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10.12. Email Integration

This email integration area allows Administrators to configure outbound messaging, as well as general mail preferences.

Administrators should keep in mind that to properly integrate an existing email support account with HelpSpot, they must set up email integration and create a Mailbox. For more on creating a mailbox, see the Mailboxes page referenced below.

Outbound Email Configuration

Note: HelpSpot will use this configuration for all outbound emails (User notices and outbound customer messages), however these settings can be overridden (if configured as such) by the creation of a mailbox.

Send Outbound Email Via

If you have already set up a mailbox with an API integration or SMTP configuration you can select that mailbox to send your outbound email via. This is the best option in most cases.

A separate SMTP configuration can also be configured on this screen if desired.

Administrators can opt to use PHP mail function or an SMTP server to send all outbound messages. Note that PHP mail is limited in use to only non-Windows installations.

SMTP Configuration (not displayed if a modern authentication mailbox is selected above)

When SMTP is used, the following settings must be provided:

• SMTP Security Protocol. Most installations will not have to configure this and can leave the default, none. Those running servers requiring a security protocol, can configure as such.
• SMTP Host. Provide the host name. Multiple names should be listed without any spaces and separated by a semicolon.
• SMTP Port. The standard port is usually 25, secure is 465. These can vary by server, so check with mail provider.
• SMTP Authentication. Indicate if your mail server requires username/password for authentication.
• SMTP Username/password. If required, and Yes is selected above, provide account username and password.
• SMTP HELO. Most installation will not require this, however those that do can provide it here.

Notification Email Address

In order to send notifications and replies, HelpSpot must have a 'reply to' email address designated. For the recipient of these messages, this email will be the 'From' in the mail client.

For Administrators using email integration this will simply be an account specified when creating mailboxes. By selecting an existing integrated account, they ensure all message sent to the notification email are integrated into HelpSpot.

For those not using email integration, keep in mind the notification email is for outbound use only and no messages sent to this address will be captured by HelpSpot.

Notification Email Address Name

In addition to specifying the notification/outbound email address, administrators must set the name of the account as it will display in the recipient's mail client.

Default Send From

Dropdown selector to specify which Email Mailbox to use for outbound sending of public notes when creating requests. There is also the option of selecting "Do not send email" which will prevent outbound notifications of public notes. 

Request ID Prefix

This is used only for those attempting to send requests between HelpSpot installations. For example, the IT and maintenance department have separate installations but have the need to send requests to each other. So no installations requests are overwritten, they can proceed each request ID with letters to identify their installation.

Global BCC

An email address entered here will receive blind carbon copies of all outbound emails (not visible to other recipients). The dropdown selector allows electing to BCC only public notes or all outbound emails.

Reply Above Text

This field allows administrators to customize the text used to automatically remove quoted history inserted by email clients.

The balance of the settings on this page apply to all INBOUND messages, regardless of the mailbox the message entered in from.

Allow Email Attachments

This simple yes/no drop-down allows Administrators to specify if attachments are imported with incoming email messages. If no attachments are permitted, HelpSpot will strip the attachment prior to importing the message.

Because HelpSpot deletes all messages from the mail server after importing, it is recommended that this be left at the default of yes to ensure no important attachment are lost.

Do Not Allow Attachments with These Extensions

To prevent potentially malicious files from entering HelpSpot, Administrators can specify file types that will be stripped from imported messages. By default HelpSpot lists: exe and vbs. Additional file extensions can be provided in a comma separated list.

Max Attachment Size

The default maximum file size for attachments is 50MB; providing a reasonable balance between sharing of critical files and conserving database space. This can be increased/decreased based on individual organization need.

Reopening Closed Requests

By design, HelpSpot will re-open a request if an update is sent in within 30 days of closing. Administrators have the option of specifying the number of days or setting to 0, which will always force HelpSpot to re-open closed requests when updated. 

Using the default setting helps in keeping new issues from being lost among those that are newly submitted, but done using an old request.

Maximum Emails to Retrieve at Once

To prevent the system from attempting to pull in more emails that in can handle, and run the risk of timing out before messages are retrieved, HelpSpot allows Administrators to limit the number of messages pulled in, per mailbox, for each run of tasks.php. The default provided is 10. It's not recommended that you ever set this to higher than 30.

New Request Loop Protection

HelpSpot will attempt to prevent email loops with other systems based on the rules defined in Admin > Settings > Email Integration > New Request Loop Protection. Two of the three rules in New Request Loop Protection work in concert to stop email loops, and the third rule works independently to prevent duplicate looping. 

Time Period and Max emails in time period work in concert, engaging New Request Loop Protection if one email address sends more than the defined Max number of emails within the defined Time Period.

The Duplicate Check works independently, comparing the subject and body content of incoming emails for exact duplicates within the defined time period (in seconds).

More details about each feature are available on the New Request Loop Protection page.

Enable tasks.php Debugging Output

When setting up your email integrations or if a problem arises you may want to turn this on. Once enabled, when you visit tasks.php via your browser to manually run the process debugging information will be show (it can be useful to 'view source' in the browser for a cleaner view).