Office Integration (Platinum Level Only)

Your Platinum Network service has been designed to give you the ability to integrate with Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel and Outlook. Click here for more information on integrating with Microsoft Outlook. You may export company information (including contact information) from the Network to an Excel spreadsheet. Further, you may export company contact information to create a Word mail merge template, where you may then generate form letters, envelopes and mailing labels.

Exporting Information from the Network to Excel

Exporting information from the Network to an Excel spreadsheet is accomplished by selecting the items you wish and clicking the Excel template link in the Mail Merge section near the top center portion of the page.

1. To export project, company and/or contact information, select the projects and/or companies from a search results list, or open the desired details tab that you wish to export from.
2. Click the Excel template link in the Mail Merge toolbar.



3. Choose whether to Open or Save your newly generated Excel spreadsheet.

Performing a Mail Merge Using Contact Information from the Network

To create a Microsoft Word mail merge using information from the Network you need to select the companies/contacts you wish to include and click the Word template link in the Mail Merge section near the top center portion of the page.

1. From a Company search results page or a Company's Contacts tab, select the checkboxes next to the items that you wish to use for a mail merge.
2. Click Word template from the Mail Merge toolbar.
3. Type in a File Name for your Mail Merge files and click Submit.

Note: Depending on your computer's security settings, you may be asked to allow an applet to run.



4. The Network has created two files for you: A Word template (.doc) file and an associated data (.xls) file. Click Save All To to select where on your computer you wish to save these files.
5. After you have chosen where to save your files, click OK.
6. Navigate to the folder where you saved your files and open the Word document (i.e., the .doc file) in Microsoft Word.

The following instructions are for Microsoft Word 2003. If you have a customized display, or are using a different version of Word, the instructions may vary slightly. Please refer to your Microsoft Word help pages for further clarification.

The document that opens contains instructions and hints.

Important: Do not close this document, as it contains the links to the data file created by the Network. To start with a blank page, select Edit > Select All from the Word menu and press the [Delete] key.

7. Open the Mail Merge task pane wizard by selecting Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge from the Word menu. The bottom of the task pane should read "Step 3 of 6."



8. At the bottom of the Mail Merge task pane, click Next: Write your letter.
9. Either paste in the text of a letter that you have previously created, or type a new letter.
10. You are now ready to insert your merge fields (the fields that are described in your data (.xls) file).
11. If necessary, display the Mail Merge toolbar by selecting Tools > Letters and Mailings > Show Mail Merge toolbar.



12. On the Mail Merge toolbar, click the Insert Merge Fields button (highlighted in picture above). The Insert Merge Field dialog box displays.



13. The available fields are those stored in your corresponding .xls file that was exported from the Network. Select each merge field you wish to insert into your letter and click Insert.
14. Edit your letter and merge fields as necessary. When you are ready to proceed, at the bottom of the Mail Merge task pane, click Next: Preview your letters.
15. Follow the instructions for the final steps of the Mail Merge wizard. You may preview each recipient's letter, exclude recipients, or edit the recipient list by clicking the associated buttons and/or links. (For further information about Word's Mail Merge features, see the Microsoft Word help pages.)
16. When you are ready to proceed, at the bottom of the Mail Merge task pane, click Next: Complete the merge. From here you may print your final merged document, or edit individual letters by clicking the associated links. (For further information about Word's Mail Merge features, see the Microsoft Word help pages.)