Within Inquiry/Mail, you are able to create queries from many data fields OR create mail merge letters/certificates.

Create/Modify a Letter

Letters may be created using the Create Letters menu selection. A list of letters already created by Cornerstone will appear. You may add a new letter by pressing Insert from this list. If you want to review or modify an existing letter, highlight the letter and press Enter.

Each letter must be given a unique name.

Letters are created utilizing tokens or Macro Fields to populate the relevant information into the letters. We also use this feature to generate certificates for insurance or municipalities that require information for registration or an alarm permit, pulling information such as service start dates, etc.

Enhanced Letters with Return Coupons

The enhanced letters can also be printed with a return coupon at the bottom for easy payment of amounts due. Click on the Printer icon in the Letter editing window to reveal the enhanced letter option "Print Using Quads" in order to add a coupon at the bottom of the page.

Using Macro Fields

To use the macro fields, simply right click and choose from the list of available macro fields. These fields have been used to create insurance certificates and alarm certificates.

You may then create the body of the letter. You may use any of the windows editing commands within this section (cut and paste using the EDIT Cut and Paste selections found in the EDIT menu). Word Processor formatting is also supported (RTF), this includes: typeface, font size, attributes, font color, justification, etc.

When you are finished creating or modifying the letter, select OK to save the letter. This will return you back to the letter list. Select Cancel to return to the Mail Merge Menu.

Cornerstone provides sample default letters that you can modify.

Create Post Cards

Post cards may be created under the 'Post Card' menu selection. Press Insert to add a new post card or highlight a post card that is listed and press ENTER to review or modify an existing post card. Each postcard requires a unique name to identify it.

Mail Merge

The Customer Inquiry / Mail Merge selection allows you to choose the type of document to print. You will be prompted for the following:

DOCUMENT TYPE - Select what type of document you want to use for this mail merge. You may select postcard, letter, mailing labels or email.

DOCUMENT NAME - If you select labels, postcard, letter, or collect (adds amount due to the regular letter), a list of the available documents will appear. Select the appropriate document to be used.

SORT BY - You may sort the mail merge by either customer name or zip code. This sort relates to all document types, including mailing labels and file export selections.

Use Bill-To Address - You may select whether to have the Customer's Billing Address/Site Address print when creating: Letters, Labels, or exporting the names to a dbase file. Select Yes, in order to use the Bill-To-Address (if the customer does not have a Bill-To-Address, then the site address is used). Select No to always use the standard site address.

Exclude? - You may choose to exclude customers who are identified as Do Not Call or who do not get statements. This is useful when generating collection letters - if you have not called them or sent a statement, they should probably not get a collection letter.

OK - Click OK to generate the search.

Cancel - Click Cancel to exit.

View Last Merge - Allows you to view the last search.

Mail Merge Email

1. Choose Document Type: Email
2. Delimit based on any of the Selection Ranges
3. The next screen will review the number of accounts selected to email and give you the opportunity to type a freeform email message and possibly attach a document to this email.

Note: Emailing 75+ emails will create a batch for Cornerstone to manage the output and timing of emails.

Mail Merge List

If you choose the LIST document type and choose to display this list on the screen, a customer list will be displayed. This list may be scrolled up or down by pressing the cursor keys or pressing the Page Up or Page Down keys. You may also scroll immediately to the bottom of the list by pressing the CTRL-Page Down keys.

The Mail Merge list is very useful to call customers for collection purposes, scheduling services that are coming due, or any other use that you may using the mail merge section for.

You may access the customer by pressing the ENTER key while that customer is highlighted on the list. Select the Cancel button to return back to the Customer Merge List.

If you select Send the Document to Printer, then a Customer List Report of the customers fitting the selection criteria can be printed.

