Microsoft Word Integration

Applied Epic includes an add-in for Microsoft Word that allows you to add Epic data variables to Word documents, as well as performing other functions. You can also use the add-in to add employee signatures to Word documents by Servicing Role or by using Ask Variables.

Epic integration options are available in the Applied dropdown menu on the Add-ins tab in Word. If the Applied menu is not visible when you add or edit a template, select File > Options > Customize Ribbon in Word. Select Developer from the Commands and add it to the Main Tabs. Click OK to accept the changes.

1. From the Applied Epic Home screen, do one of the following:
• Click Configure on the navigation panel.
• Click the down arrow next to Home on the menubar and select Configure.
• Click Areas > Configure on the menubar.

From any other area of the program, do one of the following:

• Click the down arrow to the right of the Home options bar button and select Configure.
• Click Home > Configure on the menubar. The Configure screen displays.

2. Click Attachment on the navigation panel or Areas > Attachment on the menubar.
3. Click Templates on the navigation panel.
4. Open the template you want to edit:
1. To change the types of templates that display in the list, click the word Templates in the view filter and select an entity type.
2. In the list, click to highlight the attachment template.
3. Confirm that the Servicing/Billing checkbox is selected on the Associations tab.
4. Click Actions > Edit Template on the menubar or options bar. The template opens in Microsoft Word.

The following options are available from the Add-ins menu:

• Data: Use the Data tool to choose fields to merge into the template. Click here to view the full list of merge variables.
  1. Place the cursor at the point in the document where a variable should be inserted.
  2. Click the Add-Ins tab and select Applied > Data. The Data Field Selector window displays, and three main folders display by default. The Master Account Merge folder pulls data from the system, such as Contact, Policy, Account, and Marketing information. The General Data Merge folder is used to insert non-system variables, such as the current date. Use the Master User Employee Merge folder to insert information about the user performing the document merge, such as name, title, and contact information.
  3. Double click a folder to view subfolders. To go up a level, double click the folder with the arrow at the top of the screen.
     
     The folder structure in the Data Field Selector mirrors the arrangement of the data on different tabs and sub-tabs in the system; therefore, the click path you use to navigate between data variable folders is similar to the click path you would use to access this information when navigating through account or policy detail.
  4. When you find the desired data variable within the folder structure, highlight the variable and click Insert. When you are done inserting variables, click Cancel.
     
     Note: You can cut and paste variables within the Word document. You can also view the folder path used to access a data variable by highlighting it and pressing [Alt] + [F9]. Highlight the expanded data variable and press [Alt] + [F9] again to display only the variable name and hide the path.
• Ask Variable: Use the Ask Variable tool to place a variable that generates a prompt when the document or template is merged. For example, entering Enter your name as an Ask Variable prompts the person performing the merge, "Enter your name." That person's typed response is entered at the Ask Variable's location in the document.
  1. Place the cursor at the point in the document where an ask variable should be inserted.
  2. Click on the Add-Ins tab and select Applied > Ask variable. The Ask Variable Insertion window displays.
  3. Enter a description in the Variable name field. This is how the variable will be identified in the template. It cannot contain spaces or non-alphanumeric characters.
  4. Type the question that you want to ask the user in the Prompt field.
  5. Select the Default response checkbox to provide a default value. If the answer to the question will be the same in most cases, this may be helpful. Users will be able to override the default response when filling out the form if necessary.
     
     If you select this checkbox, enter the default value in the field below the checkbox.
  6. To include an Applied Epic data variable in either the question or the default response, click Add Epic Variable.
     1. The Data Field Selector window displays, and two main folders display by default. The Master Account Merge folder pulls data from the system, such as Contact, Policy, Account, and Marketing information. The General Data Merge folder is used to insert non-system variables, such as the current date.
     2. Double click a folder to view subfolders. To go up a level, double click the folder with the arrow at the top of the screen.
     3. When you find the desired data variable within the folder structure, highlight the variable and click Insert. When you are done inserting variables, click Cancel.
  7. Click Insert.
  8. A window containing the prompt and default entry displays. Click OK.
  9. The variable name displays in the document in a similar way to the merge data variables.
• If Statement: Use the If Statement tool to place a conditional statement in the document or template (for example, "If the policy’s Premium is > 1000, then print this statement. If it is less than this amount, print this other statement.")
  1. Place the cursor at the point in the document where an If Statement should be inserted.
  2. Click on the Add-Ins tab and select If Statement. The If Statement Insertion window displays.
  3. Use this window to define the statement, "If <Expression> <Operator> <Comparison expression> is true, then this. And if the condition is false, then that."
     • "If" is automatically part of the statement, so you do not need to type it.
     • Possible values for Operator are = (equals), < (is less than), <= (is less than or equal to), <> (does not equal), > (is greater than), and >= (is greater than or equal to).
     • If applicable, select the Numeric comparison checkbox.
     • You must fill out either the If Expression Evaluates as True or If Expression Evaluates as False field for the statement to be valid. If applicable, you may enter a value for each field.
  4. To include an Applied Epic data variable in the Expression, Comparison expression, If Expression Evaluates as True, or If Expression Evaluates as False field, click Add Epic Variable.
     1. The Data Field Selector window displays, and three main folders display by default. The Master Account Merge folder pulls data from the system, such as Contact, Policy, Account, and Marketing information. The General Data Merge folder is used to insert non-system variables, such as the current date.
     2. Double click the folders to view subfolders. To go up a level, double click the folder with the arrow at the top of the screen.
     3. When you find the desired data variable within the folder structure, highlight the variable and click Insert. When you are done inserting variables, click Cancel.
  5. To include an ask variable, click the Add-Ins tab and select Add Ask Variable.
     1. The Ask Variable Insertion window displays. Enter a description in the Variable name field. This is how the variable will be identified in the template. It cannot contain spaces or non-alphanumeric characters.
     2. Type the question that you want to ask the user in the Prompt field.
     3. Select the Default response checkbox to provide a default value.
        
