Catch-All for E-mails in Odoo
Function and setup of E-mail servers
13 January, 2022 by
Catch-All for E-mails in Odoo
manaTec GmbH, Tom Pohling
 


In our blog post on the discussion module, we already went into detail about the various communication options in Odoo and presented the options for internal and external communication in Odoo and out of Odoo, respectively. To use this feature, we need a catch-all email address and the data from its incoming and outgoing server. What a catch-all email address is, how we set it up in Odoo and how we use it, is what we'll be dealing with in today's blog.

Catch-all refers to forwarding an address in the first part of an email, which is the string that comes before the "@". This means that a catch-all mailbox collects or receives all emails sent to a non-existent address within a domain.

Let's assume the following example. We set up an email mailbox called info@example.de, the catch-all feature for this mailbox is disabled. A customer now sends an email to info@example.de, which is now successfully received in the mailbox. Another customer also sends an email to the mailbox, but has not selected the email address correctly or has a spelling error in the email address. He sends his e-mail to infos@example.de or to imfo@example.de. The e-mails sent to these incorrect or non-existent e-mail addresses cannot be received by the mailbox and are lost.

We prevent this behavior, i.e. the loss of e-mails, by activating the catch-all function for the e-mail mailbox named info@example.de. Any email that is now sent to info@example.de will end up in the mailbox normally. The e-mails that are sent back to infos@example.de or imfo@example.de, for example, for which there is no separate mailbox, are nevertheless forwarded to info@example.de and can be read by the recipient in the mailbox. Especially in the corporate environment, there are great advantages to setting up a catch-all mailbox, since important e-mails from customers or partners are never lost.

The catch-all function of an E-mail inbox prevents the loss of E-mails.
The catch-all function of an E-mail inbox prevents the loss of E-mails.

We make use of the catch-all functionality in Odoo. To do this, we need the catch-all mailbox itself, which we can set up with a wide variety of providers. Experience has shown that Google, mailbox.org, 1&1, All-Inkl or Strato are the best providers. Setting up a catch-all mailbox in Office 365 requires a bit more effort, since Office 365 does not offer classic catch-all functionality. We will describe exactly how this works with Office 365 in one of our next blog posts.

In the next step, we set up the email servers in Odoo. For the setup, we navigate to Settings → General Settings → Discussion → Custom E-mail Servers. There we enter the alias domain of the catch-all mailbox, according to our example above "example.de". Then, for the configuration of the incoming and outgoing e-mail server, we need the server name, e-mail address, username and password of the catch-all mailbox. For both mail servers, inbound and outbound, Odoo offers us the possibility to test the connection after the configuration. If the connection test is successful, the mail servers are ready for use.

Now we are able to send e-mails from Odoo to our customers using "Send message". In doing so, the e-mail is sent from the corresponding object to the e-mail address stored by the customer. From a technical point of view, this email is sent via catch-all, but always on behalf of the user sending the email from Odoo. Our customer receives the email in his email inbox as usual. If our customer replies to the email, Odoo retrieves the email from the catch-all mailbox and routes the email to the object in Odoo from which the original email was sent. Once the email is received, all followers of the object are notified of the receipt of the email or the response from the customer. Thus, we ensure a chronological communication history at each object.

In addition, the catch-all functionality in Odoo helps us by defining aliases for certain objects for which no separate mailbox exists. Depending on the Odoo modules we have installed, we use these aliases, for example in CRM, Helpdesk or project management, to create a new object in Odoo by means of an incoming e-mail to this alias. Let's assume we have a project of our customer A in the Project module. In the settings of the project we define the alias kundea@example.de. If we now send an email to kundea@example.de, this email will be received by the catch-all mailbox. Odoo now checks if there is an assignment, i.e. an alias, for it. If so, Odoo recognizes the alias and automatically creates a project task in this project. The interaction between the catch-all mailbox and the alias in Odoo means that we can also control the ERP system from the outside via e-mail.

So we conclude that Odoo not only supports us in mapping our business processes, but is also a great tool in terms of corporate communication. By setting up and integrating a catch-all email address, we are able to integrate our entire communication into the ERP system and map a transparent communication history.

Are you looking for an ERP system that allows you to map your complete corporate communications in addition to your business processes? No problem! Contact us now and we will be at your side as an experienced Odoo partner!


Sources: www.odoo.com, www.wikipedia.org, www.checkdomain.de

 
Medicine 2.0
The challenge of digitization in healthcare