Ideas for Using Mail Merge

The mail merge section can be a very powerful tool in helping you increase your service revenue. By making up various letters or postcards, you can promote the benefits of each of these services to your customers. The following are just a few examples of what can be done with the mail merge:

• Print/Email service notices for annual preventative maintenance inspections.
• Print/Email service notices for fire alarm system inspections (whether mandatory or preventative).
• Print/Email service reminders for battery replacements once every few years for each customer.
• Print/Email a letter explaining the benefits and features of a new or improved product and send out to customers that would be interested in that product, based upon their existing equipment installation.
• Print/Email a contract renewal reminder that explains their service contract is about to expire. Send to all customers whose contracts are expiring (generated monthly for contracts expiring each month so your customers stay current with their contracts).
• Print/Email notices to customers that are assigned to a specific central station explaining a policy change, or a rate increase will be taking effect as of a certain date.
• Generate a list or mail a letter to customers that have a high false alarm rate.
• Print/Email collection letters to accounts seriously past due.
• Create an email campaign for new products and services you offer.

These are just a few examples of how you can benefit by using the mail merge on an ongoing basis. If you use your imagination, you should be able to find additional sources of revenue waiting for you to tap by using the mail merge.

Customer Information Search Tab

The Inquiry/Mail Merge allows you to select numerous filters/selections prior to generating a list or letter. The below reviews the different fields you can filter on.

Acct Number Range - Allows you to select customers within the specified account number range. To select 1 customer, enter the same account number in the From and To fields.

Customer Name Range - Enter the beginning and ending customer name (last name). You may enter up to the first 7 characters of the customer last name. You may also enter just beginning letters to search for an alphabetic range (Ex: From=A, To=AZ will search all customers whose name starts with the letter A.)

Zip Code Range - Selects customers that live within the specified zip code range. Useful to do mailings to just certain geographic locations.

Route Range (MapId) - Selects only those customers that live in a predefined Area Map-Id. This field is found on the main customer screen and can be utilized for routing service jobs. You may use any coding system which works well for you.

Acct Start Date - Only selects customers whose installation dates (Active Since) are between these dates.

Acct Closed Date - Only selects customers that have been closed between the specified dates. The Customer Inquiry/Mail Merge search will IGNORE any closed accounts, unless specifically selected in this field as a date range.

# False Alarms - If you record false alarm information, enter the minimum number of false alarms to use as a trigger for mail merge selection. If a number is entered, then also enter the FROM and TO dates of the false alarms. For example, for a list of customers that have had more than 10 false alarms in the last year, enter the number 10 in this field, then enter the date range (ie: 01/01/95 to 12/31/95) in the FROM and TO fields.

Service - Selects customers that have a service reminder of the same type and date range. This selection can be very powerful, since there are many ways to take advantage of it. Every customer can have a list of service reminders that are either one-time or recurring. As an example, you can enter recurring service reminders for customers that are due for annual inspections, fire inspections, battery replacements, etc. These reminders are kept on file and may be used in this area to help send out notices or reminders to those customers whose services are now coming due.

Here is one example of how you would use the Service section: A customer has a service reminder on file for an annual inspection on the 1st of April for the next 5 years. It is now March and you want to send service notices to any customer that is due for an annual inspection in April. Each service reminder is categorized by the type of service to be performed, so let's assume this annual inspection is categorized with the word 'INSPECT.' You would enter the word INSPECT in this Service code field. Then enter the date range 04/01/15 To 04/31/15. When the mail merge searches through your customers, only those customers that are due for 'INSPECT' services during that date range will have notices mailed to them.

Tax Exempt - Selects the customers that you have identified as tax exempt.

Specific Selections

The SPECIFIC SELECTIONS section allows you to select customers based upon a match of values entered in any of the displayed fields. In some situations, the screen displays a list of possible values that can be entered.

Customer Town - Enter the name of the town to search for customers in that town.

Customer State - Enter the 2-characters state code to search for customers in that state.

County Name - Selects customers that live in a specific county. Select from drop-down list.

Account Type - Select from the drop-down list: Client/Prospect/Dealer/Other/Dead.

