Introducing the all-new email parser!

Introducing the all-new email parser!

Greetings,
 
We are pleased to introduce to you, a brand-new, upgraded version of the Zoho CRM Email Parser, which is packed with fresh features and has been completely redesigned to meet latest customers needs and their business requirements.
 
On that note, the Old Email Parser will reach end-of-life on June 1, 2023. After EOL, old email parser will not be available in your CRM account. In the spirit of preparing for this deprecation, we encourage all of you to try the all-new email parser at the earliest. In this post, we will discuss key pointers on the following:
— the improvements made in the New Email Parser
— how to prepare for deprecation of the Old Email Parser

What is the email parser?

Email parser is a data extraction tool in Zoho CRM that helps an organization in various business functions such as lead generation and information updates. It is designed to automate the process of adding records to Zoho CRM by extracting information from incoming emails.
Now, let's have a detailed look at the functionalities that we have brought with this enhancement. 

Enhancements in the New Email Parser

The following are the enhancements you can now see when you switch to the latest version of the email parser:

1. Single parser email ID for all parser rules  

Previously, for each parser rule there was a different parser address. It was often tedious to assign and keep track of a new parser ID for each individual vendors. The logistics involved in tracking and maintaining these parser IDs was itself often time-consuming. However, in the new version of the email parser, there's only a single, common parser email ID for all rules, meaning that regardless of how many vendors you're working with or how many rules you create, you can use one parser ID for all. This makes working with the email parser much easier and cuts down your setup and maintenance time significantly.


Also, a maximum of five approved parser addresses can be set up in common for all rules early on during the configuration.

2. A more powerful and intuitive configuration interface  

In the latest version of email parser, the entire configuration interface allows free parsing and is highly intuitive, powerful, and, most importantly, user-friendly—unlike the previous version, which demanded rigid adherence to delimiters. 


The email parser interface automatically gives you a preview of the parsed data on the same screen where the field mapping occurs, so it's easier to get a snapshot of all the fields that are being parsed.

There's also an advanced configuration tab which involves options for filtering emails applicable to the parser based on criteria and associating automated actions, such as sending for approval, updating fields, and assigning records to certain users based on assignment rules.

You can also parse HTML emails directly, as opposed to converting them to plain text emails first—which was necessary for the old parser. You can also create email parser rules for each layout in a module.

3. Custom functions: Configure the email parser without associating a module

The new email parser now supports the execution of custom functions based on parsed data. In this case, the parser rule is not associated with a particular module. Using custom functions helps you with extensibility and interoperability in Zoho CRM. You can extend the email parser function to more than one module within Zoho CRM, and even to connect with other Zoho services. You can also perform ad hoc actions in third-party applications based on the parsed data.

  • For example, let's say that based on an incoming email inquiry, a property management company called Zylker wishes to update both Contact and Account records in CRM. The email sender's name, phone number, and address will go to the Contacts module, whereas their company information will go to the Accounts module.
  • Let's say also that the same company has another requirement: Based on an incoming email from a customer regarding the status of their property, they want to update corresponding information on a third-party listing website automatically. They can achieve this by using the email parser to execute custom functions.
Once you have the required custom functions written, you can associate them to the parser rule and have the action executed for subsequent incoming emails.

4. Update records and send them for approval

Update Record is a function by which you can update the latest information on a record from an incoming parsed email.

For example, say you receive an incoming email from a prospect named Jane Evans. Normally, a new lead record would be created for a new inquiry email, but if Jane is already in the CRM system, you want the CRM to update Jane's information on the same record as opposed to creating a duplicate record. If this is your expectation, you can check the Update Record option in the parser rule's Advanced Configuration settings.
 
Note: CRM will use the email field to detect duplicate records. For the Update Record option to show up, 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.
 
You can also choose the Send for Approval option—in which case, records parsed via email parser need to be reviewed and approved from the Waiting for Approval tab in the selected module in order to become a part of the CRM system.

5. Informative parser reports 

In the new version of the email parser, you're presented with accurate, detailed insights on the number of emails being parsed per rule, the fields extracted, and a list of customized actions associated with the records the parser has created. This detail summary gives you a clear picture of how effective your rules have been and indicates the revisions you may need to make to those rules based on those insights.
 
