Compose

There are many ways to reach the Compose Message screen and draft an email there. The information listed in this article will provide additional context for writing emails in MerusCase once you’re already there.

To compose a new message from anywhere in MerusCase, click Messages in the main navigation bar and select Compose. If you’re already in the Messages area, you can also click the Compose button underneath the search bar.

From

The From dropdown menu will contain your MerusCase HIPAA-compliant email address and any synced private or shared outgoing email accounts. When sending emails through MerusCase, click on this dropdown menu to choose which email address the recipient will see when receiving the message.

To, Cc, Bcc, and Select Colleagues

There are a variety of ways in which you can add recipients to any message you compose in MerusCase.

1. The To: field can be used to enter a direct recipient of an email. Alternatively, click Cc or Bcc to copy additional email recipients on the message.

2. Start typing either the recipient’s email address or name. If they’ve been added in your firm’s rolodex as a contact, MerusCase will show suggestions as you type.

3. Either select an option as it pops up or simply finish typing an email address.

To add other users from your firm as email recipients, you can follow the above steps to fill in the email address. Alternatively, you can click Select Colleagues to quickly access the email addresses of all of the other users in your firm. Simply click on a name to fill their email address into the selected recipient field.

Subject, Priority, and Case

The subject line in a MerusCase message works in the exact same fashion as the subject line of any other email provider. The subject line is meant to provide context to the email recipient of the nature of the email.

The priority level of a MerusCase message can be set to Low, Normal, or High using the Priority dropdown menu. Priority level is handled differently by all email providers, so keep that in mind when using priority levels. In MerusCase, all incoming high priority messages will be listed in the inbox with red text.

The Case field is exclusively for MerusCase users. Entering a case name in this field and then selecting a case from the dropdown list will link the email to a case in MerusCase. Once you send the email, the message will be listed as an activity in the case in MerusCase. However, this case association is only visible to other users in your firm, so anyone outside of your firm will be unable to see the case link.

Adding Attachments

There are a wide variety of methods for adding attachments to emails. The methods listed below can be used in combination with one another to add many attachments to a message from multiple sources.

• To upload files from your computer, click the Upload button to navigate your computer’s local files to find the one(s) you wish to upload.
• To upload files from your computer another way, find the document on your computer, then drag-and-drop the file icon from your computer into the MerusCase email. Release the mouse to attach the file to the message.
• To attach a document already linked to a case, click From Case to access a list of case documents. Simply click on the document to attach it to the message. Alternatively, click Attach PDF Version to attach the PDF version of any MS Word documents.
• Messages can also be composed with files already attached by using the Forward Documents option in the Activity tab of a case. This will open a new message with any documents you’ve selected as attachments.

Once a message has attachments, these files can be renamed using the pencil icon found to the left of the filename. Additionally, to remove an attachment from an email, click the ‘x’ icon to the left of the filename. You may also click the cloud icon to download the document and hover over the filetype icon to see a preview.

Rich Text Options

Messages in MerusCase support rich text, which means the font can be formatted and modified for visual clarity. These options include Bold, Italics, Underline, Strikethrough, Font Style, Font Size, and Text Background Color (or Highlighting). Also available are Bulleted Lists, Numbered Lists, and multiple text justification options. Each of these can be utilized by selecting the text you wish to modify, then clicking the appropriate icon.

Hyperlinks, horizontal bars, and images can be inserted as well. Inserting an image requires that you enter a URL for the image, upload the image from your computer via the available button, or copy and paste said image into the body of the message.

To make these rich text options even easier to use, keyboard shortcuts are associated with many of the options.

• Bold : CTRL+B
• Italics : CTRL+I
• Underline : CTRL+U
• Strikethrough : CTRL+SHIFT+S
• Remove Font Style : CTRL+\
• Bulleted (Unordered) List : CTRL+SHIFT+NUM7
• Numbered (Ordered) List : CTRL+SHIFT+NUM8
• Undo : CTRL+Z
• Redo : CTRL+Y
• Hyperlink : CTRL+K
• Insert Horizontal Rule : CTRL+ENTER

Send, Send & Delete

Once your message is ready to send, you may have a couple of different options available to you. If you are composing a new message, you can simply click Send to send your email.

If your message is a reply to another message in MerusCase, you will have the Send & Delete option in addition to Send. Send & Delete will send your message as well as delete the original message from your Inbox, which is a useful option when you’ve entered a case for the message to be linked to.

Save Draft

The Save Draft option is also available if you need to close a message without sending it. By clicking Save Draft, a draft of the email will be saved in your Drafts folder. Also, note that MerusCase will Auto-Save (automatically save) your message as a draft while you are typing.

Discard

If you no longer need the message you are composing, the Discard option is available. Clicking Discard will close out of the message and delete the saved draft that have may have been Auto-Saved.