Configuring Email Processing

 iSupport Email Processing

  Configuring iSupport Email Functionality

iSupport’s email processing functionality uses the Email Processing agent to retrieve entries from an email mailbox, create an incident or change for a new or existing customer, and update existing work items.  You can configure incident, problem, change, customer, opportunity, and purchasing rules that can perform additional actions such as sending notifications, changing field values, and more. iSupport includes email processing validation functionality; click hereIf the email cannot be parsed, the action specified in the Unparseable Email Action field on the Email Processing tab will be performed.

If updates are enabled, the subject and body of the incoming email is searched for an existing message ID, customer reference ID, or 10-character incident, problem, change, or purchase number. If an existing number exists, matching work items are updated by including a notation in the Audit History field with a correspondence link to view the email and any attachments. Configured rules for the applicable work item type will perform actions if conditions are met. Note that email rules do not apply to work items updated via email processing.

If no matching message ID, customer reference ID, or incident, problem, change, or purchase number exists or updates are not enabled, an incident will be created. Email rules in the rule group associated with the email account will evaluate and apply any actions that correspond to met conditions. Email rule actions can apply an incident or hierarchy template, create a change with a defined template, update the history in a Customer Profile record, and delete or forward the incoming email. If an incident or hierarchy template is not applied in a rule, settings on the Inbound Settings/Email Processing tab in the Email Accounts screen will apply and the subject line and body of the email are placed in the Description field. (However, the subject line text will be included in the Short Description field if it is enabled in the Incident Management | Basics screen. On a Change record, the subject line text will be included in the Reason field.)

If the sender does not have an email address that exists in a Customer Profile record, a new Customer Profile record will be created for the email address. Any configured incident and change rules will then evaluate and perform actions (such as sending notifications) if conditions are met. for information on what happens when the Email Processing agent runs if the inbound email address matches the email account user name.

• To set up an incoming email account, click Create on the Accounts tab in the Core Settings | Email screen  and define the incoming email server and protocol, rule group, and associated defaults to be applied to incidents and/or changes created from email sent to that account. See Configuring Email Account Details and Inbound Settings.

  

• To configure email rules that will execute if updates are not enabled or no matching work item number exists, use the Email tab on the Options and Tools | Automate | Rules screen. In order for a rule to evaluate, it must be included in a rule group associated with an active email account. Use the Email | Rule Groups screen to create email rule groups.

Email rule conditions operate on email fields; you can configure conditions that detect a specified word (such as "Undeliverable") or whether the email is sent from a customer. Email rule actions can create an incident or change with a specified template, delete or forward the incoming email, or only update the history of a Customer Profile record (instead of creating an incident or change) if specified conditions are met.

• To configure rules that will perform actions such as sending notifications when a work item is created or updated, use the Incident, Problem, Change, Customer, Purchasing, and Opportunity Management tabs in the Options and Tools | Automate | Rules screen. You can also configure rules that will set the email account. Note that if conditions are met, rules will perform actions in the order specified in the Rule Group screen.

You can configure work item rules with the events Incident Created via Email and Incident Updated via Email for use with email processing.

• To configure the reply-to address and server for notifications generated by iSupport when no applicable rule or email processing applies, use the Default Outbound Email Settings tab in the Core Settings | Email screen.

• To schedule the Email Processing agent which executes the search of incoming email and updates work items or creates incidents and changes as configured, click the Email Processing Agent link in the Email Accounts screen. You’ll select the number of minutes in the interval for the Email Processing agent to search the email mailbox for new messages or select Disabled to disable email processing.

Notes:

• In order to avoid an email loop, be sure to consider the impact of automatic response notifications. The email account user name and aliases should not be the same as the email notification reply-to address specified on the Default Outbound Email Settings tab, and the iSupport Application Account must have Modify permissions.

• For updates, only 10-character strings are considered as valid numbers; therefore, if an incident, problem, change, or purchase request number in an incoming email contains a special character (such as #,/:;!" or ?), the number will be ignored because it counts as 11 characters. This also includes HTML markup such as bold tags. A space must exist before and after the number.

• In an HTML-type incoming email, the incident, problem, change, or purchase request number must be in the Subject line.

• Try to ensure that each customer has a name set up in their email application. A name may not be included on an email-submitted incident or change if the customer does not have a profile record and does not have a name set up in his/her email application.