Setting up your Email Channel

Emails are the most widely used mode of communication for your customers to submit tickets to your Zoho Desk. The emails received from your customers are converted into tickets and assigned a unique ticket ID. All you need to do is to forward the emails received at your support mailbox to Zoho Desk. Before setting up your email channel, let's understand about email delivery and bounce.

Availability

Permission
Users with the Support Administrator permission profile can set up email channel.
Check Feature Availability and Limits

Default support mailbox

When you sign up for Zoho Desk, you are provided with a default support email address that looks like support@mycompany.zohodesk.com. The mycompany part of the email address is to be replaced with the portal name of your Zoho Desk. Technically, you can share this support email address with your customers, to receive emails in Zoho Desk.

To view your default support email address

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
In the Support Email Address page, you can find the default email address.
The email address is mapped with the default department and assigned with a friendly name.

Forwarding emails from your external email address

You must have a support email address (like support@zylker.com) for your business. The next step is to forward emails from your support (external) email address to default email address in your Zoho Desk account. Learn how to set up forwarding from various email service providers. Once you set up forwarding, you will receive a verification email at support@ zylker .zohodesk.com on behalf of your email server.

Note: The verification email is created as a ticket, and it can be located under the Open Tickets View in your Zoho Desk account.

Adding support email alias

While your default support email address is support@mycompany.zohodesk.com, you can create multiple aliases for different situations. For example, you can create an alias like sales@mycompany.zohodesk.com to create tickets from sales related emails in Zoho Desk. You can even create a separate department for the sales function and map it with the sales alias. This way, you can route tickets straight to your sales team. However, you must forward emails from your external email addresses to equivalent email alias in your help desk.

To create an alias

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
In the Support Email Address page, click New Support Email Address in the upper right area.
In the Add Support Email window, enter the Address you'd like to use for receiving support tickets.
For example, to create an alias like sales@mycompany.zohodesk.com, enter sales.
Enter a Friendly Name for your support address.
The friendly name will precede the support address. For example, Zylker Sales <sales@zylker.zohodesk.com>.
Click Save.

Follow the above steps to add multiple support email aliases and then set up forwarding from their equivalent external email address to receive support tickets.

Support Email Address	Equivalent Zoho Desk Alias
support@mycompany.com	support@mycompany.zohodesk.com
sales@mycompany.com	sales@mycompany.zohodesk .com
escalation@mycompany.com	escalation@mycompany.zohodesk .com
billing@mycompany.com	billing@mycompany.zohodesk .com

You can edit or delete the email aliases added in your Zoho Desk.

To delete an email alias

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
In the Support Email Address page, click Delete corresponding to the alias.
Click OK to confirm.

Note: There must be at least one support email address connected to your Zoho Desk.

Starting and stopping mail fetch

You can at any time stop or start fetching emails for the support email aliases created in Zoho Desk.

To stop fetching emails for an alias

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
In the Support Email Address page, click the toggle to OFF corresponding to a support email address.
Click OK to confirm. From now on, the emails received at the support email alias will not convert into tickets.

To start fetching emails for an alias

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
In the Support Email Address page, click the toggle to ON corresponding to a support email address.
Click OK to confirm.

Associating alias with department

If you'd created multiple support email aliases, you could map them with their appropriate departments in Zoho Desk. It helps you track, manage and generate reports, for the tickets received at those email aliases. However, this option is available only when you have more than one department.

To map an alias with a department

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click Edit corresponding to an email alias.
Select a department from the drop-down menu.
Click Save.

Adding From Address

Zoho Desk allows agents to reply from email address other than the default From Address that is set in the org account. The email address must be added to the From Address and authenticated in Zoho Desk before use. If other From Address are not added, the default support email address will be used to send replies to the customers.

