Working with Email Inboxes

9 min

Use this feature to create a business object record, such as an incident, from an email. After an incident or other business object record is created or updated, the application attaches the email to the record in the Activity History tab, and completes its post processing action.

If a user exists or is created, the application adds the associated email to the employee record for the user.

About Creating Incidents from Emails

About Creating Other Business Object Types from Emails

About Updating a Service Request via Email

Accessing the Default Email Inbox

Creating an Inbox

Modifying an Inbox

Deleting an Inbox

About Creating Incidents from Emails

The Out Of The Box (OOTB) Neurons for ITSM application comes with one inbox, which is based on the Incident business object. When you send an email to this inbox, the email listener processes the incoming message and creates an incident.

About Creating Other Business Object Types from Emails

To process emails from other business objects, you must create an inbox for each business object. Define a template for each business object so that users can submit emails in the correct format.

We recommend that you create new inboxes for other business objects after you modify the default inbox.

About Updating a Service Request via Email

You cannot create service request records from incoming emails; however, you can update service request records from incoming emails.

The corresponding field names and field values in the record are updated from the email and the email is attached to the record under the Activity History tab.

If the email body does not contain valid field names and field values, the system attempts to search for the service request from the service request ID is in the subject line; then the email is attached to the record in the Activity History tab.

If Neurons for ITSM cannot locate the service request record, the application creates a new incident and attaches the email to the record.

Accessing the Default Email Inbox

Neurons for ITSM always has a default inbox configured to create incidents. Therefore, you do not need to configure an inbox for creating incidents, but can instead just update the default inbox if you need to make changes.

The default email inbox is used to create incidents in Neurons for ITSM from email. Follow the steps here to access it.

Open the Email Config workspace. If there is only one email server, the application automatically opens it. If there is more than one email server, select the default record link under the Mail Host column.

From the Inbox tab at the bottom of the page, select the default record link under the Address column. The application opens the Inbox Configuration workspace.

Creating an Inbox

Open the Email Config workspace.

From the Inbox tab at the bottom of the page, select New. The application displays the New Inbox workspace.

Configure the parameter settings for each section on the Inbox Configuration form. Click the drop-down text sections below for information on the parameter configuration settings in each section.

Fields marked with an asterisk on the Inbox Configuration form are mandatory.

When all required configuration setting are completed, select Save.

Do one of the following:

If you selected Problem, Other, or Export Email as XML from the Email Processor field, configure the fields on the Field Mapping tab. Refer to Using the Field Mapping Tab.

If you selected Incident from the Email Processor field, configure the fields on the Status Mapping tab. Refer to Using the Status Mapping Tab.

If you selected Advanced Monitoring from the Email Processor field, configure the fields on the Monitor Items tab, refer to Using the Monitor Items Tab.

Parameter	Description
Name	Enter a unique name up to a maximum of 50 characters. This name must be unique for every email monitor, even if using the same address or account across multiple monitors. If you leave this field blank it is auto-filled with the email address in the Address field for the incoming server connection. This may result in the name not being unique and may result in an error message, therefore it is recommended that you do not leave this field blank. For identification purposes you can add the name of the email monitor to all emails picked up. This feature is enabled by adding and enabling the EnableInboundEmailSuffix global constant. When this global constant is added and enabled, the email monitor name is added to the Created By field in the email. Refer to Adding the Email Monitor Name to Emails.
Description	Enter a description for the email listener (optional).
Enable Email Listener	Select this checkbox to enable the email listener to identify emails and create a business object.

