A mailbox is an account on your mail server. The Routing Service collects new emails from it — including faxes that a fax service delivers by email — and files drafts and sent replies there; agents write new emails through it. myContactCenter connects via IMAP with a user name and password.
You manage the mailboxes under Global elements › Mailboxes; this requires the Mailbox configuration permission.
Setting up a mailbox
- Right-click the list and choose Add.
- On the Mailbox tab, fill in the fields, see below.
- Click Test connection.
- On the Skills tab, turn on the skills that write through this mailbox.
- Click Save.
- Map the address of the mailbox in an email or fax flow, with the skill and language that new emails start with. Only then does myContactCenter collect emails from the mailbox.
You do not set the sender and sending via SMTP in the mailbox but in the server configuration on the Email send configuration tab and per skill on the Email system tab — see Email system.
The fields
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Name | a name for the mailbox, e.g. “Service” |
| Mail address | the address of the mailbox, exactly one. Flows use it to map the mailbox. |
| Mailaddress aliases | further addresses that arrive in the same mailbox, separated by commas — preferably without spaces |
| Account name, Password | the login to the mail server. The password is stored encrypted. |
| Server | the name of the IMAP server |
| Port | With 993, the Routing Service connects encrypted right away. With any other port, it encrypts as soon as the server offers it. 0 stands for the default port 143. |
On the Advanced Settings tab, the Fetch interval sets how often the Routing Service checks for new emails: between 30 seconds and one hour, default one minute.
The Skills tab
Here you define which mailbox a skill writes through:
- Agents can only start new emails in skills that have a mailbox.
- Drafts and sent copies of conversations without a mailbox of their own — for example an email that a flow sends during a call — end up in this mailbox.
Each skill can have only one mailbox. If it is already assigned to another one, the switch cannot be turned on, and the dialog reports Skill can not be selected. The list of mailboxes shows which skills write through a mailbox in the Linked skills column.
This tab plays no role for incoming emails — their skill is set by the flow. However, myContactCenter does not collect from a mailbox without any skill; Status of services then shows Not configured.
How emails are collected
- Only the active Routing Service collects: for the first time one minute after it starts, then at the Fetch interval.
- It reads all unread emails in the inbox. It marks an email as read as soon as an agent opens it or the conversation ends; the email stays in the inbox.
- Which flow handles an email is determined by the mapping of the Mail address in the flows. If the address is not mapped in any flow, the information area reports Flow error — No flow behavior found! The mailbox either does not exist or is not mapped, and the email is left where it is.
- If an email belongs to an ongoing conversation from the same mailbox, myContactCenter adds it to that conversation: if subject and sender match, if it replies to a reply sent from there or if its subject contains the ticket number.
myContactCenter creates three folders in the mailbox: myContactCenter-Drafts for the agents’ drafts, myContactCenter-Sent for sent replies and myContactCenter-Spam for filtered emails.
Filtered emails
myContactCenter moves an email to the spam folder if the address of the mailbox is not under “To” but only under “Cc” or “Bcc”, if its only recipient is its sender or if it has no recipient. Administrators and supervisors then receive the message Email moved to spam folder with sender, recipients and subject.
Testing the connection
Test connection tests the values entered, even if they have not been saved yet: the Routing Service connects to the mail server, logs in and creates the folders. Under Test Result:, the dialog shows Successful or Failed for Is connected and for Is authenticated. A Routing Service must be running for the test. When you open an existing mailbox, the test runs by itself.
Monitoring
The active Routing Service checks all mailboxes one minute after it starts and every 15 minutes after that. Status of services shows their state under the name and address of the mailbox. If the check fails, administrators and supervisors receive the message Mailbox not available with the button Open mailbox settings.
Changing and deleting
A running Routing Service only applies changes to a mailbox — such as a new password — and deletions after it restarts. Monitoring, on the other hand, checks the new values immediately.
If you delete a mailbox, the Administration does not check whether a flow still maps its address. Remove the mapping in the flow.