To add From Addresses

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click From Address from the left panel.
You can find that your default support email address is added as the from address.
In the From Address page, click New From Address in the upper right area.
In the Add From Address window, do the following:

Select a Department (if you have more than one department in the account) from the drop-down menu.
Enter the From Address to be used while replying to tickets. For example, support@zylker.com.
Enter a Friendly Name for your From Address.

Click Save.
Once you add a From Address, an authentication email will be sent to the specified email address. Once that email address is authenticated, it can be used to send replies.

Notes

If you don't receive the authentication email, kindly check the spam folder. If you can't find it in the spam folder please reach out to us via support@zohodesk.com.
You can resend the authentication email manually from: Setup > Email > From Address and click Resend.
It is recommended to add the following SPF record in your domain DNS file to ensure proper delivery of your emails: v=spf1 mx include:zoho.com ~all
The newly added From Address must be updated in the From field of the Email Templates so that it can be used while replying using the templates.

Using SMTP server for From Address

Emails from the custom From Address can be sent using SMTP server to achieve better control over the delivery. Add the From Address by using your SMTP server details in Zoho Desk.

To add a From Address with SMTP

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click From Address from the left panel.
You can find that your default support email address added as the From Address.
In the From Address page, click New From Address in the upper right area.
In the Add From Address window, do the following:

Select a Department (when you've more than one) from the drop-down menu.
Enter the From Address to be used while replying to tickets. For example, support@zylker.com.
Enter a Friendly Name for your From Address.

Check the Use my SMTP option and do the following:

Enter your SMTP Username (format - you@yourdomain.com) and Password. For more information on how to create and use the app passwords, refer to Gmail App Password, Outlook App Password, and Microsoft App Password.
Enter the Server Name (format - smtp.yourdomain.com).
Select the Port Number for the server. You can choose between 25, 465 or 587.
Select the Connection Type. You can choose between Plain, SSL, or TLS.

Click Save.

Note

You are not required to verify the From Address or add an SPF record when you use your SMTP server.
Only when you use custom SMTP you need to provide credentials to Zoho Desk.
In some cases, the app might not support third-party mail authentication. In such cases, we need to enable two-factor authentication and use an app password. If two-factor authentication is not enabled, we can use the default mailbox password.

Adding From Address using server's of external mail providers

We currently support three external email providers: Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office 365 and Google. When you use either of their servers to send emails, you will be redirected to the mail provider's sign-in page where the authorization will happen. Afterwards, your email will be added as a verified from address.

Zoho Desk will never ask for your credentials.

To add a From Address using Microsoft Outlook Server

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click From Address from the left panel.
In the From Address page, click New From Address in the upper-right corner.
In the Add From Address window, do the following:

Select a Department (if you have more than one) from the drop-down menu.
Enter the From Address to be used while replying to tickets.
Enter a Friendly Name for your From Address.

Toggle on Use My SMTP Server.
In the Choose Email Account Provider drop-down, choose Microsoft Outlook.
You will be redirected to the clients log in page. After you sign in, your from address will be created and listed with an authenticated tag.

To add From Address using Microsoft Office 365 Server

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click From Address from the left panel.
In the From Address page, click New From Address in the upper-right corner.
In the Add From Address window, do the following:

Select a Department (if you have more than one) from the drop-down menu.
Enter the From Address to be used while replying to tickets.
Enter a Friendly Name for your From Address.

Toggle on Use My SMTP Server
In the Choose EMail Account Provider drop-down choose Microsoft Office 365
You will be redirected to the email client's log in page. After you sign in, your from address will be created and listed with an authenticated tag.

To add a From Address using Google

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click From Address from the left panel.
In the From Address page, click New From Address in the upper-right corner.
In the Add From Address window, do the following:

Select a Department (if you have more than one) from the drop-down menu.
Enter the From Address to be used while replying to tickets.
Enter a Friendly Name for your From Address.

Toggle on Use My SMTP Server.
In the Choose Email Account Provider drop-down, choose Google.
You will be redirected to the clients log in page. After you sign in, your from address will be created and listed with an authenticated tag.

