Characteristics of a good electronic message: What should the sending organisation consider?
Published 23/5/2025
Electronic communications differ from traditional paper mail. When planned correctly, electronic communications enable a high-quality client experience, and shared ground rules help us ensure that end users can manage their affairs efficiently without confusion. As the prioritisation of digital official communicationOpens in a new window. moves forward, an increasing number of end users receive their official mail electronically. Clear shared practices can streamline the transition and significantly reduce the advisory burden of organisations and the information security threats faced by users.
In this post, we go through:
- what is the recommended way to use Suomi.fi Messages,
- what should be considered in electronic messaging, for example, in terms of formatting,
- how Suomi.fi Messages and an e-service can be made into a smooth and logical whole for the end user, and
- why it is important for Suomi.fi Messages and e-services to work together smoothly.
PLEASE NOTE! This post does not cover the content of messages directed to paper mail but only focuses on the content of messages received in electronic format.
In this post, e-service refers to an organisation's own e-service that requires identification, such as MyTax, Traficom's My e-Services, Keva's e-service or e-services provided by municipalities or wellbeing services counties.
By electronic message, we mean a message sent to Suomi.fi Messages that includes a title, the actual message content and possibly attachments.
Email notification in turn refers to a notification sent to the end user's email about a new or an unread message in Suomi.fi Messages.
What is the recommended way to use Suomi.fi Messages?
1. Recommended way: send everything to Suomi.fi Messages
We primarily recommend that you send the entire message content to Suomi.fi Messages. This gives the end user all the necessary information in one place.
Here are a few tips on how to do it:
Write the message and any instructions in the message body of the message to be sent to Suomi.fi Messages and attach only the decisions, certificates and other documents that the end user may need, for example, to be forwarded. This is the clearest way for the end user.
Example: Enter all relevant content in the message body of the message to be sent to Suomi.fi Messages
The message content and the related email notification could look like this: |
|---|
Text content in Suomi.fi Messages: |
If the organisation does not make changes to the email notification, the notification sent to the user could look like this: |
If it is possible that the end user will access your e-service after receiving the message, provide a link to the e-service in the message sent to Suomi.fi Messages.
It is worth noting that sending both links and attachments to Suomi.fi Messages is safe, as reading messages requires strong identification, and only approved sending organisations can send messages to the service. This removes the risk of dangerous phishing messages and ensures that the messages received in Suomi.fi Messages are real and reliable. Links and attachments should not be delivered by email, as various scams may cause attachments to contain viruses and links to phishing sites.
While renewing all your service processes at once can be difficult, it is a good idea to renew them as your communications develop, for example as you transition to the new REST interface.
Read also how the relationship between e-services and Suomi.fi Messages is defined in our guidelines: https://kehittajille.suomi.fi/services/messages/deployment/administrative-deployment/taking-into-account-the-relationship-between-suomi-fi-messages-and-the-e-service
2. Alternative way: send a summary to Suomi.fi Messages and provide clear direction to the e-service
Several organisations have pointed out that they want to direct their clients directly to their own e-services instead of sending message content to Suomi.fi Messages.
- If you cannot send all relevant content to Suomi.fi Messages (there should be some justification for this, such as too large of an attachment or some other compelling reason), send a summary of the matter to Suomi.fi Messages and preferably provide a direct link to a location with all the information.
- While you should not primarily rely on email notifications sent from Suomi.fi Messages, they can be used to tell that the matter can be handled in the e-service, the link of which can be easily found in the message in Suomi.fi Messages.
If your organisation has an e-service that presents the same information that is sent to Suomi.fi Messages or to which the end user must be able to move from Suomi.fi Messages, the roles of Suomi.fi Messages and the e-services in client communication must be clearly defined.
Example: Provide a summary in the message body of the message to be sent to Suomi.fi Messages and clear guidance to the e-service
The message content and the related email notification could look like this: |
|---|
Message to Suomi.fi Messages: |
If the organisation makes changes to the email notification, the notification sent to the user could look like this: |
What should be considered when planning to start electronic communications?
It is important that your organisation considers at least the following questions:
- Is the same information available in several places?
- Will several communication channels be used?
- Is the matter to be communicated such that the user should be able to respond to it and continue the process in your e-service?
It is confusing for the end user if it is unclear what information they can expect to receive directly from the organisation's e-service, what in Suomi.fi Messages, what as paper mail sent to their home or what perhaps in some other way. It is also confusing to receive notifications on the same matter from several different channels.
If the answer to at least some of the above questions is yes, your organisation must draw up a clear policy on how information is provided and how you will describe to your client clearly what communication they can expect to receive and where.
The following instructions support this work.
What to consider in the interplay between Suomi.fi Messages and e-services
1. Ensure that the content in the email notification differs from that sent to Suomi.fi Messages
If you wish, you can edit the content of email notifications so that it becomes clear straight from the email whether, for example, the received message requires action from the end user.
It is important that your client understands where they need to act and what the difference is between an email notification about a new message and the actual message received in Suomi.fi Messages.
An email notification and a mobile application push notification tell your client that they have received a new message in Suomi.fi Messages. Their purpose is to alert the client that they have new official mail. More information about email notifications and how to edit them can be found at https://kehittajille.suomi.fi/services/messages/functionalities/sending-electronic-messages/controlling-notifications.
