Build your first email workflow

This tutorial walks you through a simple email workflow: every incoming email gets an automatic reply and goes to a queue for agents. Emails that arrive outside opening hours get a different reply that tells the customer when to expect an answer.

Start here → Check opening hours ─ Open ────→ Send reply "We got your email" ──→ Queue → End conversation
                                 ├ Closed ──→ Send reply "We're closed" ────────↗ (same queue)
                                 └ Holiday ─→ (same as Closed)

It takes about 20 minutes. For details on any node, follow the links to the Email workflows reference.

Before you start

• You need access to the Email section of the Graia CCaaS Portal. Access depends on your role.
• You need an email channel connected to a mailbox. For Exchange/O365 mailboxes, your IT administrators must first register the Graia CCaaS email application.
• Your channel's opening hours and holidays are set on the channel. See Set business hours. The workflow uses them in step 4.

1. Create the two reply templates

Automatic replies use email templates. Create one for each reply:

1. In the portal, go to Email › Templates and click Create.
2. Name the template, for example Auto-reply - Received, and click Save.
3. Enter the text, for example Thank you for your email. We've received it and will reply as soon as possible.
4. Click Add language, select the language the text is written in, and click Set language as fallback.
5. Click Save.
6. Repeat for a second template, for example Auto-reply - Closed, with a text such as Thank you for your email. Our office is closed right now. We're open 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday, and will reply on the next working day.

2. Create the workflow

1. Go to Email › Workflows and click Create.
2. Give the workflow a name. Include the media type and purpose, for example Email - Support mailbox. See the naming best practices.
3. Leave the Idle timeout at its default of 1440 minutes (24 hours) for now. If there's no activity for this long, the conversation closes. See Idle timeout.
4. Click Create. The workflow designer opens with a Start here node.

3. Add your first node

Every node is added the same way: click the black dot on a node's output and drag it in any direction. A menu opens where you choose the next node. See Start Here node.

4. Check the opening hours

1. Drag from Start here and choose Check opening hours.
2. The node has three outputs:
   • Open: the channel is within business hours.
   • Closed: the channel is outside business hours.
   • Holiday: the channel is closed for a holiday.

You'll connect each output in the next steps. See Check opening hours.

5. Reply and queue the email

1. Drag from the Open output and choose Send reply.
2. Select the Auto-reply - Received template. See Send reply.
3. Drag from the node's Then output and choose Queue.
4. Set up the queue. The Queue node is the queue itself:
   • Give it a name, for example Support email.
   • Choose its routing mode: automatic, manual or hybrid. You can't change the routing mode later. See Routing mode.
5. Drag from the queue's AgentDisconnect output and choose End conversation. This ends the conversation after the agent closes it.

AgentDisconnect is the only queue output you must connect in this workflow. Other outputs become required when you use the matching options, such as a maximum queue size. See Queue outputs.

6. Handle closed hours and holidays

Outside opening hours, emails still go to the queue, so agents can answer them when they're back. Only the reply is different.

1. Drag from the Closed output and choose Send reply.
2. Select the Auto-reply - Closed template.
3. Connect the node's Then output to the queue you created in step 5. To connect an output to an existing node, select the output and use the search field to find the node. See Search for a node.
4. Connect the Holiday output to the same closed reply.

7. Save the workflow

Click Save at the top left of the designer.

If Save is disabled, a node still has a problem: look for a warning triangle in the node's header, or click the triangle in the designer toolbar at the bottom left to jump to it. Mandatory fields are marked with a red asterisk, and unconnected mandatory outputs with a red circle. See Saving a workflow.

8. Connect the workflow to a channel

A workflow only receives emails once an email channel uses it.

1. Go to Email › Channels.
2. Open your channel and select your new workflow as its Workflow.
3. Save the channel. Make sure the channel is enabled.

See Create an email channel.

9. Test it

From your own email account, send an email to the channel's mailbox:

• During opening hours, you should get the Received reply, and the email should be offered to an agent in the queue.
• Outside opening hours, you should get the Closed reply, and the email still goes to the queue.

Note

The automatic reply is sent once per conversation. Follow-up emails with the same subject don't get another reply while an agent is handling the conversation.

Next steps

• Route emails by keywords in the subject or body with Customer intent evaluator.
• Send reminders when customers don't reply with Wait for customer reply.
• Let an AI bot draft or send answers with Conversational bot.
• Add a satisfaction survey to a template: see Add a satisfaction survey.
• Browse all node types in the Email workflows reference.