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Email integration
↩ Helpdesk
The helpdesk works as a shared mailbox: email sent to a monitored address becomes a ticket, and agents' public replies go back out as email — all threaded into one conversation.
Configuring a mailbox
Under Settings → Helpdesk → Mailboxes, add a mailbox:
- A name and the email address it uses.
- IMAP host/port (for receiving) and SMTP host/port (for sending), with TLS and login credentials (the password is encrypted).
- A From name, an optional signature, and a poll interval.
- Optional default department, category, and priority applied to tickets that arrive here.
Use Test Connection to confirm IMAP and SMTP both work. In Settings → Helpdesk → General, pick a default outbound mailbox for tickets created in the app.
Inbound email
The helpdesk polls each active mailbox and turns new messages into tickets:
- Replies are threaded onto the existing ticket (by message headers, or the
[TKT-####]subject tag), so a conversation stays together. - A brand-new message opens a new ticket with the sender as requestor and the mailbox's defaults applied.
- Attachments come across with the message.
- A resolved or closed ticket reopens when a new reply arrives.
Outbound email
When an agent posts a public comment on a mailbox-linked ticket, it's emailed to the requestor — with a Re: [TKT-####] subject and proper threading headers so it lands in the same conversation. The comment is marked Emailed. Internal notes are never sent.
Keeping loops out
JOATOS won't email automated or unwanted addresses. Outbound is suppressed for no-reply senders, messages flagged as auto-replies, self-loops, and anything on your block-lists or matched by an email rule. When a reply is suppressed, the comment is still saved — the composer just shows an Outbound suppressed note.
Notes & tips
- Set a mailbox's default department/category/priority so emailed tickets route correctly from the start.
- Add unwanted senders to the outbound block-list (Settings → Helpdesk → General) to stop replies going to them.