Addresses and Communication Methods 

Use

Every SAP user who wants to send documents from the SAP System or to receive documents from an external source in the SAP System, must be assigned an address for the corresponding communication method, for example, a fax number or an Internet address. 

Business Address Services

The address data of every user, along with the postal address and the company address, is managed by Business Address Services in the address management of the SAP System. External addresses are also stored in address management. External addresses include the addresses of companies with which your company has contact and the corresponding contact persons. Every address (therefore, the internal users, the companies and the contact persons) can be assigned a postal address as well as the addresses of all the communication methods that can be used for this address.

For more information, see Business Address Services.

Sending Documents Externally Using Address Management

When a document is sent externally, the addresses of the internal users are automatically used as the sender data, for example, on the cover sheet of a fax form. If an external address from address management is specified as the recipient, the recipient data is also automatically copied. The SAP user only needs to enter the name of the contact person and the recipient type External address on the send screen.

When a document is sent, various recipient address types (recipient types for short) are specified. Some correspond to the communication method by which the document is to be sent, for example, an Internet address or a fax address. However, no set communication method is connected with the recipient type External Address. Some contact persons prefer to receive their documents by fax, others by e-mail. Therefore, every address can be assigned a standard communication method. This communication method is then used for every send process, provided that the sender does not explicitly change this.

Sending Documents Externally Without Using Address Management

If an SAP user sends a document to an address that is not stored in address management, they have to enter the communication address directly, for example, DE 0987654321 with the recipient type Fax address. You also have to enter the recipient data to be listed, for example, on the fax cover sheet.

In the shared office settings, administrators can prevent users from sending documents to external addresses that are not in address management.

Home Addresses in an SAP System Group

In a mail system group consisting of several SAP Systems, documents can be sent to all users by Remote Mail or by a different external communication method. In this case, every user must have an address for the corresponding communication method for each system from which they send documents. Users can have several addresses for one communication method. However, users normally want to receive all documents sent to them in one system, regardless of which system the documents are addressed to. Therefore, you can mark one of the addresses existing for a communication method as the home address. In order for this setting to have an effect, an administrator has to have activated the home address in shared office settings.

Other Functions

Several addresses can be grouped together in a distribution list.

If LDAP services are connected to the SAP System, users in the Business Workplace can search for addresses in them and copy the addresses directly from the LDAP service when sending documents. You make the appropriate settings for this in the shared office settings. A link to the maintenance of the LDAP server connected to the SAP System is also offered there. See also SAPNet Note 188371. You also have to assign users the authorization for accessing the LDAP server.

Activities

The company address is automatically assigned to SAP users when they are created. To maintain the addresses of SAP users, proceed as described in Maintaining Internal Private Addresses. You can also create a list with the data of multiple internal users. For more information on the maintenance of external addresses, see Maintaining Addresses of Companies and Contact Persons.

If you cannot send documents in the SAP System or work in the Business Workplace, this may be due to inconsistencies between the tables for users, addresses, and the Business Workplace. See User Tables: Consistency Checks.