Activating and applying the email integration

Content of the article:
• Convert email into task, discussion or message
• Attach email as comment to task or discussion
• Usage of the email integration for encrypted rooms
• Further notes, tips and use cases
• Options for admins

Working with external email providers can often be cumbersome and time-consuming as you constantly need to copy and paste emails to other tools or forward them individually to your colleagues. Therefore, use email integration to automatically forward emails to a specific location in Stackfield. This way, you'll ensure that all relevant information will stay available to all authorized users in one central place.

Alternative to email integration: API / WebHooks

Tip: In case of frequent exchange, see: How do I work with people outside my company?

Convert email into task, discussion or message

The automated forwarding of emails to rooms as individual elements can be used for various purposes. Be creative and optimate your processes by automating them as well as possible. Yet, we listed some exemplary occasions for you that will benefit from the email integration:

• Sick notes to the employer
• Support requests
• Invoices

Procedure

To be able to use the email integration, you have to enable it in the organization settings. Afterward, you can also activate the email integration in the room settings to add emails as new items to the room.

To do so, click on the Integrations tab and select the "Set up new Email forwarding" button under "Forwarding of emails to Stackfield".

In the opened menu, define in which form (task, chat message, or discussion) the email address should be created. By clicking "Create forwarding" you confirm your selection.

Now, you have your own target address to forward emails directly to Stackfield. Of course, it is possible to create multiple target addresses to have target addresses for multiple module types within a room.

Display

If emails are forwarded to the target address, the majority of the email content will be adopted within the final entry:

*including all key data: sender and recipient address, subject
**are created loosely in the chat history

Note: All forwarded emails that are created as tasks automatically receive the status defined in the first status column (default: to do).

Note: Not all file types can be recognized and forwarded by the e-mail integration (see: Accepted file types).

Attach email as comment to task or discussion

Instead of converting emails into whole module elements, you can also add them as comments to existing tasks / discussions by activating the email integration directly within the entry. Here, we listed some exemplary occasions for you that will benefit from the email integration within entries:

• Longer-term tasks / discussions* that involve heavy email traffic
• Collaborations with external partners / customers
• Application processes for pending vacancies

*Note: The email integration cannot be activated within chat messages.

Procedure

To be able to use the email integration, you have to enable it in the organization settings. Afterward, you can open the required entry and click on the More button (symbol: "Three dots") in the upper right corner. Now, select the option "Show Email Address".

In the opened dialog window, use the slider to activate the email integration and you will be given an email address (/ target address) for the entry to which you can forward emails in the future.

Display

Files attached to the email are also attached to the element*. The text of the email including all key data, such as subject, sender, and time, appears in the form of a comment.

*Note: Not all file types can be recognized and forwarded by the e-mail integration (see: Accepted file types).

Usage of the email integration for encrypted rooms

If communication through unencrypted rooms is not possible due to valuable contents, we recommend creating an unencrypted room that functions as a collective mailbox. All elements that are created via the email integration can then easily be moved to the required encrypted room.

Procedure

Create a new unencrypted room on Stackfield, which in future will act as a central mailbox for all incoming emails.

Now decide how you want to forward emails to Stackfield and activate the email integration for the respective element(s) in the room settings.

Next, create one or more automatic forwardings* in your email account and enter the target address(es) that Stackfield has generated for your forwardings. Now, all necessary emails are automatically forwarded to your Stackfield mailbox.

Finally, move the individual elements** into the intended (encrypted) room by right-clicking the element and selecting the option "Move to...".

*Reading tips:

• Blog article
• Automatic forwardings - Gmail
• Automatic forwardings - Outlook

**Note: It is not possible to move chat messages to other rooms. Only tasks and discussions, as well as individual files, can be moved.

Further notes, tips and use cases

Accepted file types

The following file types are recognized by the email integration: pdf, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, csv, ppt, pptx, txt, one, bmp, jpeg, jpg, png, zip, rar, 7z, ics, odt, ods, odp, odf, odg, odc, odi, odm, .wav and mp3

All other file attachments will be filtered out. In this case, a corresponding note for all users will appear in the affected task / discussion / message / comment: "The Attachment "abc.xy" was filtered out"

Store the target addresses with keywords in your contacts

To avoid having to copy target addresses out of Stackfield all the time, it is recommended to store them in the contacts of your own email provider*.

You can add keywords as names and/or prefix them directly to the target address. This way, the target address will be suggested to you directly as soon as you enter the keyword(s) in the address line.

a recommended keyword can be a room name, a topic, an element type (e.g. task), and / or a date. (Tip: Make sure that the keywords are clearly named!)

Example: jobs_munich_trainee_testing_task_2020-01_c11b111-1111-11cc-b111-1e11c11d1111@mail-stackfield.com

*Reading tips:

• Hello there, Email Integration!
• Creating contacts - Gmail
• Creating contacts - Outlook

Use Case: Sick notes

You can, for example, forward sick notes from employees in the form of a message (if it is just for informational purposes) or as a task for the HR department to process (see: Hello there, Email Integration!).

Support requests

Stackfield's Kanban Board is the perfect place for a ticket system for support requests. To optimize the support process you can forward incoming customer requests to Stackfield as tasks (see: Hello there, Email Integration!).

Use Case: Application processes

To get an overview of all incoming applications for open vacancies, you can, for example, create single tasks for all open positions and activate the target address for each task (see: Hello there, Email Integration!).

Options for admins

At organization level

To be able to use the email integration, it must be enabled in the organization settings. Activate the slider next to "Email" in the tab Integrations.

At room level

Only a room admin has access to the room settings and can therefore set up new email forwardings.

Note: Entries created by the email integration do not count as self-created entries, but as third-party entries and are therefore also taken into account in the right groups. This means that you can only delete such an entry if you have the authority to delete all entries in the room.

If the email is attached to a task or discussion as a comment, the user needs at least the right to modify / delete their own messages in order to modify / delete the comment from the email service.