Communications and internet usage policy

Background
General communications guidelines
Telephone and voicemail communications guidelines
Fax and memoranda guidelines
Email guidelines
Internet guidelines 

Background

To provide quality service to clients VLA staff are required to communicate with each other and clients efficiently and effectively. Communication may be in person, by telephone, fax, memorandum, email or Internet. How you communicate will depend on the content of your message and the circumstances of its communication.

VLA’s policies are intended to promote a professional work environment for all staff. Breaches of VLA’s communications or sexual harassment policies could lead to disciplinary procedures being taken.

General communications guidelines

All communications should be:

• polite
• concise
• appropriate
• free from objectionable language
• professional and careful
• related to VLA business and addressed to the appropriate person.

For example, don’t send a complaint via email directly to the Managing Director just because you can if he/she is not the person who has the responsibility to deal with it.

Telephone and voicemail communications guidelines

Quick and effective communication is an essential requirement for any successful business or service agency. Dealing promptly with incoming phone calls is particularly important for effective client service.

You should always identify yourself when answering phone calls, contacting other staff or transferring calls.

System options

Divisional Managers will determine whether queuing, hunt groups or voicemail are most appropriate for work groups where staff members cannot answer their telephone in person.

Hunt groups

Hunt groups provide the facility where if a telephone is not answered the call diverts to the next extension. This can be repeated a number of times. It is appropriate where there is a team all of who are likely to be able to deal with the callers’ queries or all of who are able to take messages for the other members of the group.

A call should not be transferred three times in a hunt group and then end up with voicemail. It will be necessary to stagger staff breaks to ensure this does not occur.

Call forward

You must advise the person to whom you are directing your calls to that you are doing so and ensure that they are available to answer calls.

Messages

Voicemail messages should always indicate:

• the name of the person whose telephone it is
• the telephone number, and
• that it is VLA.

It may be appropriate to provide a further option such as the name and extension of another staff member who may be able to assist.
A sample message is:

'You have called Doris D Lawyer at Victoria Legal Aid on 9269 0000. I am at Court today. If you leave a message after the beep I will return your call. If you need to speak to a lawyer urgently you can telephone Very Helpful on 9269 XXXX.'

Messages:

• should be professional and brief
• should be returned as soon as possible and always within one working day.

Fax and memoranda guidelines

All faxes and memoranda should:

• identify the author and intended recipients:
• be in plain English
• cite all quotes, references and sources
• be concise
• avoid the use of acronyms and slang
• comply with VLA’s style guide

Email guidelines

email messages are a record of discussion and decision. They record events, actions and decisions. You should treat them as any other communication, such as notes of telephone conversations, faxes and memos. Email messages are regarded as documents for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act and may be used as evidence in some cases. Email messages should be subject to the same good record keeping practices as letters, memos, and faxes.

Content

All email communication should:

• comply with communication guidelines set out in paragraph 2
• contain a relevant subject title
• not have graphics, cartoons or videos circulated as attachments
• avoid excessive use of capitals for emphasis (which is the email equivalent of shouting)
• only be sent as high priority for urgent items
• not be offensive or harassing.

Unacceptable messages include messages which are abusive, aggressive or anti-social as well as messages which are harassing, rude, bullying, upsetting, unduly sarcastic or sexually or racially unacceptable. Remember that email can also be forwarded on to a staff member whom you did not intend to see it.

Identification

Staff should adopt the practice of signing all external emails to promote the professional image of VLA as an organisation. Typical details to include are sender’s name, position, phone and fax number and email address – for example.

Regards,
Mr Firstname Surname
Position
Victoria Legal Aid
Melbourne
VIC 3000 Australia
Tel: (03) 9269 0XXX Your extension
Fax: (03) 9269 0XXX Your nearest fax
Your email address eg firstnameinitial@vla.vic.gov.au

It is not necessary to display the VLA website address, as it is included in a disclaimer at the base of external emails automatically.

Disclaimer

External email automatically carries the following disclaimer:

“This email and any attachments are confidential and may contain legally privileged information. They are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and must not be copied, circulated or disclosed to anyone without the sender’s consent. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, circulating, printing, or copying of this email and any attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please advise via reply email to the sender. Please destroy the original transmission and its contents.”

Monitoring internal email

Internal email can be monitored at the request of the relevant Divisional Manager. This will be done when the Divisional Manager is investigating a complaint of inappropriate communication. In such cases, the staff member will be informed that his/her email is being monitored. In cases involving disciplinary proceedings, VLA may track previous emails.

Monitoring external email

External email is automatically monitored for restricted attachments and size and can be monitored for inappropriate content at the request of the relevant Divisional Manager. See below for a list of current restrictions.

Privacy

Staff should not attempt to read, access, intercept, modify or delete any mailbox or email message that was not sent to or destined for them except where permission has been explicitly granted by the intended recipient.

