GPO/InTune and Stamping Hybrid Launch Guide - Everything You Need To Know
- 23 Feb 2024
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GPO/InTune and Stamping Hybrid Launch Guide - Everything You Need To Know
- Updated on 23 Feb 2024
- 5 Minutes to read
- Contributors
- Print
- DarkLight
- PDF
Article Summary
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Overview
Deploying plain text signatures via Microsoft's Group Policy or Intune while also activating signatures for all other clients and devices through stamping is a hybrid deployment style, seamlessly working together to onboard employees with beautiful email signatures on every corporate email from any device.
Prerequisites
- Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Intune)
This device should be Azure AD-joined, and the user should be signed in using their Azure AD account. - Group Policy
The device should be domain-joined (on-premises), and the user should sign in using their domain user account.
GPO/Intune Script Deployment Explained
Applies the Opensense plain text signature block to Outlook desktop signature settings for users as scoped by a script. GPO/Intune are Microsoft tools. GPO is used for domain-joined computers, while Intune can be used for Microsoft 365
Deployment Pre-Requisites
- On launch day, your System Admin will run a script for the initial launch. The script can then be used for ongoing employee onboarding
- Coordinate deployment time and date with your IT department
Deployment Tips and Best Practices
- We can supply you with a script, just ask your Customer Success rep.
- Best day to run script: any day, after peak email hours.
End User Experience
- Nothing to do, as this is a touchless onboarding experience 🙌🏻
- The Opensense signature will be assigned as each user's default signature in their Outlook desktop app once the script is run (Confirm with your technical team if they have modified the script and what, if any, other behaviors to expect).
- The signature will appear as plain text in Outlook, and the recipient will always receive a beautiful email signature design that is centrally managed by Marketing. Your branded Opensense Signature Instructions document showcases this transformation.
Stamping Explained
Stamping appends a signature to all emails from any device, after the email is sent. Stamping will only add a signature when a plain text signature block is not already present in the body of the email
Deployment Pre-Requisites
- On launch day, your System Admin adds users to an Azure AD group (commonly named "Opensense Stamping"). This activates email signatures for the specified users.
- Coordinate deployment time and date with your IT department
Deployment Tips and Best Practices
- Best day to deploy: any day, off-peak email hours.
- Adding users to the stamping group in the Microsoft Exchange Admin Center can take up to 48 hours to fully adjust, though it typically happens much quicker. This is on the Microsoft side, unrelated to Opensense. Consider adding test users to confirm how long it takes in your environment.
End User Experience
- Employees will need to remove their old signature from their devices if they had one (otherwise, you run the risk of having two email signatures)
- Upon deployment, emails sent from their corporate email address(es) will have the Opensense signature "stamped" onto the email after the email is sent.
- No signature will be visible in the body of sent emails
Internal Launch Communications (send 3 days before launch)
Properly communicating the Opensense launch can make the difference between receiving a few support emails, or way more than necessary if it's done poorly. To make it as easy as possible for you to take flight, here's an email example to get you started with your launch communications!
This email template was submitted with love by one of our customers who have successfully launched their email signatures! It's a great place to start, but remember that your email communication should be customized to your unique use case before sending out. This is the best time to prevent confusion for the end user. Additionally, we have highlighted any items that need to be personalized before sending out.
Launch communications should be sent 1-3 days before the day of launch. Bonus points for showcasing your new company signature even sooner than that on an all hands meeting!
If you have a launch communication email that you are proud of feel free to send it to your customer success manager so we can add it onto our knowledge base to help others!
Email Template
To: All Employees
Subject: Standardized Corporate Email Signature
In an effort to present a stronger unified brand to our customers, we will be implementing a standardized email signature for all employees. Using a service called Opensense, the marketing team will now centrally manage the style and format of email signatures while employee contact information will be synced from our company directory. This ensures that our corporate email communications will have a consistent appearance going forward.
This means your email signature on all emails from any device will be beautiful, up-to-date with all of the latest messaging, and best of all, there is nothing to do on your end! Our IT team will be enabling a policy starting on XX/XX/XX that will automatically update your email signature in Outlook next time you log in. When sending from a mobile devbice, the email signature will append automatically after you send an email. If you have an existing signature on your mobile device, please turn it off.
Finally, due to contact information being synced with our company directory, any changes made directly to your signature block will be overwritten by directory info when sending email. If your signature contains incorrect info, or your require any other assistance setting up your email signature, please contact our IT Helpdesk for support: help@ABC.com
Highlights of the new email signature block are:
Change Requests
Do not add quotations, tag lines, former acquired company names, memes, videos, alternate legal disclaimers, Manufacturer logos, certifications etc. If you believe that you have a legitimate case for adding or changing something on your signature block please get approval from your manager, place an IT service ticket stating what you want and your request will be reviewed by Marketing for consideration. Do not make changes on your own. Thanks for your cooperation.
The signature will appear as plain text when sending an email, and the recipient will always receive the branded email signature design that is centrally managed by Marketing. You can send yourself a test email to your personal email or a colleague to confirm it's working as expected before sending an external email.
Whenever deploying the Opensense Signature in Bulk:
- Announce on an all hands meeting for an engaging launch
- Reduce internal support requests by sending a reminder email (or two!) leading up to launch
- Support requests tend to subside after a week or so after launch
Optional: Push email signatures to Outlook Web Access (OWA)
If it's important to you to deploy signatures to Outlook Web Access, You can find out how to do this in our guide to pushing signatures to OWA. From the end user's perspective, this will be the same touchless experience they will have with Outlook Desktop. The only action required here is a page refresh if they are already logged in.
Placement Issues (Stamped signatures)
Rarely, customers will encounter placement issues, where the stamped signature may be applied at the footer of the email thread instead of in the last message sent. If you encounter this or notice the signature is being stamped on somewhere it shouldn't be, please follow this guide for placement issues.
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