If you’re the person in your department responsible for sending out information to other staff or students, you’ve probably wished there was another way to make the process a bit easier and faster.

Well there is, and the system’s called Sympa (Systeme de Multi-Postage Automatique (i.e. Automatic Mailing System)). Sympa is perfect for administering and sending out mass e-mails, very easy to use and can also handle mail merging if needed.

If you’ve used Outlook to send emails to large group of people up till now, you would’ve noticed it limits you to 120 addresses. Sympa allows you to send to an unlimited amount of addresses. You can also create multiple lists and choose descriptive names for your lists. Just remember, the list’s name is also the email address you’ll be sending your mails from, so choose wisely.

To create a  sympa distribution list, go to http://sympa.sun.ac.za and click on the “create list” tab. Rember to fill in all the fields on the form.

Alternatively, if this looks too daunting for you, you can put in a request at our service desk at help@sun.ac.za with the following information:

1.            Who is the owner and responsible person for the list?

2.            Who is allowed to send emails to the distribution list?

3.            Should the list be visible or hidden on the Global Address List?

4.            Should there be an expiry date on the list? (For example for conferences, etc. )

5.            Who should be  members of the list? (full list of user names in xls/xlsx format)

6.            Who is requesting the distribution list?

7.            Who is allowed to change the distribution list? (For example add names, etc.)

And before you say “Sympa!”, you’ll be able to send e-mails to your heart’s content. More information on Syma – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympa

SOURCE: Pablo Korkie en Johan Loubser, IT