To know what's new and what has changed in the all-new email parser, visit this transition document.  

How it works

Step 1: Generating an email parser ID

1. Go to Setup > Channels >  Email > Email Parser .
   
2. Click Get Started .
   
3. In the Generate Parser Email dialog box, click Generate Now .
   
   Your parser email will be generated and ready and is common for all parser rules.
   Example: zwp2ww7@parser.zoho.com

Step 2: Adding approved email addresses

1. Approved Email Address:
   You can add a maximum of 20 email addresses as approved IDs from which emails can be sent to the parser ID. This could be your organization ID, your own email address, your manager's ID — any email ID from which customer information needs to be parsed into CRM.
2. Email Report:
   Additionally, you may also enable Email Reports which may be sent to the creator of the parser or to a custom mail ID on the following events:
1. Whenever parsing has failed for an email
   
2. When a new mail is received without a parser template to match with. 
   
3. Weekly performance reports.
   

Step 3: Sending an email template to the parser ID

Step 4: Creating a parser rule

1. Under Parser Rules tab, click Create Parser Rule .
   
   
2. Select the email from which the rule needs to be created.
   
   Alternatively, you can create a rule from the Email tab as well. Go the the list of emails and click Create Rule against the desired email. 
   
   
3. In the Parser Rule wizard, under Module Selection , select the module and layout.
   
   Example: Leads module and Standard layout.
4. Click Next .
   
5. On the Email Parsing page, select the piece of data from the text and choose which field that value belongs to.
   
   
   
6. As you complete your field and value mapping, you will see all the fields captured intuitively, on the right hand side panel.  
   
   This means, that for any subsequent email sent to this parser ID will have the data points captured and created as lead records in CRM.
7. Next, on the Advanced Configuration page, you may enter the following settings, if applicable to you:
   
   
1. Filter emails to be parsed using email criteria such as Sender and Subject line.
   Example, if you enter Subject line should contain the word "Enquiry", only emails that meet this condition will get parsed.
2. You may choose to send these created records for manual approval.
   
   You can skip this step if you want to directly create the leads.
3. You may also update a selected field.
   Here the Lead Status is instructed to be updated as Not Contacted for all the parsed records, so that your sales teams know that that these are yet to be followed up with.  
   Similarly, you may also update a custom field called "Lead Generation Method" as "Email Parser" to quickly identify these as parsed leads.
4. Assign these records automatically to the ideal users using an assignment rule. 
   
5. Click Finish once you are through with these settings. Your email parser is created.
   

Note:

1. In case you choose the  "Send for Approval" option , the records created via email parser will not enter active CRM database unless they are manually "Approved". To approve records, go to the respective module  (Say, Leads)  >  Actions  >  Approve Leads .
   
   In the Leads Approval page, select  EmailParser records  from the dropdown list. All the records created via email parser are listed. You can manually approve the ones desired, and these records will now be a part of the CRM database. 
   
   Using email parser, you may also update CRM records with the latest values. For instance, you have generated a lead called John Smith with a few lead parameters. When John sends an email again with a latest phone number, this number will be replaced in John's record. CRM matches the unique field (email) and recognizes that the incoming email is about an existing record and thereby replaces latest values.
   

Perform custom actions based on parsed data

1. Extensibility
   
2. Inter-operability 
   

Email Parser — Best Practices, Points to Note and FAQs

1. My email parser rule does not parse my email content as expected. Why?

Your parser could fail for several reasons. The top causes are mentioned below. 

2. Why do I not see any options to associate custom functions?

The option to associate custom actions appears only on the Module Selection page of the  Create Parser flow.

 An email parser rule can either be associated with a module or can be created without being associated with a module (custom actions). You cannot have a parser rule that combines both options. Email parser does not support execution of custom actions while a parser rule is created for a specified CRM module. 

3. Why am I not seeing the Update Record option?

Update Record is a function using which you can update the latest information pertaining to a record from an incoming parsed email. For this to work, you must have first mapped the "Email" field from the email content, which serves as the primary identifier or a "unique field" for a record. For example, if you have mapped the email field from your template and then you receive an email from " jane@sample.com ". Now if Jane is already an existing record, the fact that this is an existing record is understood by CRM using the email field— it recognizes Jane as an existing customer and so updates information rather than creating a new record when you choose Update Record. This comes up only when you have mapped an Email field during parser configuration. 

4. Emails that are sent to the parser email address are getting mapped to a different parser rule. How can I fix it?

Parser rules get executed in the order of precedence from the Parser Rules list page. If an incoming email matches Rule 1, and Rule 2 (arranged one after the other in the list), then Rule 1 gets executed. If you wish to change the order of precedence, you can do so using the Reorder option on the Parser rules page. 

5. I have modified my parser rule. Can I execute the same over existing emails that were not successfully processed?

Yes, you can process an email against a list of active parsers as per the parsing order with the help of the "Parse Again" button that is displayed in the email row of the list view. Also, you can process multiple emails again likewise.

6. Why am I not seeing the Parse Again button for a few emails?

A: This is because once an email has been successfully parsed against a rule and the actions have been executed successfully, then the Parse Again button shall not be available to parse again.

7. Why can't I see the notification emails containing verification code under my "Emails" tab?

A: By default, the email addresses used by popular Mail Service Providers such as Google, Yahoo and Zoho in verifying auto-forwarding setup has been configured in Zoho CRM's email parser. However, it is not possible for us to include every other address of every other Mail Service Provider. In such cases, to make it work, please add any such addresses to your approved email addresses available under "Parser Settings", which you can later remove once the setup is complete. Once you have completed configuration, please re-trigger the notification from your Mail Service Provider's auto forwarding setup. You should have the email triggered from your Mail Service Provider for verification under the "Emails" tab. A sample image for the same is attached for reference.