This same content should not be included in the actual message to be sent to Suomi.fi Messages. Instead, you can focus on what is expected of the recipient or guide them to further services if reading the message and a possible response are not enough.
The best-case scenario is that the end user receives all the necessary information directly in the message or its attachments. In this case, they do not have to visit the e-service every time, but only when they need to make corrections or read more about the matter.
We provided examples of email notifications earlier in this blog post.
For more examples, see https://kehittajille.suomi.fi/services/messages/deployment/administrative-deployment/designing-the-electronic-message-and-notification.
Please note that email notifications sent from Suomi.fi Messages always have a standard beginning and end.
2. Consider the lower security level of email notifications
It is worth remembering that the information security level of emails and Suomi.fi Messages is completely different. While personal data cannot be sent via email, it can be sent via Suomi.fi Messages.
In situations involving acting on behalf of another person, it may seem like a good solution to mention the person concerned in the email notification. This, however, carries some risks. If the user has entered their email address incorrectly in Suomi.fi Messages and the address is used by someone else, a stranger may receive the other person's details from the email. This is why we cannot recommend including any information subject to data protection in an email notification.
3. Remember the safe use of links
When using links, remember that email and Suomi.fi Messages are different in terms of data security. This is especially relevant when considering how links can be used.
For security reasons, there are no links in the email notifications sent by Suomi.fi Messages, as many criminals use this method to phish personal information. This is why an email notification about a new message cannot include links that the user is prompted to click on. Suomi.fi Messages prevents such messages from being sent to the recipient and sends a request to the sending organisation to correct the message in accordance with the instructions. In other words, the recipient will not receive the email notification or the actual message in Suomi.fi Messages before the links in the email notification have been removed.
In contrast, links are secure in the actual message sent to Suomi.fi Messages. The Messages service is a secure channel that can be only used by trusted and verified public administration organisations. In addition, accessing the service requires strong identification.
Links within the Messages service are safe and make it much easier for your client to access services. When you provide them, the client does not have to find and remember how to access the correct e-service.
Using Google to find the right address is not recommended. One should also remember to never use search functions to search for an e-service but instead enter the address directly in the address bar. But what can an end user do if they are not told what the e-service address is? How many of us really remember and know the addresses of different authorities' e-services by heart? This is why we recommend that messages sent to Suomi.fi Messages include a link to at least the front page of the e-service, if not directly to the matter in question. This prevents the client from ending up on potential scam sites through search engines.
4. Follow the formatting guidelines
Your organisation must follow Suomi.fi Messages’ instructions for the formatting and content of the messages. Sending the information content of a notification primarily to Suomi.fi Messages and the importance of having as accurate links as possible are emphasised when Suomi.fi Messages is used together with e-services. More detailed instructions for formatting messages are available on the page Designing the electronic message and notification.
5. Do not send the same notification to multiple locations
When Suomi.fi Messages is used together with an e-service, avoid sending a notification of the same matter to two different locations. If your organisation needs to send another notification outside of Suomi.fi Messages (e.g. an appointment that you also want to communicate via SMS), modify the settings for outgoing messages in Suomi.fi Messages so that no additional notification is sent for unread messages. You can read more about these settings on the page Controlling notifications.
6. Make use of the state information
We recommend that you make use of the "Read" state information provided by Suomi.fi Messages. You can use it to check whether the client has received your important message. You can read more about this on the page Monitoring the state information of messages.
However, please note that the Read state cannot replace verifiable notification. If it is important that the message is opened and the time that the message was opened matters, the message must be sent as a verifiable service.
7. Tell the client how you are contacting them
In connection with service transactions, inform your organisation's clients how the service process will proceed and how the decision will be delivered to them. We have compiled tips for communicating about the use of Suomi.fi Messages on the page Communications material.
8. Tell the client that Suomi.fi Messages covers several authorities
When you encourage your clients to activate Suomi.fi Messages, remember to emphasise in all encounters (f2f, e-services) that Suomi.fi Messages is a centralised service that includes messages from different actors. If the client activates Suomi.fi Messages while dealing with your organisation, they may get the impression that the service only includes content sent by you. This blurs the true nature of the service as a shared communication channel between the authorities, which can lead to unread important official mail.
We have harmonised email notifications to help you with this. We also have material to support communications: https://kehittajille.suomi.fi/services/messages/deployment/administrative-deployment/communications-material
Why is this important?
The digital capabilities of people dealing with public administration vary greatly. In the future, the range of skills will expand even further as, from the beginning of 2026, an electronic mailbox will be created in Suomi.fi Messages for everyone upon identification with Suomi.fi e-Identification.
When organisations use Suomi.fi Messages in a harmonised way and the end user's service path from Suomi.fi Messages to the e-services of different organisations is consistent, the end user is more likely to know what is happening, what to expect and how they can manage their affairs.
To ensure smooth digital services for all users, we have a strong recommendation for organisations using Suomi.fi Messages: Send all relevant information to Suomi.fi Messages!
Niina Viitanen, Digital and Population Data Services Agency