        If you select this checkbox, enter the default value in the field below the checkbox.
     4. To include an Applied Epic data variable in either the question or the default response, click Add Applied Epic Variable (see step 4 above for instructions).
     5. Click Insert.
  6. Click Insert when you are finished.
• Replicate Commands: Replicate sections are used to list all scheduled items from a form in a proposal document.
  1. Place the cursor at the point in the document where a replicate command should be inserted.
  2. Click the Add-Ins tab and select Applied > Replicate Command.
  3. A pair of begin {BEGINREP} and end {ENDREP} replicate commands are inserted into the document. You can put any schedule field inside the begin and end pair to make that data available from your application.
  4. If you apply special formatting, such as bold text, to a replicate section, you must format the BEGINREP and ENDREP commands themselves with the same formatting. Begin your text selection on the line before the replicate command and extend it to the line following the ENDREP command. Because of the format in which proposal documents are stored, failure to encompass both commands makes it difficult for Word to determine where the replicate section begins and ends.
• Save & Exit

  When you are finished, click the X in the upper right corner, or click the Add-Ins tab and select Applied > Save & Exit.

Add Employee Signatures to a Template

While you can add data variables from the Applied Add-ins menu, employee signatures are not considered data variables, so you must perform a slightly different workflow to add them. You can add signatures to templates based on a Servicing Role or an Ask Variable. Once you create signature files containing employee signatures, you can set up your attachment templates to pull in this information automatically.

You must create the signature files used in the templates for each employee on a network drive or a shared local drive.

Setting up Signature Files

1. Determine a location on the network drive where the signatures file will be stored (e.g., h:\epic\signatures). If a network drive is not available, save files to the same path on each workstation’s hard drive (e.g., C:\epic\signatures). Keep in mind, however, that it is much easier to maintain the files on the network drive, where you can make any necessary updates to one central file, rather than updating the files on each workstation individually.

Save scanned copies of the employees’ signatures in JPG or PNG format to this network location, or to the location you selected on each workstation’s hard drive, if they are not already saved there.

2. Open a new Microsoft Word document.
3. Insert the employee's signature by doing one of the following:
• Navigate to Insert > Picture and browse to the signature file.
• Copy and paste the image into the document.
4. Optionally enter the employee's name below the signature, along with any contact information specific to the employee (e.g. direct phone number, extension, mobile phone number). You can use variables in the template to do this, or make this information part of the signature file.
5. Format the employee information. Keep in mind that this text will be inserted into documents based on the template that uses this signature exactly as it is formatted here. If your templates use a standard font and size (e.g., 12 pt. Calibri), make sure to use it for the text in this document as well.
6. Save your file to the location you selected in step 1 in RTF format with an easily recognizable file name (e.g., the Applied Epic employee code). This file name will be used in the template as a variable.
7. Repeat the previous steps for any additional employee signatures.

Inserting Signatures into Templates

Depending on the template and how you will use it, you can insert an employee signature in one of two ways:

• Insert a signature via Servicing Role

  Follow the steps below to populate an employee’s signature for any servicing role on the Servicing tab of Client detail. To add a signature to a template for an employee who is not listed in a servicing role on the account, follow the instructions in the Insert a signature via Ask Variables section instead.

  Note: You can only pull in an employee’s signature via servicing role when merging documents at the client level, not when merging documents in the Reports/Marketing area.

  1. In Microsoft Word, do one of the following:
  • Click the ¶ icon on the Home tab.
  • Press [Ctrl] + [*] on your keyboard.

  Visual indicators display for spaces, paragraph marks, and other white spaces in your document.

