Hello,
I am working on an app using the case management framework to accept, track, and respond to feedback from users of my apps. A key feature I'd like to implement is the ability to track conversations within the case management system.I set up a tool that allows an agent to create a "note" record, which then triggers an email to the requester automatically with the details of the note. The agent and the requester can both read and respond to the conversation in the app, as well. However, I'd rather not force my users to login to an app to respond.Is it possible to have OutSystems listen for email replies and automatically create a record with the text of that email in response? Most ticket systems I've used have had this capability.
Hi Jared,
there are some IMAP Integration Forge Components you can use to create your timer based action to query a central mailbox and retrieve new mails from it. To assign an email to the right case you could add the case id to the subject of a message (e.g. [74384]).
Handling inbound emails can be very challeging. A reply will most likly include the original message, so you would also need to implement a logic to strip off the unwanted text from the right text. If a email does not include a text body but just a html body you also need to transform that too.
If you are using Exchange as E-Mail service you might also want to take a look at the Exchange Web Service Integration here EWS Email - Overview | OutSystems. Another alternative using Exchange and if you need direct response from an inbound email would be to use a Notification Subscription using Exchange Web Services Notification subscriptions, mailbox events, and EWS in Exchange | Microsoft Docs . I havent found a forge component for that.
If you are using Exchange Online and can use the Graph API you might also consider using Graph API webhooks Use the Microsoft Graph API to get change notifications - Microsoft Graph v1.0 | Microsoft Docs .
I would also consider alternatives - as email handling is really a pain in the a.. - like introducing a chat bot sending messages and retrieving it. eg. Azure Bot Services along with the OutSystems.AI Chatbot Reactive - Overview | OutSystems component.
I wonder why you created a separate note record for that ? The Case Management Framework already has commenting a case built it. Which is also part of the Case History and you can distinct between public (Requester can see) and private (requester can not see) notes. Can be found in CaseServicesAPI - Case_AddComments
Best
Stefan
Stefan,Thanks for your response. I will have to explore these resources and gauge whether or not it is worth the effort to implement. Also, I appreciate you pointing out the Add Comments function, I had not noticed it before. I'm not sure it will work for what I'm trying to do, as it doesn't appear to include a time stamp, subject line, or user ID of who left the comment, but it's definitely relevant!