Detailed weekly performance reports can be sent to the creator of these rules or a custom email ID. Email reports are also sent upon record creation failure so that the appropriate users can take immediate action.


6. Reorder and filter  

You now have an option to reorder the list of parser rules based on your preferred order. This is important because the email parser system is designed to execute only the very first rule whose criteria an incoming email meets. Therefore, the order of the parser rules becomes essential for effective email parser performance.

You can also filter rules by status (active/inactive) and also by module.

7. Contextual access to parsed emails  

You can view not only the Configuration Info for each parser rule, but also insights based on parsed emails.




This way, from the perspectives of both parser rules and parsed emails, you can derive useful insights.
 
The "Email" tab lists the most recent email in your parser inbox, where you can check properties like parsing status, the rule used to parse it, and more. If the email has not met any rule, you may also create a new parser rule contextually from this email page.


You can also re-run an email in the event of parser failure if there's no match found, as well as parse emails in bulk. (Note that this is applicable only for the emails that have a template match and for which the parsing was unsuccessful.)

Preparing for deprecation of the Old Email Parser

For existing users:

Existing users, who have not already switched to the new parser can do so by clicking on the Switch to New Parser button. Rules available in both the parsers will be working simultaneously until the Old parser is deprecated, but the rules available in the Old parser will not be displayed in the New parser view, and vice versa.



It's essential to manually create the existing rules in the New parser because once the Old parser is deprecated, only the rules present in the new parser will function. Since there won't be any rules from the previous parser available, the new parser will require that you create all rules from scratch.

Please note:  

  • Until the deprecation of the Old Email Parser on June 1, 2023, both the old and new versions will co-exist, after which, the New Email Parser will become the default version. .
  • The rules in the Old Email Parser parser won't be available once it has been deprecated. Therefore, if no rules are added to the New Email Parser , there won't be a parser to run. So be sure to write rules in the New Email Parser before the deprecation. Additionally, keep in mind that once your old rules have become obsolete, they cannot be recovered.

For new signups  

For new signups, only the new parser will be available as the default feature, and not the old parser. There is no action required from users in new signups.

Further reading   

Help Doc: Click here
What's New and What has Changed — A comparison guide: Click here

Thanks, have a great day. 
Regards, 
Sai Shree | Zoho CRM 

    • Recent Topics

    • Import Error: Empty values for mandatory fields - Closing Date

      Hello, I've tried multiple times to import a CVS Potential list from another Zoho account. But the error message I get is: Empty values for mandatory fields - Closing Date There are valid dates in this field, so I don't understand why this error messages

    • Feature Requests - Contact Coloured Picklist Visibility & Field Visibility During Ticket Creation

      Hi Desk Team, I have 2 feature requests for you. Since Coloured Picklists are now available in Desk, It would be great if the colours were visible on the Related Details (Contact Information) when creating a ticket. In the screenshot below, I have 2 fields

    • Accounts Receivable Balances Differs in Balance Sheet, Customer Balance Report, AR Ageing Summary, and AR Ageing Details.

      Hello Zoho Accounts Receivable Balances Differs in Balance Sheet, Customer Balance Report, AR Ageing Summary, and AR Ageing Details. Please clarify and fix the issues here. Thanks

    • How to integrate XML with Zoho CRM

      Hi, I have an eCom service provider that gives me a dynamic XML that contains order information, clients, shipments... The XML link is the only thing I have. No Oath or key, No API get... I want to integrate it into Zoho CRM. I am not a developer nor

    • Feature Request - Ability to Customise Contact Info Card on Ticket Details View

      Hi Desk Team, I've added a "Contact Priority" and "Account Prioirty" field and it would be very useful to agents if they could see that information in the Contact Info card on the Ticket Details view. It would be great if we could choose some fields to

    • Tax in Quote

      Each row item in a quote has a tax value. At the total numbers at the bottom, there is also a Tax entry. If you select tax in both of the (line item, and the total), the tax doubles. My assumption is that the Tax total should be totalling the tax from

    • Zoho Flow integration with Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp

