Connect an email mailbox

When this is done, emails sent to your support address arrive in Graia CCaaS, go through an email workflow to a queue, and agents answer them from the same address.

Customer emails support@yourcompany.com
  → Graia CCaaS reads the mailbox through the email channel
  → the channel's workflow replies automatically and queues the email
  → an agent takes the task and replies – from support@yourcompany.com

It takes about 30 minutes, plus the time your IT team needs for the Microsoft 365 part. Roles involved: IT administrator (Part 1), Administrator (Part 2), Agent (Part 3).

Pick your mailbox type in the tabs below – the other tabs on the page follow.

Microsoft 365 (Exchange)

Microsoft 365 (Exchange) – for mailboxes in your organization's Microsoft 365. Graia CCaaS gets access through an app registered in your Microsoft Entra ID; your IT team can limit it to the support mailboxes only.

IMAP

IMAP – for any other mail provider that allows IMAP and SMTP access with a username and password, such as Gmail. Outlook.com mailboxes over IMAP aren't supported.

Before you start

What	Who	Where
Access to the Email section of the portal	Administrator	Roles
The mailbox customers will write to, for example support@yourcompany.com	IT administrator	Your mail provider
Exchange: the address is a user mailbox – not a shared contact, mail user or guest account	IT administrator	Email channel configuration
IMAP: the server names, and a username and password for IMAP and SMTP	IT administrator	Your mail provider
A second mailbox to send test emails from, and an agent who can log in	Tester	–

Part 1 – Prepare the mailbox (IT administrator)

Microsoft 365 (Exchange)

1. Check the mailbox type

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, check that the support address is a user mailbox. Mail contacts, mail users and guest users can't be used as email channels.

Expected result: the address has its own mailbox. See the note in Email channel configuration.

2. Limit the app to the support mailboxes (recommended)

The Graia CCaaS email app can reach any mailbox in your Microsoft 365 organization. Limit it to the mailboxes you use for email channels:

1. Create a mail-enabled security group in Exchange, and add the support mailboxes to it.
2. Create an application access policy with New-ApplicationAccessPolicy: AppID is the Buzzeasy Email Integration enterprise application's ID, PolicyScopeGroupId is the new group, AccessRight is RestrictAccess.

Expected result: Graia CCaaS can only read and send in the group's mailboxes. To add a channel later, add its mailbox to the group. See Best practice for the email app registration and Microsoft's Limit mailbox access.

IMAP

1. Allow IMAP and SMTP access

1. Turn on IMAP access for the mailbox at your mail provider.
2. If the provider requires it, create an app password for Graia CCaaS. For Gmail: turn on 2-Step Verification, then create an app password – see Google's instructions.
3. Note the IMAP host and SMTP host, for example imap.gmail.com and smtp.gmail.com, and the ports if they aren't the usual 993 (IMAP) and 587 (SMTP).

Expected result: you have the hosts, ports, username and the password (or app password). Graia CCaaS uses the same username and password for IMAP and SMTP.

See IMAP email account type.

2. Nothing else to prepare

IMAP channels don't need an app registration. Go on to Part 2.

Part 2 – Create the channel (Administrator)

3. Connect the mailbox

1. Go to Email › Channels and click Create. The Create Email channel dialog opens on Email Configuration.

Microsoft 365 (Exchange)

2. Leave Account type on Exchange.
3. In Entra ID list, choose your organization's Microsoft tenant – it's listed by its domain, for example yourcompany.com. If it isn't listed, click the refresh button next to the list. If it's still missing, contact your Graia account manager before you go on.
4. Enter the support address in User email address. Mail folder stays Inbox.

IMAP

2. Set Account type to IMAP.
3. Enter the IMAP host, SMTP host, Username and Password. Change IMAP port (993) and SMTP port (587) only if your provider uses others.
4. Optionally, enter a Mail folder if emails should be read from a folder other than the inbox.

4. Click Next.

The account type can't be changed after the channel is created. To switch, delete the channel and create a new one.

4. Name the channel and choose the workflow

1. On Channel Details, enter a Name and, optionally, a Business unitBusiness Unit – A label assigned to channels, agents, customers and agent workspaces to split one tenant into separate groups..
2. In Workflow, choose an existing email workflow, or leave Create new workflow and name it on the Workflow Details step.
3. Leave Auto-create customer profiles for new contacts on, unless customers should only be created by your CRM or import.
4. Turn on Create channel in enabled state, or enable the channel later.
5. Go through Email Signature, Business HoursBusiness Hours – A channel's time zone, opening hours, holidays and exceptions, set on the channel's Business hours tab. and Completion CodesCompletion Codes – Short labels an Agent picks when closing a Work Item to record the outcome of the Conversation, used in Reporting. They are set per Channel, and an Agent Workspace can replace them with its own codes and sub-codes. with Next. In the signature, type # to insert the agent's Name, Display Name or Job Title. Set the business hours if your workflow checks opening hours.
6. Click Create.

Expected result: the channel is listed with a green check mark – the mailbox is connected.

See Create an email channel.

5. Build the workflow

If the channel uses a new, empty workflow, build it now: an automatic reply and a queue are enough for a first test. Follow Build your first email workflow, and choose its workflow on the channel.

Expected result: the workflow is saved, and the channel's Workflow column shows it.

Part 3 – Test it (Agent)

6. Send a test email and answer it

1. From another mailbox, send an email to the support address.
2. Log in to the Agent applicationAgent Application – The Agent facing website of Graia providing the UI elements to consume its feature set. as an agent who can take tasks from the workflow's queue, and set your state to Available.
3. Open the email task, click Reply, write an answer, and click Send.
4. Close the task.

Expected result: the customer mailbox gets the workflow's automatic reply, then your answer – sent from the support address, with the channel's signature.

See Reply to customer emails.

Check that it works

#	Do this	You should see
1	Open Email › Channels	The channel with a green check mark
2	Send an email to the support address	The automatic reply from the workflow
3	Make an agent available	An email task arrives
4	Reply as the agent	The customer gets the reply from the support address, with the signature

If it doesn't work

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
No green check mark on the channel	Graia CCaaS can't sign in to the mailbox	Exchange: check the Entra ID, the address and the access policy group. IMAP: check hosts, ports, username and (app) password
Exchange: your organization isn't in Entra ID list	The email app isn't connected to your Microsoft tenant yet	Refresh the list; if it's still missing, contact your Graia account manager
Exchange: the channel can't connect to one address, but others work	The address isn't a user mailbox, or it isn't in the access policy group	Steps 1 and 2
Gmail: sign-in fails with the right password	Gmail needs an app password	Step 1 (IMAP)
Outlook.com over IMAP doesn't work	Not supported	Use another provider, or a Microsoft 365 mailbox with the Exchange type
Emails arrive but no task reaches agents	The channel is disabled, or the workflow has no queue	Steps 4 and 5
You chose the wrong account type	It can't be changed	Delete the channel and create it again

Related

• Email channel configuration
• Configure email channels
• Build your first email workflow
• Email templates
• Reply to customer emails (Agent)