  2. Click Add-Ins > Applied > Replicate command. The BEGINREP and ENDREP variables display. Your cursor displays one space after the BEGINREP variable.
  3. Backspace once to remove the space after BEGINREP.
  4. Click Add-Ins > Applied > If Statement. The If Statement Builder window opens.
  5. With focus on the Expression field, click Add Epic Variable. The Data Field Selector window opens. Reposition this window so that you can view it and the If Statement Builder window simultaneously.
  6. Drill down to MasterAccountMerge > Account > Client Merge > Service/Billing > ServRole > ServicingRole. Select Servicing Role Code and click Insert.
  7. In the If Statement Builder window; select = from the Operator dropdown.
  8. Enter the desired servicing role code in the Comparison expression field. In this example, we will use CSR. For more information, see Servicing Roles.
  9. Insert your cursor into the If Expression Evaluates as True field.
  10. In the Data Field Selector window, navigate to the ServRole > Employee folder.
  11. Double-click Lookup Code and then click Cancel to close the Data Field Selector window.
  12. Click Insert and then Cancel to close the If Statement Builder windows.
  13. Insert the cursor directly before the ENDREP variable.
  14. Backspace once to remove the paragraph mark (¶) between the close brackets of the If Statement and the beginning of the ENDREP. Be careful not to select and delete the bracket itself. The entire variable is now on a single line, with no gaps between adjoining brackets.
  15. Insert the cursor at the end of the line, after the space following the ENDREP.
  16. Backspace once. There are now no spaces between the last bracket and the paragraph symbol.
  17. Press [Enter].
  18. Press [Ctrl] + [F9] to create a new set of brackets.
  19. Type SET CSR between the two spaces inside these brackets (in place of CSR, you may enter the Servicing Role code of your choice).
  20. Select "BEGINREP{ IF "CODE" = "CSR" "LOOKUPCODE" "" }ENDREP" (the first portion of your formula), and then drag and drop it between the quotation marks so that your formula looks like this:

  { SET CSR  "BEGINREP{ IF "CODE"  = "CSR"  "LOOKUPCODE" "" }ENDREP" }

  21. Insert your cursor directly before BEGINREP.
  22. Backspace once, so that your formula looks like this:

  { SET CSR "BEGINREP{ IF "CODE" = "CSR" "LOOKUPCODE" "" }ENDREP" }

  23. Insert your cursor at the end of the formula, before the paragraph mark, and press [Ctrl] + [F9] to create a new set of brackets.
  24. Type INCLUDETEXT H:\\<File Path>\\.RTF between the two spaces inside these brackets (In place of this example file path, use the file path for the directory where the files are stored, without the actual file name. The double-backslashes are intentional and required.)
  25. Insert your cursor before .RTF and press [Ctrl] + [F9] to create a new set of brackets.
  26. Type REF CSR between the two spaces inside these brackets, so that your formula looks like this:

  { SET CSR "BEGINREP{ IF "CODE" = "CSR" "LOOKUPCODE" "" }ENDREP" }{ INCLUDETEXT "H:\\<File Path>\\{ REF CSR }.RTF" }

  27. Click Add-Ins > Applied > Save and exit and test it.
  28. Test the template to confirm that your formula pulls in the employee signatures. If it does not, double-check your formula against the example above and delete any extra spaces or grammatical marks.
• Insert a signature via Ask Variable

  To add a signature to an Applied Epic template for a specific employee who is not listed in a servicing role on the account or policy detail screen, use Ask Variables.

  1. Place the cursor where the signature and employee contact information should be inserted.  
  2. Click Add-ins > Applied > Ask Variable. The Ask Variable Insertion window displays.
  3. Type Employee in the Variable Name field.
  4. Type Please enter the Employee Code for the individual signing this document (or a similar prompt) in the Prompt field.
  5. Click Insert.
  6. Click Cancel to close the Ask Variable Insertion window.
  7. Confirm that the following variable displays in the document:

  { ASK Employee "Please enter the Employee Code for the individual signing this document." \* MERGEFORMAT }{ REF Employee }

  8. Insert your cursor after {REF Employee} and press [Ctrl] + [F9] to create a set of brackets.  
  9. Enter INCLUDETEXT "H:\\Epic\\Signatures\\.RTF" inside the brackets.
  10. Highlight {REF Employee} and drag and drop this selection between & Signatures\\ and .RTF.
  11. The variable now looks like this:

  { ASK Employee "Please enter the Employee Code for the individual signing this document." \* MERGEFORMAT }{ INCLUDETEXT "H:\\Epic\\Signatures\\{REF Employee}.RTF" }

  12. Click Add-ins > Applied > Save and Exit.
  13. If prompted to save changes, click Yes.
  14. Test the template with different employees in the first servicing role to ensure that the signature populates. Make note of the file names you used to create the signature files originally. You must enter a valid file name when prompted, to enable the signature to display in the merged document.