In the November 2005 issue, Ayaz Rathore penned a great article entitled "Policy Improvements in IBM Lotus Notes/Domino 7" (http://My.Advisor.com/doc/17036). One of the article's central themes was the new level of control administrators have over mail policies, including the implementation of granular choices for message disclaimers. You know what I'm referring to: those nice little footers you get in e-mail messages from companies that will take your first born if you forward their message, or arrest you if they made a mistake in addressing it to you. Just kidding…of course, message disclaimers have a place in highly regulated industries, and are becoming more common and required by more companies.

If your company has adopted message disclaimers, you'll be pleased to know they work just fine when you configure them for use on a QuickPlace 7 server. You might not even think to try, because after all, it isn't the mail server. However, normal QuickPlace use can generate a lot of mail, and notifications from QuickPlace appear to come from the authenticated user who clicks on "Notify." So, if you have a message disclaimer policy for e-mail, consider setting it up for QuickPlace as well.

One thing to note: If you use QuickPlace with customers, be absolutely sure the language in the disclaimer takes that relationship into account. For instance, you can't say a message is the property of ABC Corporation when your customer at XYZ Corporation sent it. Not only would it be confusing to recipients, but it also might conflict with their own disclaimer policy. My suggestion: disclaim the disclaimer, and indicate on your QuickPlace disclaimer that "this message was sent from the collaboration platform operated by ABC Corporation by the sender indicated above…," followed by as much legal mumbo jumbo as you must add.

Go forth and collaborate!

-- Rob Novak, SNAPPS

This Advisor Tip was originally published in the January 2006 issue of LOTUS ADVISOR Magazine. Subscribers can get more Advisor Tips, Advisor Answers, and how-to advice on succeeding with IBM Lotus technology at LotusAdvisor.com.