Property Type - Select from the drop-down list (Res/Comm/Othr)

Central Station - Allows you to select only those customers that are assigned to a specific central station.

Central Account Number - Finds the account(s) with the entered central station number.

Company ID (optional) - This field will only appear if you have purchased and installed the MultiCom module option. The Multicom module allows you to run multiple companies within the program and segregate all financial reports, billing, and servicing based upon each company. If this module is installed, this field allows you to use the Company ID on each customer's account as a selection in Customer Inquiry/Mail Merge area.

Email Address - To find a customer based upon their email address, enter the email address in the 'Email Address' search field. If you wish to find all your customers who have an email address, enter an asterisk (*) in this field. If you wish to find all of those customers who do not have an email address, then enter a pound sign (#) in this field.

Contract Information Search Tab

If you record Contract information on your customers, this section can be used to identify customers fitting specific criteria related to contracts.

To search for those customers with Contract Type or Contract Category codes entered, simply select the Contract Type or Category in the drop-down box. You can search on Contract expiration date ranges or contract values.

Contract Expires - These two fields will be identified by your selection in the Set System Defaults area. Select customers whose contracts have expired during the specified date range (based upon the contract expiration date). This selection can be used to send contract expiration notices to anyone whose service contract expired during the last month or is about to expire in an upcoming month.

Billing Information Search Tab

The search functions now allows you to exclude any customers who are marked 'Do Not Call' (located on customers general page) or set to not receive statements (see user defined field 'HRDCPY/NOSTMT'). These customers can be excluded if you are sending collection letters.

Next Billing Date Range - Selects customers whose next recurring billing will occur within the specified date range (searches all 6 Next Billing fields in the recurring charge screen of each customer).

Next Rate Increase - Selects customers who are due for a rate increase during the specified date range. This field is checked against the Next Increase date on the main customer screen.

Past Due (In Days) - Selects only customers whose account is past due the length of time specified in this selection. For example, if you wish to send a collection letter to just customers who are 60 to 90 days past due, then enter 60 and 90 as the Past Due range. (Note: in order for a collection letter to display the current outstanding balance, a Past Due range MUST be entered in this area).

Post-To Acct Range - Allows you to select customers that have a specific Post-To account number specified in the contracts and rates tab and/or in the recurring charges for feeder master accounts. This can be helpful to identify all work-sites that are billed to a specific 'dealer' account.

Credit Card Expiration - Allows you to find customers whose credit cards have or will be expiring within the date range entered.

Correspondence Date - Allows you to find customers who had letters or calls within a date range.

Corr. Next Step - Allows you to list customers who have a next step date by date range.

Specific Selections

Recurr Code - Selects customers that are billed for a specific recurring charge only (Ex: CEN/LEA/PAY etc.). Select the drop-down list for a list of valid recurring charge codes that have been entered into your system.

Search For Customers With/Without Recurring Charges

To find all customers with a recurring charge, enter an asterisk (*) in the Recur Code field of the Billing Information Search tab.

To find all customers that do not have a recurring charge, enter a pound sign (#) in the Recurr Code field of the Billing Information Search tab.

Billing Cycle - Selects customers that are billed for a specific billing cycle only. Select the drop-down list for a valid list of billing cycles (M/Q/S/A). Searches all 6 recurring charge lines per customer.

Late Fees - Find customers that have either Y or N value in the Late Fee field.

Billing Method - Search for customers with a specific recurring invoicing billing method: Printer/Visa/MasterCard/AmEx/Checking/Savings/No Print. Select the drop-down list for a list of valid methods.

Recur 1st or 15th - You can search for customers with autopay recurring charges set to occur on the 1st or the 15th of the month

Correspondence Type - Allows you to search customer records for customers who had correspondence by Type, e.g., Calls, Statements, Letters etc.

Corr. Next Step - Allows you to search customer records for customers who have Specific correspondence Next Steps, e.g., Call, Letter.