Security filters

Security filters are used to block emails that contain undesirable features that can overload and damage the network. Intended recipients or senders of such email are advised when the email is blocked. See below for a list of current filters.

'ALL VLA'

The use of 'ALL VLA' to broadcast messages is governed by Divisional Managers and their delegates as broadcasting places unnecessary load on the network and can direct information to individuals who do not have a need to receive it. Messages of a social nature can be broadcast on VLA’s Intranet.

Hoaxes

Hoax emails generally request recipients to circulate the email in question to as many people as possible. They are usually a warning, public notice or describe a scenario designed to induce disruption and panic. Virus warnings not to open messages containing a specific subject heading are a common type. Messages of this nature are generally fraudulent and designed to overload email networks.

However if you believe that a threat is genuine, the following steps should be followed:

• In the event of receiving a message containing a threat of an electronic nature ie such as a computer virus warning, then the ISD Helpdesk should be contacted to investigate the authenticity of the threat.
• If the message poses a physical threat to VLA or its personnel, staff should advise their immediate or Divisional Manager who will contact the Senior Security Officer to investigate the substance of the threat. ISD should also be informed to investigate the source of the message. Staff should not delete messages of this type as they may be required during subsequent investigations.

Managing your email

To properly manage your email, you should:

• check your email regularly – say twice a day
• when preparing for leave, organise for your mail to be accessed by another person in your work area. On holidays set your email so that it automatically replies to incoming email indicating when you will be back, and whom to contact for urgent business 
• Delete unnecessary messages regularly, especially those with large attachments. Email and phone messages are automatically archived after 90 days. Appointments, tasks and reminder notes are archived as set by the user.

Internet guidelines

VLA staff have access to the Web to enable them to access information for the business purposes of VLA. The Internet provides a valuable source of information on matters relevant to VLA clients and the efficient running of the organisation.

Improper use

All Internet access is subject to VLA’s communications and harassment policies. Downloading, transmitting or displaying offensive material and accessing inappropriate, pornographic or offensive sites is prohibited. Improper use of the Internet may result in disciplinary proceedings.

Reporting

Regular reports on usage levels, sites visited and the quantity of downloaded data is provided to Divisional Managers monthly. As well as monitoring that you are using the Internet for VLA business purposes this allows decisions to be made on attaching information and providing links to sites.

Links on the intranet

To assist in efficient searching of the Internet, a comprehensive number of links are available on VLA’s Intranet. These are maintained regularly by the Library. If there is a site, which would be useful to other staff members, you should inform the Library so it can be included.

Training

You can use the internet more efficiently and effectively if you are trained, you should contact the Library to arrange an introductory training session.

Restrictions

Security filters are employed to support the policies described above. Descriptions of the filters and their current configurations are outlined below.

Viruses and SPAM

Viruses pose a significant threat to the organisation. Attacks can take many forms and if not blocked or cleaned can do serious damage to the network environment, preventing access to services and even deleting data or making drives inaccessible.
Unsolicited mail (SPAM) has a similar effect to a virus attack, because the mail system is flooded with unwanted messages causing delays in the receipt and processing of legitimate email.

All incoming and outgoing email be filtered routinely for communications displaying characteristics of the above (refer to scripts below).

File size

Files larger than two megabytes but smaller than 5 megabytes that arrive/depart between the hours of 6:00 am - 7:00 pm weekdays are parked for delivery after 7:00 pm that night.

Files larger than 5 megabytes are blocked irrespective of time. The recipient is then notified of the block.

If the message is business related a request can be sent to the ISD Helpdesk to release the message for delivery.

Multimedia

The following file types are blocked from entering or exiting the VLA mail system:

• Program files: exe, Javabyte, DosExe, Win31Exe, Win32Unknown, Win32Dll and Win32Exe
• Sound: AIF, VOC, AU, WAV, and MP3
• Video: RM, MPEG, MPG, MOV, and AVI

The recipient is notified of the block.

HTML

Messages that contain HTML are removed of all scripts and automatic mailing features before being sent.

Viruses

All incoming and outgoing messages are virus checked. If a virus is detected, an attempt to clean the infected file is started. If the file is successfully cleaned it is delivered to the recipient. If the file can not be cleaned it is blocked and will not be delivered. The recipient is then notified of the block.

SPAM

SPAM is a colloquial term for the distribution of unsolicited mail. A number of filters exist for the blocking of such emails. The message body and any attachments are scanned for instances of terms typically found in spam emails. This filter, more than any other, has the capacity to block legitimate emails, particularly given the nature of VLA's business. Therefore, the configuration of this filter is an iterative process and is constantly being fine-tuned according to the needs of the business.

Scripts

Filters exist for the blocking of messages that contain scripts. Scripts can contain viruses or commands that can send messages, delete data or make some systems inoperable. As such the VLA policy is to block all messages that contain scripts.

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