New permissions for accessing emails sent via Zoho CRM

New permissions for accessing emails sent via Zoho CRM

AlertLast modified on Nov 4, 2024:
Dear all,
 
We're excited to announce significant enhancements to accessing and sharing emails within Zoho CRM.
 
One of the critical aspects of data management is ensuring that sensitive information is accessible only to the appropriate users.
 
Until now, user permissions weren't applied to emails sent directly from Zoho CRM's servers. However, this limitation did not apply to emails sent through configured IMAP or POP servers. As a result, all emails sent from Zoho CRM—including individual emails, emails sent using the organization's email address, mass emails, workflow, and others—were accessible to any user with record viewing permissions, regardless of their roles. For instance, a standard user could view the emails of an admin when the record was shared, and vice versa. 

What've we enhanced?

Permissions for emails

With our latest enhancements, you can now set organization-level permissions that govern access to emails sent from within Zoho CRM. You can find these controls in Data Sharing Settings.

By default, the sharing type will be set to Public Read/Write/Delete. 

You can also set Private, Public Read Only, or Public Read/Write as the default access type.
  • Read: Enables users to view emails.
  • Write: Enables users to send replies, forward emails, edit drafts, and schedule emails.
  • Delete: Enables users to delete drafted or scheduled emails.

Here's how the different access types work:

  • When the access type is set to Private, only the email record owner (the person who sends the email) can view and reply to emails—plus any user higher than them in the role hierarchy. This ensures that those at higher levels in the organization can still access emails when necessary, even if the access type is set to Private.

  • In the Public Read Only access type, every user in the organization can view emails sent by others. Additional actions, such as replying, forwarding, editing drafts, or deleting emails, are available only to the email's owner and those above them in the role hierarchy. Users at the same level or below the owner are limited to viewing emails and cannot perform these actions.



  • In the Public Read/Write setting, every user in the CRM can see all emails as well as reply, forward, and edit both drafts and scheduled emails. However, users aren't able to delete emails.



  • The Public Read/Write/Delete setting provides the most extensive level of access for emails. All users in the organization can view and reply to all emails, as well as edit and delete drafts or scheduled emails.

Changes for draft emails

  • For the draft owner: The draft email opens directly in the compose window, enabling the owner to continue editing and sending the email.
  • For other users: The draft email opens in a view mode. If the user has the necessary permissions to edit the draft, an "Edit" button will be available. Clicking this button will open the draft in the compose window and enable the user to make changes.
 
Additionally, when an admin or another user with higher permissions edits a draft created by another user, a pop-up notification will appear. This notification informs the user that the ownership of the draft will be transferred to the person making the edits.


Changes for scheduled emails

In the current interface, both admins and email record owners can delete scheduled emails, but only the owner can edit them.
In the latest enhancement, users with the necessary permissions can now edit and delete scheduled emails created by other users.

Changes related to reports

Previously, anyone with access to email reports could view the email data of other users. With our latest enhancement, that's no longer the case. Now, users can only view the email report data they have permission to access, just like with reports in other CRM modules.
However, it's important to note that these permissions apply only when Emails is selected as the report's primary module. If another module is set as the primary, then only that module's permissions will be considered.

That's all for these enhancements. Please share your feedback and suggestions in the comments below.


Thanks,
Nizamuddin