1. Summary
Introduce a highly visible, one-click feature within the HCL Notes mail client that automatically extracts information from a sender’s email signature and maps it to a new contact record in the Personal Address Book. This feature includes an intelligent parsing engine and a preview/edit dialog to ensure data accuracy before saving.
2. User Story
As an HCL Notes user, I want to be able to automatically create a new contact directly from the signature of a received email with a single click, So that I can save time, avoid manual copy-pasting, and eliminate data entry errors when managing my professional network.
3. Detailed Functional Requirements
A. UI/UX Positioning
Accessibility: The trigger must be prominently placed to ensure high discoverability. Recommended locations include the main Mail Action Bar (e.g., a "Create Contact" button next to "Reply/Forward") or a distinct floating action button near the sender's header information.
Avoid Hidden Menus: It should not be buried in a multi-level dropdown menu (e.g., More -> Document -> Create).
B. Intelligent Parsing Logic
The system must utilize a parsing engine to identify and extract standard signature blocks.
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Field Mapping: The logic must intelligently distinguish and map bits of text to the correct fields in the Notes Contact form:
First Name & Last Name
Job Title / Role
Company Name
Phone Numbers (Mobile, Work, Fax)
Email Address
Physical Address / Location
Website URL
...
C. Preview and Edit Dialog
Before the contact is permanently saved to the user's names.nsf (Personal Address Book), a "Preview" dialog must appear.
This dialog should display the mapped fields side-by-side with a visual snippet of the original email signature.
Users must be able to manually correct, add, or delete information within this dialog.
D. Duplicate Handling
If the email address or name already exists in the user's contacts, the system should prompt an "Update Existing Contact" dialog rather than creating a duplicate, highlighting the new or changed information (e.g., a new phone number or job title).
4. Business Value & ROI
Productivity Boost: Reduces a 1-to-2 minute manual task of copy-pasting multiple fields down to a 5-second review process.
Data Quality: Significantly reduces typos and transposed numbers in contact data.
Competitive Parity: Modernizes the Notes client experience, matching and exceeding third-party plugins available on competing email platforms.
5. Technical Considerations for Engineering
Image Signatures: The parser should ideally feature basic OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities to handle signatures that are sent as flat images (e.g., PNG/JPG blocks) rather than rich text.
Multi-Language Support: The parsing logic must be robust enough to recognize international phone number formats, addresses, and job title abbreviations across different languages.
