What is a Official Letter?

When letters are written by business or non-business concerns on official matters then it is known as official letters. In other words, official letters means correspondence between two or more institution on matters other than business. Governmental, semi governmental, no trading concerns etc. are different parties of official letters. A business firm can engage in official letters when need to communicate with above organizations.

What Features Does an Official Letter Have?

Features of an official letter can be mentioned as follows:

• Tone: Tone of an official letter must be formal. Emotional feelings cannot be expressed in an official letter.
• Structure: An official letter must follow a specific structure.
• Salutation: Salutation of an official letter depends on the designation of the receiver.
• Evidence: Official letters can be used as documentary evidence for future References.
• Reference number: An official letter also includes a reference number depending on the subject matter and previous contacts.
• Conciseness: Only relevant and necessary matters included in an official letter, thus length is usually short.
• Enclosure: If necessary different documents can be enclosed with an official letter.
• Number of receivers: An official letter can be received by different persons in the same time.

Sources: http://businesscommunicationnew.blogspot.com/2011/06/define-official-letter-what-are.html