How we built a VBA and Outlook client-based E-mail automation tool

April 5, 2023

The Context

The client, a Multiple Sectors firm, wanted the TresVista team to create a tool to send out customized communication to intermediaries/employees/end-users, inside or outside their organization network. Communication may include pdfs/marketing material/pitch material directed for specific users. The client also wanted the team to amalgamate all the requests into one and creating a tool that can be leveraged across service lines and multiple requestors.

The Objective

To create an E-mail automation tool which amalgamates all the requests and sends out customized communication.

The Approach

The TresVista Team followed the following process:
• Understood how users were storing e-mailing data before sending bulk emails
• Designed the tool by utilizing the filetypes and data structure readily available with users
• Used VBA as the coding language for the tool because of ease of integration and access within Windows
• With each iteration the team integrated a feature that’ll be useful to most users, like adding multiple attachments or editing the email body within the application
• The final tool that was created utilized an Outlook client specifically designed to interact with VBA and
• Delivered low-latency workflows that are scalable based on our requirement

The Challenges We Overcame

The major hurdles faced by the TresVista team were:
• Product design and limitations within the excel framework
• Unfamiliarity to UI elements of the application
• Consolidating code across multiple projects, use cases and languages
• Researching features of other commonly used premium tools that are provided as a subscription service
The team overcame these hurdles by taking courses and upskilling on the user interface and user experience front. The team used the most familiar user interface that the user must be most accustomed to, used elements from Outlook’s icon and user interface library to make an application that looked the most familiar.

Final Product

 

The Value Add – Catalyzing the Client’s Impact

The TresVista team provided the client with an automation process which saved precious human work hours. Earlier, it took 2-2:30 minutes to send an email. With the tool, they could now send 200 emails in that same time. The automation also ensured that no errors crept in the process while sending out the files. The application had an Outlook like UI which provided ease of movement from Outlook to our automation.

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