A powerful feature included with Microsoft Word is the ability to perform a mail merge. A
mail merge allows you to create a form letter that contains personalized information for
the recipient. An example would be a letter announcing a new product to your customers.
While the main components of the letter will remain the same for everyone, the address
and greeting is personalized for the customer.
A mail merge consists of two components, the template (for example, a letter), and a data
source (a recipient list that contains names,addresses,phone numbers etc.)
You can use the FaxTalk Merge Macro to use Word's Mail Merge feature to send fax
merges. To do this, you must first create a Microsoft Word mail merge document. Each
document is faxed to the destination based on the data you have provided in the
Microsoft Word mail merge. To fax a mail merge you must first create or have an existing
mail merge document linked to a data source. The mail merge data source can be
Outlook contacts, Hotmail/Live contacts, an Excel spreadsheet, a SQL database,
Microsoft Access, or any other source that is compatible with Microsoft Word mail merge.
NOTE:Before you attempt a fax merge, you should familiarize yourself with how
the Microsoft Word mail merge works. For more information, see your Word
documentation or the Microsoft Web site. The following links have been provided
for your convenience:
Mail Merge Tutorial for Microsoft Word XP/2002/2003, visit this link
Mail Merge Tutorial For Microsoft Word 2007, visit this link
If you are already familiar with the process of creating a mail merge, the fax merge is not
much different.
First, create your merge document with the appropriate design & merge fields you want
to display on your fax. Once the layout of your document has been completed, click on
the Fax Merge icon (or menu item). From the FaxTalk Merge dialog, select recipients and
options for the fax merge and click Merge to start sending. If you already are familiar with
mail merge, and already have a merge document created for faxing, you can skip to the
topic Sending a Fax Merge.
If you are not familiar with the process of mail merge, it is recommended you review how
a Microsoft Word mail merge works. The FaxTalk Merge Macro is a similar process.
The following steps for Microsoft Word XP/2002/2003 and Microsoft Word 2007 will guide
you in creating a new merge document, and if you do not already have one, a new data
source that you will populate with names & fax numbers.
The steps that are outlined here are an example only, so you can familiarize how to
create a mail merge document in Microsoft Word.
Create the mail merge document in Microsoft Word XP/2002/2003
1. In
Word XP/2002/2003, click Tools, and then click FaxTalk Mail Merge. Click OK.
The Mail Merge Helper dialog box appears.
2. Under Main Document, click Create. Select Form Letters from the list.
A Microsoft Word query dialog box appears.
3. Click Active Window. The Mail Merge Helper dialog box reappears.
4. If you already have a data source, such as a Microsoft Access database or an
Excel spreadsheet, click Open Source, locate and select the source file, then
proceed to step Set up the merge document in Microsoft Word
XP/2002/2003.
5. If you do not have an existing data source, under Data Source, click Get Data,
and then select Create Data Source from the list. The Create Data Source
dialog box appears.
NOTE: You cannot select a FaxTalk phone book as a merge data source, you
can export any existing FaxTalk phone book to Comma Separated Values (CSV)
format. You can then select the exported CSV file as your merge data source.
Select the option to include field names when exporting the phone book from
FaxTalk.
6. Remove and add field names in the Create Data Source dialog to create
database headings. To change the order of the fields, select the field and click
the Move arrows. You must add a field for fax number when merging to FaxTalk.
7. Once the fields you intend to use are set up, click OK. The Save Data Source
dialog box appears.
8. Select a folder and give the file a name. For example:
Folder: My Documents
File Name: SAMPLEMERGE.DOC
9. Click OK. A Microsoft Word query dialog box appears
10. Click Edit Data Source. A Data Form dialog box appears and displays the fields
you created.
11. Fill in the appropriate recipient information. Click Add New to enter further
recipients.
12. Once
you have finished entering recipients, click OK. A merge field toolbar
appears above the Word document.
Set up the merge document in Microsoft Word XP/2002/2003
1. Place the cursor where you want information from the database to appear in the
Word document.
2. Click Insert Merge Field. Select the appropriate database field from the list that
appears.
3. Create the document in Word and repeat step 2 for each merge field you want to
have appear on the fax document.
4. Save your document, you have successfully created a mail merge document.
NOTE: Merge fields may appear anywhere on the document and you can have
multiple sections and page breaks.
NOTE: It is not necessary to send all the merge fields to FaxTalk. Information
that is common to all recipients, such as your company name or address should
be typed on the document itself.
Create the mail merge document in Microsoft Word 2007
1. Click on the Mailings Tab.
2. In the Mail Merge group, click Start a Mail Merge icon.
3. Select Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard.
4. Select
document type: Letters and click Next.
5. Select starting document: Use current document
and click Next.
6. Select the recipients from an existing list, Outlook contacts, or type a new list.
If you already have a recipient list (a data source), such as a Microsoft Access
database or an Excel spreadsheet, click Use an existing list, then click Browse
to locate and select the source file.
NOTE: You cannot select a FaxTalk phone book as a merge data source, you
can export any existing FaxTalk phone book to Comma Separated Values (CSV)
format. You can then select the exported CSV file as your merge data source.
Select the option to include field names when exporting the phone book from
FaxTalk.
7. If you do not have an existing recipient list (data source), click Type a new list,
then click Create.
Once the fields you intend to use are set up, click OK. The Save dialog box
appears. Enter a filename, and save your recipient list.
8. Click Write your letter.
Here you write your letter and include what information your fax merge will
contain. Include any merge fields you would like to appear on the fax.
9. Place the cursor where you want information from the data source to appear in
the Word document.
10. Click Insert Merge Field. Select the appropriate database field from the list that
appears.
11. Create the document in Word and repeat the previous step for each merge field
you want to have appear on the fax document.
12. Save your document, you have successfully created a mail merge document.
NOTE: Merge fields may appear anywhere on the document and you can have
multiple sections and page breaks.
NOTE: It is not necessary to send all the merge fields to FaxTalk. Information
that is common to all recipients, such as your company name or address should
be typed on the document itself.
