Inbound email gives employees one address to write to when they need IT help. Anything sent or forwarded there becomes a ticket, and the replies from both sides stay in a single conversation.

Feature/Functionality

Overview

Once inbound email is on, Factorial IT gives you an address that turns incoming messages into tickets. You decide which email domains may open tickets. Each ticket keeps its link to the original email thread, so you and the employee can both keep replying from where you are.

How to use

Turn on inbound email

1. Go to Helpdesk > Settings > Email.
2. Switch on Inbound email. The Inbound email address shows up under the toggle.
3. Under Accepted domains, tick the domains that may open tickets. The domains of your company are already in the list. Use Add domain to add another, or the bin icon to drop one.
4. Click Confirm.

Copy the Inbound email address with the copy button next to it. Share it with employees, or set your current IT support mailbox to forward to it.

Turn off inbound email

Switch off Inbound email in Helpdesk > Settings > Email. New tickets stop coming in, but existing ticket conversations keep working:

• A fresh email to the inbound address is discarded. The sender gets no reply and no ticket is created.
• A reply to a ticket notification, or to the thread of a ticket that already exists, is still added to that ticket as a public comment.

Inbound email starts switched off, even for companies that have never saved their ticket settings. While it is off, Accepted domains is hidden, but your list is kept for when you switch it back on.

Who can open a ticket by email

An email turns into a ticket only when Inbound email is on and the message passes sender checks (SPF and DKIM). On top of that, one of these must be true:

• The sender's domain appears in Accepted domains.
• The sender is one of your employees, whatever domain they write from.

Any other email is discarded, and the sender gets no reply.

What happens to an incoming email

• A new email opens a ticket whose source is Email. Factorial IT builds a tidy title and description from the subject line and the body.
• Attachments are added to the ticket.
• A forwarded email arrives with its whole thread, so the ticket shows the earlier conversation too.

Two-way sync with the thread

A ticket that started as an email stays tied to that thread. Messages move in both directions:

• From email to ticket. A reply in the thread, or to any ticket notification email, is added to the ticket as a public comment. Quoted earlier messages are stripped out.
• From ticket to email. When you post a public reply on the ticket and keep Also send to Email selected, Factorial IT answers in the original thread.

Internal notes never reach the requester by email. Only the ticket's assignee and admins are notified about them.

If someone replies to a ticket that has been deleted, the email is discarded. It does not open a new ticket.

How senders are recorded

• When the sender's address matches an employee, the ticket and its replies are recorded under that employee.
• When there is no match, the sender is recorded as an external requester, identified by their email address.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Troubleshooting

• An email did not create a ticket. Check that Inbound email is on. Then check that the sender's domain is in Accepted domains or that the sender is an employee. The message must also pass SPF and DKIM.
• A reply did not reach the ticket. If the ticket was deleted, replies are discarded.
• The requester did not get my reply. Make sure the reply was public and that Also send to Email was selected. Internal notes are never emailed.
• A ticket shows an external requester for someone on staff. Their sending address does not match the address on their employee record.

FAQ

1. Do new emails still create tickets when inbound email is off?
   No. They are discarded. Replies on existing tickets still come through.
    
2. Are attachments kept?
   Yes. They are added to the ticket.
    
3. Does the employee see internal notes?
   No. Internal notes only notify the ticket's assignee and admins.
    
4. What happens to my accepted domains when I turn inbound email off?
   They are kept and come back when you switch it on again.