Knowledge File AEGEE Mail - General
Introduction
As of April 2009 520 mailing lists and 33000 email addresses are served in the @aegee.org domain. In order to provide functional system and useful services for our members, a lot of things need to be done behind the curtains. It is not only a matter of competent actions, continuous improvements, but also prompt reactions when problems arise.
To ensure smooth functionality, the persons involved in the AEGEE mail cooperate as much as necessary, do not contradict each other in public, respect collegial ethic, but also demonstrate responsibility. The responsibility is expressed in leaving no mails unanswered; ability to change the own mind; accepting criticism, avoiding repeating errors.
Cooperation
We want to simplify the life of our members, ensure high quality answers, and always provide prompt reactions.
To simplify the life of the regular members, there is one single email adress for all requests. When the request is answered, the mail is send from the same email address and a black carbon copy (BCC) is sent to the rest of the team. In this way everybody is ensured that the email is answered.
To ensure the high quality of the answers, these can be discussed internally before or after sending them. Discussing them after they are sent is only possible, when everybody who received the request, receives also the response.
Answers can be written in any language, provided that the recipient can understand it. A feedback to the user does not have to be in the same language, as the question.
To provide always prompt answers might seem impossible. However when the initial request comes to several persons and after some time somebody notices that the mail is not answered yet, another person has the possibility to proceed it.
Every email deserves an answer -- that is why we send response to every email (that is not related to AEGEE-L). The following procedure avoids unpleasant situations caused by overlooked emails: as long as the email is not answered, it stays in your Inbox folder. When an email is answered, move it to a subfolder. In turn you have in your Inbox folder all and only unanswered emails.
It is an exception to proceed an email longer than one day.
When an email arrives, whose subject is not concrete (e.g. "question", "help", "problem") adjust it to contain information about the case when replying. E.g. add "AEGEE-L /" at the beginning of the subject, when the mail is related to AEGEE-L. This makes easier for the other members of the mail team to identify what the email/case is about and to collate later correspondence on this case.
Please register an account at http://www.zeus.aegee.org/mantisbt/ and write us to include you in the mail group.
Services
To make all this magic with the cooperation happen, the persons involved in the mail business have a mailbox on aegeeserv. It can be accessed over IMAP or webmail.aegee.org. Sending mails can be done either via the webmail or using SMTP, as described at mail.aegee.org/smtp.
The Role of the AEGEE Address Book [obsolete]
Other documents
Apart from the general procedures, more specific documents are available:
Written in April 2009 by Дилян Палаузов.