Parameter	Description
Address	The email address that users send emails to. For example, [email protected]. When configuring an internal email inbox for test purposes, the address must include "@internal.mailbox". For example "[email protected]".
Host	The host name or group that handles emails from the email address. For example, pop.emailsvr.com. This field is not applicable for the Microsoft Graph option because this protocol does not require any host addresses.
Port	Only shown if you select POP3 or IMAP4 for the Protocol field. The corresponding port number for the selected protocol. The default email port for POP3 is port 110 and the default port for IMAP4 is port 143.
Protocol	The protocol used to retrieve emails. The options are as follows: Exchange Web Services Google Services Account IMAP4 Microsoft Graph POP3 When you select the protocol, additional fields are displayed for their required parameters. The fields differ depending on the protocol selected.
Authentication	The authentication method for incoming messages. Refer to About Authentication Types.
User Name	The user name required to access the inbox on the email server. Usually the same as the address.
Client Login URL	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services or Microsoft Graph for the Protocol, and Authentication as AuthLogin. The endpoint URL. For example, https://login.microsoftonline.com/. Obtain the URL from the Azure Active Directory where you have registered an application.
Client Resource URL	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services or Microsoft Graph for the Protocol, and Authentication as AuthLogin. The default public URL for Exchange Web Services is - https://outlook.office365.com. The default public URL for Microsoft Graph is - https://graph.microsoft.com. If you are using a private cloud service, enter the specific URL for that service.
Client Tenant ID	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services or Microsoft Graph for the Protocol, and Authentication as AuthLogin. The directory (tenant) ID. Obtain the ID from the Azure Active Directory where you have registered an application.
Client ID	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services or Microsoft Graph for the Protocol, and Authentication as AuthLogin. The application ID. Obtain the ID from the Azure Active Directory where you have registered an application.
Client Secret Key	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services or Microsoft Graph for the Protocol, and Authentication as AuthLogin. The secret login key. Obtain the secret key from the Azure Active Directory where you have registered an application.
Password	Only shown if you select POP3 or IMAP4 for the Protocol, or Exchange Web Services for the Protocol with Authentication as Plain. The password required to access the inbox in the email server.
Use SSL/TLS	Only shown if you select IMAP4 or POP3 for the Protocol. Enables SSL and TLS security for incoming messages.

Parameter	Description
Inbox Name	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services, Google Service Account, IMAP4, or Microsoft Graph for the protocol . The folder for incoming emails. When the application processes an email, it creates or updates the business object record. If the email is incorrectly configured, the application moves it from the inbox folder to the archive folder. For Rackspace users - any email folders other than top level folders have a parent folder, and are created as child folders. If you are monitoring an inbox other than the top level (default) inbox, the format used in this field must take this into account. For example, if you created an email folder in Rackspace named "NewInbox", which is a child folder of "Inbox", the format to use for the name in this field is "Inbox.NewInbox".
Archive Mailbox Name	Only shown if you select the Move to Folder option for Action To Perform On Processing Success (see below), Not applicable and not shown for the POP3 protocol. The folder for storing archived or successfully processed emails. For clarification, Archive Mailbox Name is not actually a mailbox, it is a folder. For Rackspace users - see the note above for Inbox Name. In this case, for example, if you created an email folder in Rackspace named "Archive", which is a child folder of "Inbox", the format to use for the name in this field is "Inbox.Archive".
Ignore CC and BCC Emails	Ignores emails addressed to this inbox when the email address is only in the CC or BCC fields. The application does not process these emails.
Default Domain	A default domain. The application may not correctly process incoming emails without a domain. Use the default domain to construct a valid address, enabling emails to process as normal, including creating incident records.
Include Source Mailbox Name	Only shown if you select Incident for the Email Processor field. Includes the name of the source mailbox in the From field of the email. When checked, the CreatedBy field in an incident stores the processing mailbox name (such as Email [email protected]; If unchecked, the CreatedBy field has the value email listener. This enables you to determine which mailbox generated the incident.
Action To Perform On Processing Success	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services, Google Services Account, IMAP4 or Microsoft Graph for Protocol. The action to perform on an incoming email if it is processed successfully. Select one of the options from the drop-down list: Mark as read: Marks the email as read in your inbox. Move to folder: Moves the email from your inbox to the folder defined in the Archive Mailbox Name field. If Move to Folder is selected with Google Service Account as the configured protocol, the email is not moved to the archive folder. Instead the "Inbox" label is removed from the email. The email is no longer visible in your inbox, but can be viewed in "All Mail". For more information on label use with Gmail, refer to Organize your inbox in the Google Help Center. Delete: Deletes the email from your inbox. When the Move to folder or Delete options are selected, be aware that all emails currently in the Inbox are read and processed, regardless of their read/unread status. When the Mark as read option is selected, only emails with unread status are processed, after which they are marked as read.
Action To Perform On Processing Error	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services, Google Services Account, IMAP4 or Microsoft Graph for Protocol, The action to perform on an incoming email if an error occurs during processing. The occurrence of an error is rare, however an error may be caused by: The tenant's Journal table in the database may have had an essential field removed. The received email is malformed or incomplete. If an error occurs, select one of the options from the drop-down list: Mark as read: Marks the email as read in your inbox. Move to folder: Moves the email from your inbox to the folder defined in the Error Mailbox Folder field. If Move to Folder is selected with Google Service Account as the configured protocol, the email is not moved to the archive folder. Instead the "Inbox" label is removed from the email. The email is no longer visible in your inbox, but can be viewed in "All Mail". For more information on label use with Gmail, refer to Organize your inbox in the Google Help Center. Reprocess: No additional action takes place. The email remains in the Inbox and subsequent attempts are made to reprocess the email.
Error Mailbox Folder	Only shown if you select Exchange Web Services,, Google Service Account, IMAP4 or Microsoft Graph for Protocol, and also select Move to folder in the Action to Perform On Processing Error field. The folder for storing emails that have failed to process. For Rackspace users - see the note above for Inbox Name. In this case, for example, if you created an email folder in Rackspace named "ErrorMailbox", which is a child folder of "Inbox", the format to use for the name in this field is "Inbox.ErrorMailbox".
Test Connection	Tests the connection between Neurons for ITSM and the protocol service you have selected. Last Test Result: Displays the result of the previous connection test, including a time stamp, with date/time the test was run. It will include any failed message received. To clear the last test result, select Action Menu > No Category > Clear Test Result. Refer to 'Test Connection' in Configuring the Outgoing and Incoming Email Servers for more information. The Test Connection function is invalid for internal email inbox configurations.

