Integrate incoming/ outgoing email server in Odoo/ERPOnline
What is the integration of incoming/ outgoing email servers?
The information of incoming/ outgoing email and account logins (e.g. domain.com) are integrated into the incoming/ outgoing email server in Odoo/ERPOnline.
Why should we need this integration?
To send and receive the email by your specific domain with your brand such as domain.com, right in Odoo/ ERPOnline system.
To use the email alias for sending, receiving, and keeping the whole email histories in each record, such as sales orders, purchase orders, invoices, contracts, employee documents, etc
To use the automative actions or scheduled actions to send email automatically with the configurated specific templates for controlling purposes.
How does the mechanism of incoming/ outgoing email servers work?
The mechanism of incoming email
Odoo/ ERPOnline allows us to configure an incoming email server with your domain, such as catchall@domain.com. This account needs to be set up with the “catch-all function” to have all the above benefits.
What is the “Catch-all” function (Or “routing” terminology in some email clients)?
This function is the routing feature provided by email clients, allowing users to set up the route for all emails sent to the same domain with the wrong name. Depending on email clients, users can choose:
Delete those emails
Forward those emails to the assigned email
For example:
Your domain is domain.com and the catch-all email is catchall@domain.com.
You have an accurate email on the system as myname@domain.com but your customers sent it to the wrong email as miname@domain.com. In this case, those emails shall be forwarded to catchall@domain.com
Why do we need to use the catch-all function for the email server in Odoo/ERPOnline?
Odoo/ERPOnline allows us to appoint alias emails in some functions such as Job positions (e.g. chiefaccountant@domain.com), Projects (projectname@domain.com), CRM (sales@domain.com) … Those alias emails are virtual ones in the email server system with the same domain.
You can show those alias emails for interviewers, partners, customers to receive the particular information of each system part.
For example:
When the interviewers send an email to chiefaccountant@domain.com, Odoo/ERPOnline shall generate automatically an interviewer's profile with the chief accountant position and record all the conversations with this interviewer.
Or when your customers send emails to sales@domain.com, Odoo/ERPOnline shall generate automatically leads or opportunities at module CRM, after that, you can keep in contact and take care of your customers.
How does the email server with the catch-all function work?
The customers/ partners/ vendors send email to Alias email
The email server system will catch all messages and check the precision of this email address, is it exist or not?
If exists, it will be forwarded to the right email address.
If not, it will be forwarded to the catch-all email (if set)
Odoo/ERPOnline shall be scheduled to receive email and mark as unread.
Odoo/ERPOnline shall analyze the message's header and forward them to the right email address and generate the corresponding documents.
If the catch-all email server did not be configured, all the above-related functions will not work.
The mechanism of the outgoing email server
Odoo/ERPOnline allows us to configure an outgoing email server, using the account with your domain such as catchall@domain.com
User A has an email: user_a@domain.com
When user A sends an email to the customer, actually, in Odoo/ERPOnline, this email will be sent from catchall@domain.com instead of user_a@domain.com. Odoo/ERPOnline will adjust the email appearance on the customers' side as user_a@domain.com. That means we don’t need to configure SMTP for each personal email, we just need to configure one SMTP for use in the whole system.
The affections and risks
According to the principle of the catch-all function’s performing, the company will be faced with the risk of receiving a big quantity of unexpected spam emails. Specifically, in the past, the spam email will be sent to each personal email, but now, all of those will be routed to the company system.
However, with 10 years of experience in using the catch-all email server in the internal system and deployed for many customers who have been using Odoo/ERPOnline, the risks are proved to be insignificant compared with the benefits that earn from it.
Some suggested solutions for preventing spam emails:
Do not public the email address online with the text format or the simple format that can be read by robots.
In case of spammed email: Make the rules at the email server system for preventing.
For the partners, they will not recognize the mistake of the email address that they have made due to not receiving any warnings. However, it’s not a big problem, Odoo/ERPOnline shall analyze the header of the email to forward to the right email address.
Preparing for the integration
Create an email as catchall@domain.com, provide both account and password to Odoo/ERPOnline vendor to configure in the system.
Create an email server are configured with the catch-all function and route to the above-created email: catchall@domain.com
Provide all the elements to configure the incoming/outgoing email server:
Incoming email server:
SMTP server address
SMTP (SSL) gate
Outgoing email server:
IMAP server address
IMAP (SSL/TSL) gate: