How email reaches an inbox, and how held conversations and replies work.
Senders and handling
Anyone can send an email to an inbox's address. What happens next depends on the sender:
- A member assigned to the inbox, sending from their verified account address, is handled at once. The agent can work on the message.
- Everyone else is an external sender. The conversation is held for review and shows Needs review. Nothing runs automatically.
Automatic replies, such as out-of-office messages, and mail flagged as spam are ignored. The inbox email address works only when inbound email is configured on the server; otherwise the inbox page says so.
Held conversations
A held conversation ends with: "This conversation came from outside the workspace. The agent does nothing until you allow it." Assignees can:
- Let the agent reply. Later messages are handled automatically. Allowing does not send a delayed reply to the messages already there.
- Reject it. The conversation stays, with its history, marked Rejected. You can still allow it later.
- Reply yourself, without allowing automation.
Replies and threads
Replies go out from the inbox to the conversation's participants. A reply to an inbox email joins its conversation by the email's thread information and the participants' addresses. A matching subject alone does not join two conversations.
The agent's emails are plain text, with its answer options and a link to the conversation. Replies to messages written in the app stay in the app and are not emailed.
Delivery status
Each outgoing email has a state: pending, sent, failed, or cancelled. Sent means the email provider accepted it. In the conversation, a pending email shows Email pending, and a failed one shows Email failed with Try again. Retries are possible for up to 23 hours after the message, and a retry never repeats the agent's work.
If a recipient loses access to the inbox, unsent mail to them is cancelled.
Who can
| Action | Who |
|---|---|
| Email an inbox | Anyone |
| Allow, reject, or reply to a held conversation | Members assigned to the inbox |
| Get automatic handling | Verified members assigned to the inbox |