How do I automatically raise requests from email

[James Bartle]

Hi,

We're trying to set up a system whereby the majority of emails that come through should automatically raise requests that choose the summary, description and specific category based on the contents of said emails.

I know how to set up basic email routing rules and templates but I'm not certain how to configure the business processes/ progressive captures to dynamically check the email cotents in order to raise relevant requests or whether it is even possible.

Would I have to set up a routing rule for every type of request that we want to be raised automatically or would it be possible to do it in a more dynamic manner?

 

(apologies for the way the above is written, I'm unsure how to phrase the question)

[samwoo]

Hi @James Bartle,

At the moment I do not believe it is currently possible to dynamically capture content from an email. This is something that would also be of benefit for us.

What I've discovered recently (I haven't tested it yet) is that you can use the Service Manager email functionality against a routing rule and providing the BPM against the Service or Service/Catalog is specifically for raising tickets via Email (or there is a check for the source of the request), you could potentially have an activity appear in the request which the analyst would complete and have dynamic questions in there to drive the request in the right direction.

There will be lots of surprises at the Hornbill INSIGHTS event (I can't wait to find out what they are), and hopefully one of these surprises could relate to what we are looking for. 

If I am incorrect please could someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks,

Samuel

[James Ainsworth]

Hi @James Bartle

Thanks for your post. 

The Routing Rules provides the ability to create some very granular expressions to look at the content of an e-mail to provide you the option on how to proceed with that email.

Progressive Capture wouldn't help in this scenario as this is directed at the manual raising of requests.  As the Routing Rules are looking to automate the raising of requests, Progressive Capture is not used here.

The Business Process Management Workflows wouldn't be used in the actual creation of the request, but they can be used to update and assign the request once it has been raised.

As you mentioned, one option is to create a different Routing Rule for each of your scenarios.  You would then associated a Email Routing Rule Template to each of these to raise the appropriate request. 

Alternatively, you can do this through the BPM once the request has been raised.  The description of a request raised by email will contain the contents of the email.  You can then use the Get Request Information node to retrieve this and then using the Decision node branch based on this content.  Each branch could then update the request as needed, including things like the Summary or Category.  With fields like the Summary you can use BPM variables to either insert a prefix on the Summary or completely replace it. Here is a small example of what it might look like:

 

What you may find works well is a combination of both email routing rules and BPM workflows to manage this.  An initial set of Routing Rules to send the requests to the appropriate request type or BPM and then once raised, the BPM can then look at the details and update the request accordingly.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

James