      Hi there,  any plans of adding integrations with Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp into Zoho Flow? Seems that more and more business are delivering automated updates such as "your order is received",  "your order has been shipped" and so on via these two platforms. Not sure if Whatsapp has the API access needed i am pretty sure that Facebook Messenger has... Kind regards Bo Thygesen 

    • Multi-currency and Products

      One of the main reasons I have gone down the Zoho route is because I need multi-currency support. However, I find that products can only be priced in the home currency, We sell to the US and UK. However, we maintain different price lists for each. There

    • Campaigns unsubscribe/manage preferences links

      Hi, Where can I edit the unscubscribe and manage preferences link in the footer of the email. I would like it so that when you click 'manage preferences' an form opens up that allows the person to choose what type of emails they do and don't wish to

    • email address somehow still not verified (?!)

      L.S. After creating a new email template in CRM I was about to send a group email to my clients, then Zoho CRM announced that they would change the sender address to some kind of Zoho-e-ddress because my email address "has not been verified". Not only

    • Marketing Tip #17: Add credibility to your online store with Review Widgets

      One of the fastest ways to build trust in an online store is to show real customer feedback right where people are deciding to buy. Third-party widgets let you embed things like Google Reviews, Instagram feeds, or even a WhatsApp chat button. These add

    • adding several team members to an Opportunity

      How can we add several team members to one opportunity for collaboration? I have researched and only found something called Deal Team which I cannot find in my CRM to configure.

    • PDF Annotation is here - Mark Up PDFs Your Way!

      Reviewing PDFs just got a whole lot easier. You can now annotate PDFs directly in Zoho Notebook. Highlight important sections, add text, insert images, apply watermarks, and mark up documents in detail without leaving your notes. No app switching. No

    • Bulk update Profile Permissions

      Dears, What should we do if we add new forms or reports and need to update more than 20 permissions? Updating them one by one feels pretty harsh, doesn’t it?

    • Probable Scam / Phising attempt from email pretending to be Zoho

      I think this is a scam email right? It says "zohCworkplace.com". I'm on the Mail Free plan The link in the CTA button seems to go to a redirect. Just wanted to bring it up to the security team.

    • Filter in fields from Jira extension

      We have installed the Jira extension so we can maken Jira issues from Zoho desk. In Zoho desk I can also see the Jira issue status for example but I can not filter on this field. I would like to setup an filter showing me the closed Jira issues. How can

    • Zoho Creator customer portal limitation | Zoho One

      I'm asking you all for any feedback as to the logic or reasoning behind drastically limiting portal users when Zoho already meters based on number of records. I'm a single-seat, Zoho One Enterprise license holder. If my portal users are going to add records, wouldn't that increase revenue for Zoho as that is how Creator is monetized? Why limit my customer portal to only THREE external users when more users would equate to more records being entered into the database?!? (See help ticket reply below.)

    • Add Reporting feature to display variance/change columns when comparing periods

      When running reports to compare periods (for example, Profit and Loss comparing current year to previous), I would like to be able to display variance columns in both (a) amount or (b) percentage.

    • Link Contacts to Billed Accounts

      Hello, I want to do a survey on all my customers of 2025. For that I want to select all contacts linked to accounts who where billed in 2025. How to I create this link to I can then use Zoho Survey with this database of contacts?

    • Historical Sales Info - Blend with Finance Invoice Line Items, Access in CRM and Desk

      My company has been using Zoho One since 2021, with sales data going back through 2020. However, we have been in business much longer, and we have historical sales information that we want to have at our fingertips when talking with customers (usually

    • Pre-Zoho Sales Info - Best Way to Add to Desk / CRM

      My company has been using Zoho One since 2021, with sales data going back through 2020. However, we have been in business much longer, and we have historical sales information that we want to have at our fingertips when talking with customers (usually

    • CRM function REST API response format

      Is there a way to control the JSON response returned by the CRM function REST API? If I call a function using either OAuth or an API key it returns a 200 OK response with a string in the format shown below. I am using a particular feature of an external

    • Using MPN across multiple SKUs and inventory tracking

      I have several different SKU's that share a common MPN and would like to track inventory by MPN. SKU1 has MPN1 assigned SKU2 has MPN1 assigned Here is an example If I start with 5 of MPN 1 in stock I want each SKU1 and SKU2 to show as 5 in stock, If I

