United Nations Correspondence Manual - UNU

Electronic
communications
24
gram notation (for example, .doc or .wpd) for ease of downloading. To ensure receipt,
send very important files or messages by facsimile or on a diskette. As a
courtesy, do not transmit large files without prior approval of the addressee.
5. Storage
135. E-mail is subject to all United Nations rules and regulations governing the
conduct of official business through conventional methods. These include policies
for the retention of administrative and other inter-office correspondence, and appropriate
arrangements should be made to save e-mail messages if necessary. A printedout
copy of an e-mail message should be kept on file as a record for future reference
in routine administrative matters. Do not expect to store messages indefinitely on
the central e-mail system itself. As set out in information circular ST/IC/1997/11 of
4 February 1997, procedures have been established for the automatic deletion of
messages after specified periods of time:
(a) Messages that have been read and are in the Inbox and any messages in
the Message Log folder will be automatically deleted after 30 days;
(b) Messages in all other folders will be deleted after 90 days.
Archive messages to be saved for longer periods of time outside the central e-mail
system; do not use the system to store departmental or office archives.
B. Facsimiles
1. Use
136. A facsimile is an exact copy of a document or other written or printed materials
produced by electronic scanning and transmission of the resulting data.
137. Facsimile transmission is used to transmit a wide variety of correspondence
requiring urgent attention. It is the usual mode of communication between Headquarters
and duty stations in the field. Telephone exchanges and economical leased
lines between Headquarters and the different United Nations offices make facsimile
transmission increasingly cost-effective, and facsimile is now considered the most
convenient mode of communication by many United Nations users.
138. Official communications such as memoranda and other forms of correspondence
may be transmitted by facsimile. However, notes verbales should not be sent by facsimile.
Follow-up letters should be sent to confirm facsimile transmissions dealing
with matters with legal and financial implications. When letters to high officials are
transmitted by facsimile, the original letter should be sent by mail. When a communication
transmitted by facsimile is also sent by mail, some indication should be affixed
to the communication that the communication was sent by facsimile on a specified
date. This will help the recipient to avoid acting twice on the same communication. In
the case of other correspondence without legal or financial implications, it is not necessary
to send the original by mail; to do so may be confusing to the recipient.
2. Style
139. Costs of facsimile transmission are based on the number of pages and the number
of minutes required for transmission (instead of the number of words in the case of cable
messages). It is therefore not necessary to use the extremely abbreviated style appropriate
to cables. It is important, however, to be as clear and concise as possible.