Folder list

The folder list in the top left window shows the mailboxes in a tree view that the agent can view according to the settings in the novomind iAGENT Supervisor or their own settings. The list shows at least the personal mailbox (Inbox) and the subordinate folders to this mailbox Resubmissions, 2nd-level-requests and 2nd-level-forwards as well as the folders Drafts and Delivery errors.

If the agent has selected one of the inbox folders by clicking on it, the list of mails received by that folder will be displayed to the right of the window. The number in brackets after the folder names indicate the number of mails contained in the selected folder. If the number of mails in an inbox exceeds the display size of the window “Mail list”, a page navigation option is displayed above the list of mails. The relevant page is accessed by clicking on the number in question. Clicking on the double arrow symbol to the right and left of the page numbers will take you either to the first or the last page.

Here is a short overview of the available folders:

Global: An agent who has the permission for manual routing (see chapter Manual retrieval) will find the global inbox named Global together with the global subfolders Resubmissions, 2nd-level-Inquiries and 2nd-level Forwards above the personal inbox. The global Inbox contains all open customer mails received and displays them sorted by category. Depending on system configuration, an agent may see all mails in the Global Inbox and manually retrieve them – or just those open mails from categories that the agent has been assigned to.
The display of empty category folders in the Global Inbox can be switched on and off by clicking the label Folder list. Individual category folders can be marked as favorites (see next section).
Resubmissions, 2nd -level Inquiries and 2nd -level Forwards (global): These sub-folders contain resubmissions, 2nd level-inquiries and 2nd level-forwards for all agents. With suitable category assignment, these mails may be retrieved manually if required.
Inbox (personal): The inbox contains the mails that the novomind iAGENT system has automatically delivered to that particular agent or which they have retrieved manually for processing. Only mails that are located in this folder may be processed by the agent.
It is possible to assign agents to a passive group membership. Passive group members cannot receive mails via automatic routing from a given category. However, all mails from this category will be visible in the global inbox and can be retrieved from there manually.
Mails in the personal inbox will (given appropriate configuration) be highlighted in red if they have been ignored or left unprocessed for too long. Mails highlighted in red will block the agent from receiving further mails until the highlighted mails have been processed.
Resubmissions (personal): This folder contains mails that the agent chose to postpone for processing at a later point in time. If necessary, mails from this folder can be retrieved for processing before the stipulated resubmission time (see chapter Manual retrieval).
2nd-level inquiry (personal): Mails that the agent has sent using the External inquiry function are deposited here for tracking purposes. In case a mail is to be answered without waiting for the external consultant’s response, it can be retrieved manually from the folder “2nd-level Inquiries” by clicking the button Manual retrieval. Both 2nd level folders (2nd-level-Inquiries and 2nd-level-Forwards) permit to close mails directly. It is also possible to send a provisional reply directly from these two folders. The relevant functions will be provided via the email editor after selecting a mail.
2nd-level forwards (personal): If a mail has been forwarded externally (see section EXTERNAL FORWARDING) without first closing the process, a copy of this mail is saved in this folder to enable it to be tracked. If necessary, mails can be accessed and answered from this folder. If the (external) person to whom the forward was sent has answered the mail in the meantime, the copy of the mail is automatically deleted from this folder. If needed, mails can be retrieved and answered from the 2nd level-Forward folder via the button “Manual retrieval”. From both 2nd-level folders (2nd-level Inquiries and 2nd-level Forwards), mails can be closed directly. It is also possible to send a provisional reply directly from these two folders. The relevant functions will be provided via the email editor after selecting a mail (see Figure 29).
Drafts: When saving mail texts manually or by generating automatic back-ups of mail responses (see section Individual settings), a draft is created and stored in this folder.
Sent: All sent mails up to a defined maximum total are then stored and displayed in this folder. External forwards and external inquiries are listed here as well. When the maximum number has been reached, the oldest mail is removed from the bottom of the list, and the latest reply mail is inserted at the top. Agents can use their individual settings (see section Individual settings) to define whether or not a copy of all the mails that they have answered should be saved.
Mails in the Sent folder can be reactivated via the context menu. Reactivating a mail re-opens the corresponding process and moves the mail back to the inbox.
Depending on system configuration, this can be achieved in two different ways:
- With the Reactivate process option available, the status of the original mail will be reset and the mail will be queued again in the global inbox with its original ticket ID (however, this may lead to reporting inconsistencies, therefore this option is not part of the default anymore in current new installations).
- If only the Duplicate process option is available, a duplicate of the original mail will be created with a new ticket ID and the process ID of the original process. This new mail will be queued for reprocessing in the global inbox.
Authorizations: Agents with the authority to clear mails for dispatch are provided with an additional Authorisations folder (see chapter Clearance).
Delivery errors: The Delivery errors folder contains mails which could not be sent (SMTP errors, invalid recipients or forwarding prohibited). The cause for this error can be viewed in the mail’s course (see chapter Course tab) and is also displayed as a tooltip when hovering the mouse pointer over the mail list status symbol. As soon as there is at least one mail in folder Delivery errors, this folder is highlighted in red font. After fixing the error, the mail can be sent again by an agent or supervisor using the Send/Retry command. If the root cause for the error cannot or shall not be fixed, the context menu options Close and Ignore generally are available. Even for intermediate replies the To-address (and with that also the To-address of the original mail) can be changed in advance of a new sending.
The difference between the two functions is the final status of the relevant mail. Selecting Close changes the status to Closed without reply, while selecting Ignore changes the status to Answered. It may be useful to ignore a transmission error if the transmission error was caused by an irrelevant CC recipient but the main addressee did in fact receive the message.