Member Avatar for rapture

Hello all,

I have been tasked with figuring out a way to automate a form letter process that currently is done mostly by hand with a lot of copy/paste. We have letters that need to get sent out based on our internal system. Someone now looks up the items in the system, inputs the information into a form letter and mails it. That's the simple version.

I need to create a program whereby they can pull the information from the database and then choose the specific form letter (or combination of multiples) that they want to send and have it populate the letter with other information from the database.

Question is:
Is there a way to integrate this process into Reporting Services or do you have any other suggestions that I might research in building this project?

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Member Avatar for sknake

What is a form letter? Someone submits some kind of request and in turn you send them a form to fill out? And is the Copy/Paste you copying/pasting forms to (an email to them?) or are you copying/pasting data such as their name and address in to the form, then sending them a form already populated with some of their information?

Member Avatar for rapture

Thanks for the reply!

We have about 15 different basic letters we have to send out when a claim is denied. What I need to do is pull up from the datbase all denied claims and have the info to review and make sure a letter is needed. (customer might pull vehicle and it's not really a denial etc)

after reviewing information, then a letter is chosen and then I need to insert info from a customer table, claims table, carrier table and contract table into this letter at predetermined spots.

Right now we print off a list, then they go into the system in different places to look this information up and copy and paste it from our inhouse system into a word document.

I didn't know if there was a way to use reporting services or anything else to help automate at least some of that process...

Member Avatar for sknake

I don't know that reporting services is capable of doing what you want but Office has a mail merge feature that I think is capable of doing what you want to.

For something like this I usually write an application but i'm not sure how it could be fully automoted without writing one, its out of my area of expertise.... Sorry.

Member Avatar for rapture

Thanks for the advice, I've decided it looks like I'm going to have to write an application for it as well. I was thinking datagrid for intial view and then convert the items I need to a csv and use mail merge to incorporate it into the letter. Still not sure how to do all of it but had hoped there was something in reporting services. (Crystal reports has some ability to do this but I don't have a copy)

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