You can select the Receiving mode for email channels to determine how you want your messages imported in eDesk.
This help file will guide you through the different Receiving Modes available and what they mean.
Before you start
- You’ll need an Admin login to eDesk. If you don’t have an Admin login, you can request one from an Admin user within your business.
Different Receiving Modes
Go to Settings → Mailbox Settings → Channels → select the channel → Mailbox tab → Receiving mode.
From there, you will see all the sending modes available within your eDesk account.
01 Receive emails sent to the channel’s eDesk address
This is the default receiving mode for mail forwarding. It means that when the customer message is received in your e-mail client (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo etc.), it will be forwarded into eDesk (the messages will still be seen to have come from the customer email address).
To set this up, you need to ensure that the channel's eDesk email (found near the top of the Mailbox tab - see screenshot below) is copied and pasted into the forwarding settings of your email client.
If the 'Receive emails sent to the channel's eDesk address' option is selected, you need to take a look at your Sending mode. What 'email from' address do you want your customers to see? For more on Sending modes, click here.
02 Pull emails via Microsoft Outlook API
This is the recommended method if you have an Outlook email account.
From the Receiving mode dropdown, select 'Pull emails via Microsoft Outlook API' and then click 'Connect Outlook to eDesk'.
Click 'Authorize eDesk'.
Enter your email address and click 'Next'.
If you are not already signed into your account on your browser, you will be asked for the password for your Outlook account. Enter the password for your Outlook account and click 'Sign in'.
You will be asked to 'Let this app access your info?'. Click 'Accept'.
You will be asked to 'Configure your setup'.
If you want to pull ALL emails from the Outlook inbox into eDesk, click 'Finish Setup'.
If you want to pull in messages from a specific FOLDER, click 'I'm using folders', choose the folder you want to pull in and click 'Finish Setup'.
If you are using a SHARED MAILBOX, click 'I'm using a shared mailbox', add the shared mailbox you want to pull in and click 'Finish Setup'.
Click 'Go to mailbox'.
Congratulations! Your mailbox is now set up to pull messages via the Microsoft API. Your customers will see the same 'from' email address as the one we are pulling from.
You can now add another shared mailbox if you want to.
You can choose when to mark messages in Outlook as 'read'.
And you can choose how many previous messages to quote at the end of each outgoing message from eDesk (we recommend using 'Don't quote any previous messages' for a cleaner eDesk experience).
03 Pull emails via Gmail (IMAP)
This is the recommended method if you have a Gmail account.
From the Receiving mode dropdown, select 'Pull emails via Gmail (IMAP)'.
Enter the email address you want to pull messages from and click 'Connect Gmail to eDesk'.
A 'choose an account' screen will appear. If the correct email that you want to connect to eDesk shows, click on it. If it is another email (that you may be logged into on your browser), click 'use another account' and type the email and password of the Gmail account you want to connect to. When the correct account has been chosen, click 'Next'.
On the 'eDesk wants to access your Google account' screen, click 'Continue'.
You will be asked to configure your email.
If you want to pull ALL emails from the Gmail inbox into eDesk, click 'Finish setup'.
If you want to pull in messages from a specific FOLDER, click 'Select folder', choose the folder you want to pull in and click 'Finish setup'.
Congratulations! Your mailbox is now set up to pull messages via Gmail IMAP (the Google App). Your customers will see the same 'from' email address as the one we are pulling from.
You can now change the Source Folder if you want to.
You can choose to 'Include subfolders'.
You can choose 'Do not reopen closed tickets' - which would mean incoming messages would not reopen closed tickets but create a new ticket instead.
04 Pull emails using other IMAP providers
Use this if you want your messages to be pulled via IMAP but are not using either Gmail or Outlook.
From the Receiving mode dropdown, select 'Pull emails using other IMAP providers'.
From the 'Provider' dropdown, choose 'Other'.
Enter the Email address you want to pull messages from; enter it again in the Username field; enter the password you use to access that email; fill in the Host, Connection Type and Port that you want to use. (These vary according to email providers so you may need to do a web search for the correct ones for your particular email client).
Congratulations! Your mailbox is now set up to pull messages via IMAP. Your customers will see the same 'from' email address as the one we are pulling from.
You can now choose how many previous messages to quote at the end of each outgoing message from eDesk (we recommend using 'Don't quote any previous messages' for a cleaner eDesk experience).
You can choose 'Do not reopen closed tickets' - which would mean incoming messages would not reopen closed tickets but create a new ticket instead.
05 Receive emails using POP3
POP3 (Post Office Protocol) is an old version of IMAP and not recommended. If you would like to connect your email using POP3, we recommend you contact us directly through the LiveChat in your account to discuss.
The From name and email address will show as My Company.
Further Readings
If you wanted to learn more about Sending modes, click here.
Interested in finding out more about Mail forwarding? Click here.
