E-mail Command

E-mail command allows the Support Rep to set field values in the e-mail, according to which the e-mail is parsed and corresponding fields can be set. The e-mail command helps users to set request fields through an e-mail content. Whenever an e-mail comes in, the e-mail is parsed and the fields for the request are set based on the incoming e-mail content.

When e-mail command is enabled, the business rules and detault template values gets overridden with the e-mail content values.

For example, the business rule for incoming mails is set as follows,

When Subject contains "Router Problem" set priority as "Low" and place in Group "Network".

If an incoming e-mail has a subject line "Router Problem", then the request field will be set as "Priority=Low" and "Group=Network" based on the existing business rule.
If an incoming e-mail has the subject line "Router Problem" along with the subject line same as defined in the configurations (E-mail Subject Contains), say, "@@ACME@@ and has the delimited values like @@Priority=High@@ and @@Group=Hardware Problem@@, then the Request will be set with "Priority=High" and "Group=Hardware Problem", it will not be applied with the Business Rule values. This way E-mail command overrides the Business Rule and applies the values of the e-mail content.

Also e-mail command overcomes the complication of creating many business rules for each criteria, when more fields need to be set based on the incoming e-mail.

To configure E-mail Command settings,

Click on the Admin tab in the header pane to open the configuration wizard page.
Click the E-mail Command Settings icon under the Helpdesk Settings block.

If you have enabled multi tenancy through Business Unit, click Global Settings tab -> E-mail Command Settings under Application Settings block. This opens the E-mail Command Settings page.

Click on the check box Enable E-mail Command to activate the e-mail parsing feature. If this option is not selected, then the incoming e-mail will be handled as a normal mail based on established business rules even if the incoming e-mails contain the parsing string in the subject.
Provide any special character (@@, ##, $$, %%, &&, so on) as the Command Delimiter. The field values assigned between these special characters are assigned to the corresponding fields while the requests are created. Assume if the Command Delimiter is @@ and category field needs to be set to Printer, then the e-mail description should contain @@Category=Printer@@.
In the E-mail Subject Contains text box, enter valid subject that determines the e-mails which have to be parsed. E-mails containing this text will be parsed for various fields. Assume the E-mail Subject identifier is given as @@ACME@@, then all e-mails with subject as @@ACME@@ alone will be considered for parsing.
Click Save.

NOTE:

To update the request, the e-mail sender should have a login credentials in SupportCenter Plus. This is because, edit operation can be performed by the user based on the role provided.
If the field name given in the e-mail is not available in Support Center Plus, then parsing will be excluded for that field.
If there is more than one value present for a particular field in an e-mail, then the last value alone will be taken and others will be discarded.
When a request is edited through an e-mail with the new RequestID, the conversation will not be added in the request. However, the update information will be added in the history. Also attachments and inline images in the e-mail will not be updated in the request.
The RequestID present in the description of the e-mail will be given higher precedence over the RequestID present in the subject of the e-mail.
To update the request, the e-mail sender should either send a new e-mail with the existing RequestID or he can send a reply to the conversation/notification.
For parsing Request Date additional fields, the date should be specified in the format as follows, "dd MMM yyyy, HH:mm:ss". For example, " @@Invoice Date=23 AUG 2012, 10:30:00@@".
Permissions and Parameters supported:

If the e-mail sender is a Contact with Contact permissions, then the fields that can be parsed are limited. A contact can parse only those fields that he can view in the request form while creating a request.
If the e-mail sender is a Support rep with Support rep permissions, then the fields that can be parsed are same as those fields that he can view in the request form while creating a request.
Fields that can be parsed are LEVEL, PRIORITY, CATEGORY, SUB CATEGORY, ITEM, PRODUCT, GROUP, SUPPORT REP, STATUS and request additional field label (the field label given in the e-mail must match the field label set the product).
To change the fields that a contact or a support rep can parse, go to Admin --> Request Templates (under Helpdesk Settings), select Default Template and add or remove the fields.
A contact can set values for the fields while creating a new request through e-mail, but are not allowed to update the request.