When an agent's Email channel is on, customers can email the agent and
it replies by email. Each agent has its own addresses at Subcontext. To use an
address on your own domain, such as support@example.com, you forward it to
one of them.
The agent's addresses#
The agent's email channel settings (open the agent, then its Channels tab, then Configure on Email) show two addresses with copy buttons:
| Address | Looks like | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Inbound address (canonical) | <a long id>@inbound.subcontext.com |
Never changes. Use this one for forwarding. |
| Inbound address (friendly) | <agent name>-<organisation>@inbound.subcontext.com |
Easy to read out, but changes if the agent or your organisation is renamed. |
Both reach the same agent. Replies the agent sends carry an address that leads back to it as their Reply-To, so when a customer replies, the thread comes back to the same agent.
Using your own address#
You can't point your domain's MX records at Subcontext. Instead, keep your mailbox where it is and forward it:
- In your email system, forward the address customers write to (say
support@example.com) to the agent's canonical address. Use a forward or redirect that keeps the original message, not one that sends a new email. - In Subcontext, enter
support@example.comas the email channel's Forwarding address and press Save. Subcontext uses it to recognise forwarded emails, and, ifexample.comis a verified sending domain, as the address the agent's replies come from.
You can also forward through a group (such as a Google Group) with the agent's canonical address as a member. Groups add the same headers to every email as a newsletter does, so Subcontext only passes on group mail that was written to the group's own address, and that address must be the one customers write to or the Forwarding address. Newsletters and other bulk mail that reach the group are still set aside.
Enter the address exactly as customers write it. If several addresses forward to the same agent, use the canonical address for the forwards and put your main address in Forwarding address.
Microsoft 365 and Exchange#
A mail flow rule (in the Exchange admin centre) that redirects messages for
support@example.com to the agent's address works well, as does forwarding
on a shared mailbox. Your organisation's outbound spam policy has to allow
automatic forwarding to external addresses, or the forwarded emails are
quietly dropped.
Google Workspace and Gmail#
Either add a routing rule in the Google Admin console, or set up forwarding in the mailbox's settings. Mailbox forwarding first sends a confirmation code to the address you're forwarding to. Subcontext recognises the confirmation. The agent doesn't reply, and the code and confirmation link appear under Emails not passed to the agent on the agent's email channel settings. Owners and managers are also sent them, with the Email forwarding confirmations notification. Other providers' forwarding confirmations (Outlook, Yahoo, Zoho) are handled the same way when they send one.
Testing it#
Send an email from a personal address to support@example.com. It
should appear in your Subcontext Inbox within a minute or two, and the
agent replies (once it has a live version).
What's kept#
- The message itself: the sender's name and address, the subject, and the text. For emails sent only as HTML, the text is taken from the HTML.
- Only the new part. Earlier messages quoted below a reply ("On ...
wrote:", lines starting with
>, a signature after--) are trimmed, so the agent reads only what's new. - The thread. Email threading headers keep replies in the same conversation.
- Attachments. The agent can't open attachments. It works from the text and is told what was attached. Documents, images, spreadsheets and audio files, up to 20 MB each and 10 per email, are kept on the customer's message, and your team can open them from the Inbox. Other files (programs and archives, for example) are listed there as not kept.
- The original email is kept for 30 days after it's processed, then deleted. The conversation keeps the text.
What's ignored#
- Automatic emails: out-of-office replies, bounces, newsletters and other bulk mail, mailing lists (except a group customers write to, see above) and anything marked as automatically sent are set aside, and the agent doesn't reply to them.
- Forwarding confirmations from Gmail and Outlook are set aside too, with their code and link kept for you.
- What was set aside, and why, shows under Emails not passed to the agent on the agent's email channel settings, for owners and managers.
- Spam: email the spam check marks as spam is kept as a conversation marked spam, and the agent doesn't answer it.
- Emails Subcontext can't place: if an email reaches Subcontext but doesn't match an agent with its Email channel on, it's dropped. Check the forwarding address and that the channel is switched on.