Automating Email Signature Creation and Deployment

While the vast majority of our customers use our manual deployment process, we do offer a much more automated (push) deployment process on an as-needed basis. This process consists of three components:

• Signature Creation via Batch Processing
• Signature File Access via Downloadable ZIP Files
• Push Deployment to Outlook via Simple Installation / Configuration Script

Batch Processing of Signatures

When it becomes useful, we can utilize an employee spreadsheet to automatically generate email signatures in large batches. Typically this applies to new customers of ours who wish to go from zero to a lot of email signatures in the most efficient way. We will work with you on the formatting of the spreadsheet and then you can populate it with your employee data. We’ll then upload it into our system which will in turn generate your finished email signatures.

With all of your signatures created we help facilitate your scripted push deployment process via our well-organized signature file download routine.

Push Deployment

While the vast majority of our customers use our manual deployment process, automated (push) deployment is always an option when you require greater control and less hands-on user involvement. We facilitate this process by providing all of your completed email signature files in an organized and very easy-to-use fashion. This is via a URL you can use any time to download a ZIP file containing the up-to-date email signature files each user.

To see exactly how this works, here’s a link to a zipped collection of sample signature files for 57 users.

Push Deployment Via Windows PowerShell

While we do not directly support the scripted push deployment process, we have a number of customers who have used Windows PowerShell - based scripts with no apparent difficulty to push the deployment of the signature files we provide.

Note: Our zip downloads can be run with date-stamp parameters, /12 (for half a day), /24 (for one day), etc. This enables the downloading of only recently modified files, allowing the easy creation of a routinely running script designed to grab updated files and push them out, thus keeping signatures current for an entire firm. Combined with user-driven edits and updates via our simple online form, this becomes a super slick process for managing an email signature program of any size.

Sample Distribution Script

With the completed signature files available locally, the execution of the following simple deployment script should place the files in the proper “signatures” folder on user’s workstations, make the DigiTechBRANDING signature the default, and (optionally) lock the user out of editing the signature (or changing the default) themselves. Documentation of this script and the script itself follows (PDF files):

• READ FIRST - Getting Started with Auto Deployment of Email Signature Files
• Notes of Reference on Email Signature Deployment
• Script Walkthrough with Color Notes and Descriptions of Variables
• AD Based Email Signature Copy Script Text (the script itself)

Download the Script Bundle (3 Word documents and the script itself (as a TXT file - needs to be renamed to VBS in order to be run)

Note: This push-deployment script has been developed by a subcontractor - Empowered Systems Solutions. As written, the script will need minor tweaking in order to fit the specific environment of most end-users. The supporting documentation has been developed to assist in this process. Should technical support be required, it will be provided by Joe Warren, the script’s author and the owner of Empowered Systems Solutions. This support can be arranged initially through us. There may or may not be a charge to you, depending upon the scope of the agreement we have entered into with you.