Parameter	Description
Email Processor	The business object created from the incoming email. Incident: When the email is received, an incident record is created. This option is the default setting. Problem: When the email is received, a problem record is created. Other: You can select another business object. Refer to Creating an Inbox that Creates a Generic Business Object. Advanced Monitoring: When the email is received, a business object can be created, or (if found) an existing business object is updated in accordance with the action defined for the monitor item. Refer to About Advanced Email Monitoring and Using the Monitor Items Tab. Export Email as XML: When the email is received, it is exported as an XML file. Refer to Using XSLT to Process Incoming Emails in XML Format.
Name	Only shown if you select Other for the Email Processor field. The type of business object that the application creates when it receives the email.
Unique Key	Only shown if you select Other for the Email Processor field. The value that identifies this business object. Match the value you enter in this field with the Display field value for the business object on the Object Details tab (found in the Configuration Console in the Business Objects workspace for the particular business object). Example: The default unique key for change is ChangeNumber and the default unique key for knowledge is KnowledgeNumber.
Record Marker	Only shown if you select Problem or Other for the Email Processor field. A valid marker value that separates multiple record information within an email. Example: If you enter # as a record marker, information in the email body preceding the # sign creates one record, and information after the # sign creates another record. When inserted in a message body, this record marker (for example, a # sign) allows multiple records to be created from the body of a single message.
Field Value Separator	Only shown if you select Problem or Other for the Email Processor field. A character that separates the field name from the field value. Example: If you enter $ as a field separator value, Summary$summary_field_information populates the Summary field with the field information. Do not add white spaces before the field value separator.
Create Email When No Target BO	Only shown if you select Other for the Email Processor field. Check this option to send an email if the application cannot find the target business object.
Create Incident On Error	Creates an incident when an error occurs in generating the record from an email (regardless of the business object specified). The application displays the fields in the Incident and Task Creation section if you select this option. Note: The application only creates an incident upon error for cases other than create incident. That is, it creates an incident when there is an error updating an incident, or when there is an error creating or updating any other business object.
Data Import Connection	Only shown if you select Export Email as XML for the Email Processor field. Specifies the data import connection to use. Select a data import connection from the drop-down list. The list is populated based on the list of data import connections that are created using the Data Integration Wizard. Refer to Setting Up a Data Import Connection for information about data import connections.
Compress Message	Only shown if you select Export Email as XML for the Email Processor field. If checked, supports Unicode characters in the email message body.
Incident and Task Creation. This section only appears if you select Create Incident On Error or if you select Incident from the Email Processor field.
Incident or Task Owner Team	The team to which incidents generated from email errors are assigned.
Create New Task for Every Email	Creates a task record for the incident record. This task record appears in the Tasks tab of the incident record.
New Task Subject	The default subject line for every task email.