    • Unable to Access Application:

      Whenever I try to access my application from the desktop, say I am editing it and want to test something in the desktop environment I get: An error has occurred. An internal error has occurred. Please check the URL , or try refreshing the page I can edit

    • Evernote (ENEX) import limitations

      I have been with Evernote since 2010, but the latest price increase is ridiculous. I am currently testing Zoho Notebook as a replacement. I am impressed so far - if it were not for critical need to import legacy Evernote notes, I would 100% migrate to

    • Cannot see Application from Lookup field

      Hi all, I am trying to access data for an application on our account via a lookup field; however, the application doesn't appear in the dropdown at all. Can anyone shed any light on this, please? I have asked Zoho support; however, they're just as confused,

    • Zoho CRM Meetings Module Issues

      We have a use-case that is very common in today's world, but won't work in Zoho CRM. We have an SDR (Sales Development Rep) who makes many calls per day to Leads and Contacts, and schedules meetings for our primary Sales Reps. He does this by logging

    • Zoho Books integration sync from Zoho CRM does not work

      Hi Zoho Community & Zoho Support We just tried to get a sync some products into Zoho Books from CRM using the native sync and we're getting an error: "It looks like some mandatory fields you're trying to map are empty. Please provide valid field names

    • Disable Auto Send Email Notification in Invoice Creation

      Here is what I am facing Make payment via Razor Pay (All Good) Capture payload data on my webapp Send this data, along with other data to Zoho books to create the invoice However in this step - An email goes to the client + The Invoice remains as draft

    • P & L Sub-categorized accounts

      How can I show sub-categorized Income and Expense accounts on the P & L report?

    • Email Address Search in "To" Field Search is broken, Zoho refuses to fix it

      Typing a part of the email address string other than the beginning of the string does NOT work, I kindly urge Zoho to fix this. Let's say you remember writing an email so someone called "smith" from company "corp.com", but can't remember their first name,

    • Report showing Bill Details with Project and Sales Invoice Number

      Hi There, I am hoping that someone can help, I am looking for report that can show the bill and expense details along with project its as assigned to and the invoice number that the sales has been raised in. The goal is I can filter a customer/project

    • Advanced Payment for Inventory Items with serial numbers

      Hello, We sell equipment that we track the unique serial numbers on using Sales Orders. We can charge the customers an advanced payment, then the balance on delivery. We cannot figure out a way to do this in Books/Inventory: - Cannot part invoice a SO

    • Is it possible to restrict ZCRM user to see only custom views created by administrator

      I have segmented data in my CRM and I want to allow different users to be able to see only parts of it based on some criteria. I've tried to create and share a custom view, but then there is always an option for user to see all open lead for example.

    • Issues Logging into ZOHO

      Hello, one of my coworkers is having issues logging into ZOHO, she has requested a code when entering and the email is correct but she has not received the code. can you help us with this?

    • Google Fonts Integration in Pagesense Popup Editor

      Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to enhance Zoho Pagesense’s popup editor with Google Fonts support. Current Limitation: Currently, Pagesense offers a limited set of default fonts. Google Fonts

    • Add Popup Rejection Metrics to Reports

      Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We would like to request improved reporting for popup interactions. Current Limitation: PageSense currently provides conversion data, but there is no clear visibility into: Popup rejections Popup closes (✕ button clicks) Dismissals

    • Ability to Reset / Reinitialize Popup Cookies

      Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We would like to request the ability to manually reset popup cookies. Current Limitation: At the moment, it is not possible to initiate a new popup cookie from the our side. Visitors who rejected or closed a popup will not see

    • Control Popup Cookie Expiration Duration

      Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We would like to request an enhancement related to popup cookie management. Current Limitation: Currently, PageSense popup cookies remain active for 365 days, and this duration cannot be modified by us. If a visitor closes or

    • Clone / Export Popup Design Across PageSense Projects

      Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We hope you’re doing well. We would like to request an enhancement that allows popup designs to be reused across different PageSense projects. Problem Statement: Currently, Zoho PageSense allows popups to be duplicated only

    • Next Page