User-Field Search Tab

The User-Field Search tab contains many user-definable fields that may all be searched. These fields are determined by the user and are located in the Set User Definable Fields area in the Utilities menu. Several are set by Cornerstone.

Date Specific Fields - The first four fields on the User-Field Search tab are date-specific fields (these fields are found on the User-Defined tab of the main customer account screen). Enter a From and To date range to find customers with the appropriate dates in these fields.

Text Fields - Many of the fields on the screen are 'free-form' text fields. You may search for customers using these fields in the following manner:

• Enter an exact match of the value being searched for
• Enter the word NOT and then a space in front of the value being search for. This will find all customers that DO NOT have that particular value in that user-definable field.
• Enter an asterisk (*) in the field to find all customers that have ANY value in that user-definable field.
• Enter a pound sign (#) in the field to find all customers that DO NOT have ANY value in that user-definable field.

Validated Fields - The last 4 user-definable fields are 'validated' fields. This means that the values entered into those fields must match a list of valid values already entered into that field's validation list. To select a value to search on for one of these fields, click on the down arrow to display the drop-down list.

Equipment Search Tab

Since the Equipment List section of the program can be user-defined (Set System Defaults), this tab may be named differently.

Serial Number - A user-definable field. Allows you to select only those customers that have a specific range entered into this field. For example. If this field is used as a Serial Number field, you may find all customers that have a part with a serial number within a range of serial numbers.

Installed In - (User-Definable). Enter a value in the From and To range to find customers with that value in this field. Often used to specify the location of a piece of equipment installed at the customer site.

RMA Number - (User-Definable). Enter a From and To range to find customers that have that value, or enter the same value in the From and To fields to find a specific value.

Date Sold - (User-Definable). Enter a date range in the From and To fields to find all customers that had equipment installed during that date range (or any date range defined for this field in the Set System Defaults – Equipment List area).

Part Description - Selects customers that have a specific part installed by part description (must be identified on the detailed equipment list), or customers that DON'T have a part. This selection is useful to identify which customers have a part, especially for product update notices. You can send a notice to customers using a certain part to let them know the benefits of upgrading to a newer version. In order to select customers that don't have a part already installed, enter the word NOT, then a space, and then the name of the part.

Part ID - Select customers that have a specific Part ID listed in the Equipment List. Enter the word NOT in front of the Part ID to find customers that DO NOT have that part id in their equipment list.

Part Category - (UserDefinable). Select customers with a specific part category in their equipment list by clicking on the down arrow and selecting a valid part category from the drop-down list.

Printing Mail Merge Results

Remember, you can mix conditions. If a selection is not being used, do not enter a value in that field.

When printing the Mail Merge results, you have the option of printing your return address on letters and post cards. In addition, you may perform a test print to make sure the paper is lined up correctly in your printer. If you are printing a letter, you may select an 'Offset' if you are using your own letterhead paper. This allows you to adjust how many lines down from the top of page before printing begins in order to accommodate the size of your letterhead.

If you are printing labels, you may select the number of copies to print. This allows you to print multiple labels for the same name and address (you may select up to 999 copies).

When printing letters or collection letters, you also have the option to select EMAIL as the printing method. When Email is selected, each letter will be created as an Adobe Acrobat PDF document and attached to an email (address to the email address on file for each recipient of the letter) and emailed to them. If the accounts selected for letters do not have an email address, the letter will print to Uniprint instead.

Consolidated PDF allows you to print the letters as 1 large document of multiple pages to Uniprint rather than multiple print documents of 1 page each.

MailMerge Extract is CFI only, we use that for combining collection letters for printing through our mail house.

Ignore Multi-Company (optional feature) will use the main company name and address information instead of the individual names and addresses for each entity.

Need Help?

Still have questions? Contact Cornerstone Holding Co. 847-405-9517 or email us customer.success@alarmbills.com