Note

If you have already created a from address using your Microsoft outlook or office 365 credentials (via custom SMTP), you would have entered your credentials in Zoho Desk. if you want to remove the credentials from Zoho Desk, you need to delete the existing address and create a new one via the supported email servers.

Re-authentication of From Addresses

When the user changes their email account's credentials or when the custom server details are modified, the connection with Zoho Desk will be affected. In such cases, the from addresses will require re-authentication.

To Re-authenticate Emails

Emails that need re-authentication will be listed with verification status as failed
Click the Re-authenticate button next to the email. This will take you to the detail view.
Enter the required details.
Click Re-authenticate.

Disabling From Address

You can disable a From Address that you think will not be used anytime soon. When you disable, the From Address will not be displayed in the 'From' field when you compose a reply.

To disable a From Address

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click From Address from the left panel.
In the From Address page, click Disable corresponding to a from address.
Click OK to confirm.

Note: You can disable or delete the default From Address (support@zylker.zohodesk.com) so that it won't be displayed in the 'From' field while in the reply editor.

Deleting From Address

If you decide that you don't need a From Address anymore, you can delete it from your Zoho Desk.

To delete a From Address

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
In the Support Email Address page, click From Address from the left panel.
In the From Address page, click Delete corresponding to a From Address.
Click OK to confirm.

Advanced configuration

The following configuration options may also be useful in determining how to manage your email channel.

Auto Cc email replies

Whenever you reply to a ticket, the original support email address is automatically added as a Cc recipient. This ensures that a copy of every response is backed up in real-time.

To auto-cc email replies

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click Advanced Configuration from the left panel.
Toggle the Auto Cc e-mail replies to your support mailbox option to ON.
The Auto-Cc feature will be enabled immediately.

Note: This is an organization-level setting. However, you may choose to enable or disable this option for your individual departments.

Creating contacts using Reply-to email address

By default, the 'From' address of the customer sending you an email is used to create the contact. You can instead, choose to create contacts with their “Reply To” email address. For example, Natalie sends an email from support@abccorp.com but wants to receive responses at a particular address say, natalie@zmail.com. By enabling this option, Natalie will be added to your contacts with the email address natalie@zmail.com instead of support@abccorp.com.

To use reply-to email address

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click Advanced Configuration from the left panel.
Toggle the Create contacts with the "Reply To" email address option to ON.
The feature will be enabled immediately.

Note:

This is an organization-level setting. However, you may choose to enable or disable this option for your individual departments.
When there is more than one "reply-to" email address, the first reply-to email address is used to create a contact for the ticket.

Showing agent name in ticket replies

You start support conversations with a “hello,” saying “nice to meet you,” and end with a “thank you,” and “goodbye. But what if your customers find your replies land in their mailbox as "From: Zylker Support." Won’t they feel like it's another numbered ticket to be dealt with and dispatched?

Instead, add a "face" to your support tickets by displaying the name of the agent in their ticket replies. For example, "From: Brad <support@zylcares.com>." It would be adding the personal touch to each response.

To display the agent name

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click Advanced Configuration from the left panel.
Toggle the Show Agent name in Ticket replies and outgoing emails option to ON.
Zoho Desk will now display the agent's name (both first and last names) along with the support email alias in ticket replies.

Setting the requester while forwarding emails

When an agent forwards an email to Zoho Desk, it creates a ticket in their name and not that of the original sender. However, you can enable the forwarding option to set the original sender as the ticket's requester.

To enable this setting

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click Advanced Configuration from the left panel.
Toggle the For Agent-forwarded emails, use original sender as Contact option to ON.
Zoho Desk will now set the requestor as instructed.

Notes:

This solution works only for emails forwarded by active agents.
This is an organization-level setting. However, you may choose to enable or disable this option for your individual departments.

