Information Technology
Lyris List Manager Service
Information Technology Enterprise (ITE) of DAS (Department of Administrative Services) offers an e-mail service for mass-communications through the Lyris List Manager Service. That service is capable of sending e-mail messages to lists of recipients for any state agency avoiding duplication of effort to deploy multiple list serve applications across state government. Therefore, state agencies do not have to build this functionality on their own.
Key Features and Benefits
The Lyris List Manager technology allows end-users the ability to subscribe and unsubscribe from a list and automatically handles invalid email addresses. The lists on this server will offer a large degree of flexibility. Customers can have Announcement Only lists (press releases are one example of this). Discussion lists will allow participants to exchange commentary on a particular discussion thread. There are many other options available to meet most any need that could arise.
A list Administrator can be established for each list. That designee will have access to add, delete, and report on list members for their lists. Lyris can support any number of list administrators that are needed for each list. Lyris has a number of security features and subscribe/un-subscribe features. These are all configurable and can be changed at any time. Auto response documents can also be setup to customize your list’s look and feel.
The list manager process has a footer section that will describe for the customer how to unsubscribe. That footer will appear on all e-mails sent. The email recipient may unsubscribe by sending a blank e-mail back to Lyris or using the included URL with the click of the mouse they will be unsubscribed. The footer can also be customized to include specific information that you might want to relay on every e-mail.
If e-mail addresses/names are undeliverable for some reason, the Lyris list manager is capable of trying to resend the e-mail a several times during a 24 hour period. Once that time interval has expired then the member is flagged as having a potently bad address. After a configurable number of unsuccessful delivery attempts the member is placed on hold and then deleted 30 days later with no administrator intervention.
In terms of how people can sign up to be on a list service, the subscribe e-mail address or a subscription form can be published on a web page that can direct people to join various lists of interest regarding a particular topic. ITE currently has a fully automated list subscription service that gives end users the ability to join a list serve from a direct web link and offers a multitude of other options.
ITE has four individuals to provide support regarding the establishment, implementation and maintenance of the list manager service.
Procedure for establishing a list
The process for establishing a list and utilizing the ITE services is relatively simple. The steps are outlined below:
- Contact the ITE Lyris Team or the ITE Service Desk at 515-281-5703. ITE.ServiceDesk@iowa.gov
- Be prepared to answer a questionnaire related to what you want to do, whether you prefer a discussion list, broadcast list, etc. Also, be prepared to identify who will be the lists owner (list administrator). More than one person can be listed as a list administrator.
- Work with ITE on establishing the list. They will give you ideas for how you might populate the list and suggestions for the types of mass mailing processes and options that you have at your disposal through their service.
- You're ready, set and can go with your e-mails!
Fees for Lyris usage
Rate for list usage
- This rate applies based upon usage. The monthly rate is $0.005 per message unit sent. A message unit is the number of messages sent (in 20 kb blocks). If a list has 100 members, and the list owner sends 3 messages in a month, the cost would be $1.50 (.005 x 100 x 3).
- If a list is not used in a particular month, there will be no charge.
For further information, please contact:
ITE Service Desk , 515-281-5703 or 1-800-523-1174
Chad Hall, ITE 281-5649