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| Email Responder: Overview |
Email Responder: Overview
This chapter explains what Email Responder does, the way mail flows through the Email Responder system, and how the components work together.
Email Responder is a multi-user system designed to speed up the process of answering customer email. This is the standard route that mail takes when you use Email Responder:
- A message is delivered to your mail server.
- Periodically, Email Responder Manager downloads mail from the mail server. Email Responder Manager downloads the message and stores it in the Email Responder Database.
- Email Responder Manager analyzes the messages content.
- Based on this analysis, Email Responder Manager assigns the message to a specific group of customer service representatives.
- All Email Responder users who are in the assigned group are automatically notified that the message has arrived.
- One person replies to the message using the Email Responder client software.
- Email Responder Manager automatically suggests an appropriate reponse from the library of response templates.
- The text in the reply is automatically personalized with customer information, gathered both from the analysis of the message and from the Email Responder Contact Database. It is also automatically customized with product information from the database.
- Sometimes the automatic personalization is sufficient. For some queries, the representative will add information or edit the reply.
- The representative sends the reply. The sent reply is stored in the Database.
- Periodically, Email Responder Manager sends all unsent replies to the mail server.
- The mail server delivers the replies.
Notice that in many cases, the only human actions needed are to confirm the suggested template, and to press Send. By automating most stages of the process, Email Responder drastically shortens response times.
This diagram shows how mail is routed through Email Responder's client-server architecture:
This table shows the functions of each of the components above:
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Email Responder Manager |
- Download received messages from mail server
- Upload sent messages to mail server
- Configure Email Responder Database
- Create and maintain User and Groups
- Create and edit Rules
- Manage blocked senders
- Database maintenance (backup, restore)
- Generate reports
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Email Responder Client |
- Read, send, and reply to messages
- Create and maintain contact information
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Microsoft SQL Server |
The Email Responder Database is hosted on the SQL server. All information in the Email Responder system (messages, users, groups, rules, contacts, etc.) is stored here. Both the Manager and Email Responder client connect directly to the SQL Server, not to each other. |
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Mail Server |
The mail server handles all communications with other organizations' mail systems. Email is delivered first to the mail server, then transferred to the Email Responder system, and outgoing mail is first sent to the mail server before being delivered to the recipient's email system. |
See also:
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