Setting ticket replies as private automatically

Ticket replies are public that shows up for customers in their inbox. But, what if you want to engage with someone without the conversation ending up in your customer's inbox? The ability to reply to tickets by removing the requestor from being the recipient helps you in these situations. Such replies could be set as private automatically, so they aren't visible on the Help Center.

To enable this setting

Go to Setup ( ) > Channels > Email.
Under Email, click Advanced Configuration from the left panel.
Toggle the Automatically set ticket threads as private based on recipients option to ON.
Zoho Desk will now automatically set reply threads as private when the requestor is not the recipient.

Notes:

Forwarded email threads will continue to be marked as private regardless of this setting.
This is an organization-wide setting and applies to all of your Zoho Desk departments.
When disabled, agents cannot set email replies as private even though the requestor is not the recipient.

Understanding email delivery and bounce

Despite several new and modern communication techniques, email stays the most preferred channel for customers when they need help from a business. However, what is often overlooked, is to ensure seamless delivery of emails to your customers. We've all been there. You draft an email ticket, send away, and then — when you check your ticket — you see that it “bounced.” Or worse you send out instant notifications that never reach your customers.

What are Bounces?

Bounces are those email addresses to which Zoho Desk could not deliver your email. They usually appear as a new conversation in your ticket. But there's no way to identify bounces in notification emails unless you take a closer look—at ticket history. There are two kinds of bounce email:

Hard bounce
Soft bounce

Hard Bounce

A hard bounce is that email address to which an email is permanently undeliverable by Zoho Desk for different reasons. Some of them are as follows:

The recipient email address does not exist.
The domain name does not exist.
The mail server of the recipient has blocked delivery.

Soft Bounce

A soft bounce is a temporary failure, and there is a chance that the recipient will receive the email from Zoho Desk eventually. It can happen when:

Your email response is too large.
Customer's inbox is full.
The recipient's server is down or offline.

What is the impact of bounce?

Zoho Desk takes bounces seriously as they affect not only the delivery of your emails but also the reputation of the email service used to send the emails, in this case, Zoho. We monitor for accounts that continually send emails to invalid contacts and block the email addresses from time to time. If you can't send emails to a contact, it means that one of the following factors impact your account:

When an email has hard bounced, it will be blocked by Zoho Desk permanently.
When an email has soft bounced, you will still be allowed to send further emails upto five times. If at the end of the fifth consecutive time, Zoho Desk is not able to deliver the email, the soft bounce gets converted as a hard bounce, and so the email address will be blocked permanently.

What is your way out of a bounce bounty?

Not all bounces are permanent. An email address that has been marked as a "hard bounce" can be removed from the blocked list. If you're convinced that the contact's email address is valid, write to Zoho Desk Support at support@zohodesk.com.

If your account reaches too high of a bounce rate, your email sending can be blocked without warning. This block applies only to your email notifications and not for ticket responses. If you find yourself in this situation, write to Zoho Desk Support at support@zohodesk.com. We will do what is required to whitelist Zoho Desk.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about setting up the email channel in Zoho Desk.

I have setup forwarding from two of my support mailboxes to an email alias (say, support@zylker.zohodesk.com ) in a department. Can I filter the tickets by the email address they are sent to originally?

You can filter tickets only by the email aliases you'd created in Zoho Desk. However, you can create two different email aliases in a department and set up a one-on-one forwarding, to filter by their original email addresses.

I have more than two 'from' addresses and looks like I need to pick the right one before sending a reply. What is the reason?

Zoho Desk will automatically set the From Address, to which your customers had addressed their ticket. However, for tickets created from other channels, you are required to choose the preferred From Address.

I'm using G Suite, and have set up domain-level routing (and not the default routing). Unfortunately, forwarding emails to Zoho Desk throws the following error - "Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently". Where did I go wrong?

When you set up domain-level forwarding in your G Suite console, make sure that you enable the Change SMTP Envelope option. This will forward your emails to Zoho Desk with <support@mycompany.zohodesk.com> as the 'To' address.

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