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Email Message Actions

Overview

Telephone Message Pad can optionally customize outgoing emails to add 1-2 image links. These links allow the recipient to act on the message. These links are not added to SMS messages; they are an email-only feature.

Both image links are shown in the sample email illustrated at right or below. The links are the "auto" and "edit" buttons.

Briefly, the "auto" link changes the status of the message when the message is received. The "edit" link allows the recipient to review and change the ticket on the server. See below for details, limitations and how these options are configured.

Configuring Email Message Actions

Under the Admin >> Message_Actions, menu Admins will find a page similar to below:
Configuration screen for email message actions

By default, neither the "auto" or "edit" buttons are active.The preferred way to enable these buttons is by listing specific destination email addresses. Here "DennisR@dair.com" is a specific destination email address.

Further destination email addresses can be added by filling in the bottom two blank email addresses and clicking "apply_changes". Additional blank entries are added as needed. To delete a destination, erase the email address and click "apply_changes".

When the recipient of the email makes a comment, we cannot be certain of their identity. This is because the name was passed through email. For example, if Sally received the email and forwarded a copy to John, John could be the one making a comment and the name showing would be Sally. For that reason, all names shown that are not verified by login are prefixed by "?: " to denote the lack of certainty.

About the "auto" Action

Newly created messages default to "open" status. When a message having an "auto" image is received by the recipient, the "auto" image is retrieved. Telephone Message Pad then advances the status of the created message to whatever status you designate. If the status when this happens is anything but "open", the status is unchanged.

Here, we have designated that emails opened by DennisR@dair.com advance from "open" to "read". Since "read" is not a built-in status, we had to add it via Tickets >> Customize.

An important alternative to advancing to "read" status is advancing to "closed" status. This serves offices which are not tracking what happens to messages once they are delivered.

Configuring an "auto" action is an important quality control. If messages remain in "open" status, perhaps the email is sitting in recipient's spam folder, unread, or there is some other delivery problem.

About the "edit" Action

The optional "edit" link allows the recipient to access the ticket, read it, and make edit changes. The "name to show" is filled in for the "entry by" credit.

Note that the normal menu is missing. When the "edit" link is clicked, access is granted only to one specific ticket, not to any other part of your account.

Caution: if the recipient forwards any email they receive having an "edit" link then any of the forwardees now have access to the underlying ticket as well.