Incoming and Outgoing Emails

vFire Core includes an email capability which enables analysts to not only send emails from within the application using vFire Core data, but also send emails to the vFire Core application to log calls, requests and tasks.

To enable incoming and outgoing emails in vFire Core, the system administrator needs to:

Click here for details on how to configure the web server and vFire Core system to use incoming and outgoing email.

After incoming and outgoing email has been configured, it is possible to :

Incoming Email

The Incoming Email module enables remote access to calls and tasks through the use of incoming emails.

vFire Core has a polling service which can be configured to check a number of incoming mail accounts for any received email messages. If the polling service picks up an email, it can take the appropriate course of action, whether it is to log or close a call, approve or reject tasks, or simply update an existing call, request or task. The action to be taken is dependent on the subject of the email.

The vFire Core Incoming Email module provides great flexibility for a support desk or workflow management system. Any person with access to email can for example log calls and action tasks by way of a specific email address. The mail server holding this address will routinely check for these messages and log or update calls and tasks accordingly. This functionality is especially useful for analysts who are out fixing problems in the field or people who are traveling or using hand-held devices and have limited Internet access.

For details on incoming email, and how to use it, click here.

Outgoing Email

Outgoing Email enables emails to be sent either manually (by analysts) or automatically (by the system) upon various events such as call and task forwarding, or Service Level Management escalation.

Outgoing Email is an important component to any service desk or workflow management system. It ensures analysts are aware of calls, tasks and requests as soon as these are forwarded to them, and helps keep your staff informed of escalation and breach events as they happen. It is especially useful for people who only receive a small amount of calls or tasks and do not want to be logged in to vFire Core all the time.

For details on how to use outgoing email and send emails, click here.

Architecture

Incoming and Outgoing Email run through the vFire Core Messaging Service – this is a polling service that operates under the vFire Core application.

Administrators can set up incoming and outgoing email accounts, configure notification settings, design email templates, and map email templates to message types. For information on how to do this, click here. For information on message types, click here.

The vFire Core Messaging service, which is a component of the polling service, checks these accounts at regular one-minute intervals.

In the case of incoming emails, the service analyzes the subject heading of the email(s) it picks up and acts according to any key words found in the subject line. Click here to see which subject lines are accepted or rejected by vFire Core.

In the case of outgoing emails, if an instruction to send an email has been put into the message table, an email is sent through one of the configured outgoing servers. For information on how to send emails, click here.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for Incoming Email are the following:

  • A POP3, IMAP or MAPI mail server
  • The vFire Core Messaging service must be running

The prerequisites for Outgoing Email are the following:

  • An SMTP or MAPI mail server
  • The vFire Core Messaging service must be running