Client Install: CodeTwo automatic email signatures for Microsoft 365

We recently completed a CodeTwo email signature project for an accounting practice on the Sunshine Coast, they are one of our maintenance & security clients who initially engaged us after seeing David speak at the IPA 2023 QLD Conference in Noosa.

One of our first projects with them was to undertake an email migration away from their web hosting service GoDaddy and we have since undertaken a range of services for them including SharePoint library setup, Microsoft 365 Email Security and Backups along with a rollout of new NUC computers.

Just prior to Christmas they got in contact to implement CodeTwo automatic email signatures for their staff, with the goal of having them in place in time to include their Christmas closure dates on the signature.

Here is a run down of what we did: 

The Requirements


As we mentioned, our client is an accounting practice, they have a busy team of 7 with a mix of client facing and back office support roles.

They had a few requirements for their signature design:

  • A concise and effective design with easy to read contact info 
  • Inclusive of their business branding and colour scheme
  • Position title for each staff member
  • Qualifications & Postnominals for each staff member
  • A dynamic link to Calendly that changed based on the email sender
  • Links to their social media and website
  • A banner with Christmas Closure dates

Here is how we did it....

The solution


We undertook the following as part of the project:

  • The setup of their CodeTwo tenancy
  • Linking their CodeTwo tenancy to their Microsoft 365 tenancy including authorisation of the CodeTwo app
  • Adding CodeTwo details to their SPF records so that outbound emails with signatures were not treated as spam  
  • The creation of groups within their Microsoft 365 tenancy to ensure only certain staff generated a signature when sending an email, in this case there were 2 groups, 1 group with staff members that had a Calendly link, and 1 group without a Calendly link
  • The design and coding of HTML signatures including:
    • links and individual icons to all of their social media including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, each icon was created in their main business branding colour - in this case, purple
    • creation of a Linktree account with a centralise landing page to all of the social media and website addresses for their business, this link was then added to their logo and banner image on the signature so if a recipient clicked them they would head straight to the Linktree page
    • links to the Calendly booking system, each link was unique to the email sender
    • placement and resizing of their logos and feature banner image
    • optimisation of all images to reduce the overall signature size
    • linking to Microsoft Active Directory to complete staff details such as name, title, postnominals and contact details.
  • The creation of Rich Text Format and Plain Text Format signatures to allow critical information to still be displayed if the recipient did not have HTML format turned on for their email client
  • Ensuring all the appropriate details for staff were updated in Azure AD such as phone number and title
  • Programming within CodeTwo to ensure only the latest signature displayed within an email trail and older ones were removed to ensure that the email size did not increase 
  • Testing of the signature across multiple platforms before implementation


Costs

We can undertake similar projects from $950 + GST per signature for setup and integration to Microsoft 365 and the subscription for the CodeTwo system, which is $300 + GST per year which covers up to 10 mailboxes and subsequent users are an additional $30 + GST per year each.  

Costs may vary for other projects depending on complexity of signature and number of staff.

Implementation 


The entire project was implemented in just under a week,  which allowed time for the client to review the proposed signature design and make changes, thorough testing was also undertaken across multiple platforms and the signatures were rolled out in stages to ensure that there was minimum disruption to their business.  

Outcome


Our client was very happy with the outcome of the project and has already sent through their updated banner image for the bottom of the signature to replace their Christmas one, the new one advertises their range of accounting and business services and will increase the marketing of these service to all of their clients and other email recipients.

Looking for automatic email signatures?


If you are looking to setup automatic email signatures for your business, just give us a call on 1300 778 078 and we will get you on your way to standardised branding.