up in their image library container when replacing an image in Vx and will not be able to view images that they do not have access to.

Can image/banner libraries be controlled by the design studio?

  • Image libraries can be locked down so they can only be managed by user with sufficient access rights.
  • Images can be moved and copied between image folders and libraries by image administrators.

Is the system will able to preview the email in different email platforms before it is sent?

  • Vx provides previews of the email in different emails through the Litmus testing service.
  • This is able to display the email in your choice of the following email clients:

Desktop email clients

  • Apple Mail 3
  • Apple Mail 2.1
  • Lotus Notes 8
  • Lotus Notes 7
  • Lotus Notes 6.5
  • Outlook 2007
  • Outlook 2003
  • Outlook 2002/XP
  • Outlook 2000
  • Thunderbird 3.0 Beta
  • Thunderbird 2.0

Web-based email clients

  • AOL Mail
  • Gmail
  • Gmail (older version)
  • Live Hotmail
  • Mail.com
  • Mobile Me
  • Yahoo! Mail
  • Yahoo! Mail Classic
  • You are able to see what the email looks like with images switched off, how much appears in the preview pane (above the fold) and how much of the subject will appear.

Does the system allow users to run spam checks, highlighting content which could effect delivery rates?

  • Vx uses the Litmus testing service to provide a spam rating against the major anti-spam providers.
  • This checks the email in the following spam filters:

Desktop spam filters

  • Apple Mail 3
  • Apple Mail 2
  • Outlook 2007
  • Outlook 2003

Server-side spam filters

  • AOL
  • Barracuda
  • Brightmail
  • Gmail
  • Hotmail
  • MessageLabs
  • Postini
  • SpamAssassin
  • Yahoo! Mail
  • Yahoo! SpamGuard Plus
  • This provides a report indicating what is causing the problem with the spam filter so it can be corrected.

Can the user interface track:- unique & repeat read/open rates, soft & hard email bounces (these must be sorted by domain), unique & repeat Link clicks and page visits, how long the recipient spends on each website page (if they have clicked a link)?

  • Vx provides a reporting tool that displays reports in tabular, graphical (JPG and animated Flash) and Excel formats.
  • Standard reports are provided including:
    • Unique and repeat open rates
    • Bounce-backs including soft and hard
    • Unique and repeat link clicks
    • Page visits after clicking an email link (automatic if a Vx page - requires tracking code for an external website)
    • Length of visit
  • Each report can be sorted by date, domain, recipient and value.
  • Custom management reports can be created by combining individual reports and these can be generated in PDF format and saved as reusable templates.
  • As part of the consultation we will set up a dashboard that contains your most commonly required reports.

Does the system allow recipients to log on the website and amend their contact details and profile preferences (such as newsletters)?

  • Vx generates a dynamic profile page for each InterAction contact that displays an editable form with selected fields from InterAction.
  • Updates to this form are written back to the contact in InterAction.
  • This page can be pushed out to selected contacts in the form of a link in an email with a secure token.
  • This token can be set to expire after a pre-determined period of time.
  • All data updates can go through your usual data change management process and are marked in InterAction as being made by the user sending out the email.

Once logged in will clients be able to specify their preferences? Will these then feed into InterAction as additional fields?

  • Clients can also reach their dynamically generated profile page through a Vx login page but will need to authenticate either against the Vx user database or other authentication service.
  • You have indicated you may want this to run off your main website in which case some integration work would be required for this to operate directly from the site without using either a link or an iframe.

Does the system log if the recipient would prefer to receive HTML or plain text emails?

  • InterAction will be set up with a field to indicate the type of email a recipient would prefer to receive.
  • Vx will use this when deciding what format to send.
  • It is assumed that this is a global setting for the recipient but could also be configured a list level if required.

Can the system send both HTML and plain text emails?

  • Vx can send both an HTML and plain text version of an email using multipart format. Alternatively the email can be sent according to the user's preferences. Note that open rates cannot be tracked for plain text emails.
  • The system must allow users to create surveys using a questions and answers template

Will the system send emails that can be printed or displayed on mobile devices?

  • Vx email templates can be designed for mobile platforms by keeping the design simple and following some basic principles.
  • In the next couple of month the Litmus testing service will also include the most popular mobile devices including Blackberry, iPhone and Windows Mobile.
  • Can the system allow marketers to specify different email 'senders' (sponsors listed in IA)?
  • Vx can generate emails from different senders.
  • This can be based on the sponsor of the list as stored in InterAction or from a preset list of email addresses that the Vx user is permitted to use.

Does the system have a work flow to allow certain users to approve communications before they are sent?

  • Vx has built in workflow and approval that allows editors to create emails that have to approved by publishers or administrators.
  • The approver is notified by email and can click on a link in the email to directly view the email waiting for approval.
  • They can choose to approve or reject the email and the creator is notified.
  • Approved emails can be sent either by the original creator or by the approver depending on your preferences.