Parameter	Description
Method 1 (for Employee / External Contact / None)	Creates a record and links it to an existing user (either employee or external contact), or creates a record and a new user and links the record to the new user. You can check either this option or the Method 2 (for Custom BO) option, but not both. Use Method 1 if you are linking to either an employee or external contact. Use Method 2 if you are linking to any other business object.
Create record by creating or linking the Employee or External Contact	Only shown if you check Method 1. Does one of the following: If the user (either employee or external contact) is already in the application, creates a record and links it to the user. If the user (either employee or external contact) is not in the application, creates a record and a new user and links the record to the new user. Note: If you create a task for an external contact, there must be a value for the LoginID field in the External Contact workspace, refer to Working with External Contacts. When you configure the email listener to create a new external contact, the application uses the default value of the LoginID field as the primary email address. We recommend that you create a business rule that ensures that this field is populated.
Create record only when the Employee or External Contact exists	Only shown if you check Method 1. Does one of the following: If the user (either employee or external contact) is already in the application, creates a record and links it to the user. If the user (either employee or external contact) is not in the application, does not create a record or a new user.
Create record without creating Employee or External Contact	Only shown if you check Method 1. Does one of the following: If the user (either employee or external contact) is already in the application, creates a record and links it to the user. If the user (either employee or external contact) is not in the application, creates a record and links it to the default user called Internal Services.
Contact Type	Only shown if you check Method 1 and then select Create record by creating or linking the Employee or External Contact. The contact type. Can be either Employee or External Contact.
Contact Field Name	Only shown if you check Method 1 and then select Create record by creating or linking the Employee or External Contact. The field used to link the selected contact business object. This field defaults to the primary email of the contact if left blank. Note: This is the internal field name, not the display name.
Method 2 (for Custom Business Object)	Only shown if you select Incident, Problem, or Other for the Email Processor field. Creates a record and links it to an existing business object, or if the business object does not exist, creates a new business object and links the record to it. You can check either this option or the Method 1 (for Employee / External Contact / None) option, but not both. Use Method 1 if you are linking to either an employee or external contact. Use Method 2 if you are linking to any other business object. Method 2 is hidden if you select Advanced Monitoring or ExportEmailAsXml in the Email Processor drop-down list.
Create record by creating or linking the Custom Business Object	Only shown if you check Method 2. Does one of the following: If the business object already exists, creates a record and links it to the business object. If the business object does not exist, creates a record and creates a new business object, and links the record to the new business object.
Create record when the Custom Business Object exists	Only shown if you check Method 2. Does one of the following: If the business object already exists, creates a record and links it to the business object. If the business object does not exist, does not create a record or a new business object.
Relationship to Custom Business Object	Only shown if you check Method 2. The name of the relationship between the target business object (the value in the Email Processor field) and the new business object.
Match the email address "from" value to the related object field value	Only shown if you check Method 2. You can either enter a value in this field or in the related object field value field, but not in both. Refer to Example: Creating or Linking Business Objects via Email for more information.
Related object field value	Only shown if you check Method 2. You can either enter a value in this field or in the Match the email address "from" value to the related object field value field, but not in both. Refer to Example: Creating or Linking Business Objects via Email for more information.

Modifying an Inbox

You can modify the settings for all inboxes, including the default inbox.

Open the Inbox workspace. The application displays the list of inboxes.

Select the inbox to modify. The application displays the Inbox Configuration workspace.

Edit the fields as needed. For more information on each field, refer to Creating an Inbox.

Select Save.

Deleting an Inbox

Be cautious when deleting the default inbox, as it might lead to permanent loss of all the emails in the application.

Open the Email Config workspace,

Select the record link under the Mail Host column.

From the Inbox tab, select the address to delete.

Select Delete.

Select Yes at the confirmation prompt.

Working with Email Inboxes

About Creating Incidents from Emails

About Creating Other Business Object Types from Emails

About Updating a Service Request via Email

Accessing the Default Email Inbox

Creating an Inbox

Email Listener Settings

Incoming Server Connection

Incoming Server Settings

Record Creation Settings

Sender / BO Identification and Matching

Modifying an Inbox

Deleting an Inbox