Email Integration Setup

Connect your email to Support Station so customers can reach you via email and all conversations appear in your unified inbox.

How Email Integration Works

Support Station provides you with a forwarding email address
You configure your email provider to forward support emails to this address
Incoming emails create tickets in Support Station
You reply from Support Station and customers receive your response via email
Conversation threads are maintained automatically

Plan Requirements

Email integration is available on Starter plans and above.

Plan	Email Integration
Free	✗
Starter	✓
Pro	✓
Enterprise	✓

Setting Up Email Integration

Step 1: Get Your Forwarding Address

Go to Integrations > Email
Find your unique forwarding address
Format: support+{your-org-id}@inbound.supportstation.io

This is the address you'll forward emails to.

Step 2: Configure Email Forwarding

Set up forwarding in your email provider. Here are common providers:

Gmail

Go to Gmail Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP
Click Add a forwarding address
Enter your Support Station forwarding address
Confirm the forwarding address
Choose to forward all mail or create a filter

Creating a filter:

Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses
Create a new filter
Set condition (e.g., "To: support@yourcompany.com")
Choose Forward it to your Support Station address

Google Workspace (G Suite)

Go to admin.google.com
Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Routing
Add a routing rule to forward to your Support Station address
Apply to specific recipients (your support address)

Microsoft 365 / Outlook

Go to admin.microsoft.com
Exchange > Mail flow > Rules
Create a new rule
Forward messages sent to support@yourcompany.com
Forward to your Support Station address

Other Providers

Most email providers support forwarding. Look for:

"Forwarding" in email settings
"Mail forwarding" rules
"Email routing" configuration

Step 3: Configure Email Settings

In Support Station:

Go to Integrations > Email
Configure options:
- Auto-create customers - Automatically add new customer records for incoming emails
- Default tag - Optionally apply a tag to all email-sourced tickets
- AI Auto-Response - Enable to have AI automatically respond to incoming emails (requires AI credits)
Save your settings

Email Aliases

Create additional email addresses that route to specific teams. Perfect for:

Department-specific inboxes (billing@, sales@, support@)
Product-specific support (productA@, productB@)
Regional support teams

Creating an Email Alias

Go to Integrations > Email
Click Add Email Address
Enter a name for the alias (e.g., "billing", "sales")
Select the team to route emails to
Optionally enable AI Auto-Response for this alias
Click Create

Each alias gets its own forwarding address. Set up forwarding from your email provider to route specific addresses to specific teams.

AI Auto-Response for Email

When enabled, the AI automatically responds to incoming emails using your knowledge base content. This provides instant answers to customers 24/7.

How It Works

Customer sends an email to your support address
Email creates a ticket in Support Station
AI searches your knowledge base for relevant content
If a helpful answer is found, AI sends an automated response
Customer receives the AI response with:
- A helpful answer based on your documentation
- Links to related knowledge base articles
- Relevant images from your articles (if applicable)
- Feedback buttons to indicate if the answer helped

AI Response Feedback

Each AI email includes a feedback section asking "Did this answer resolve your issue?" with two buttons:

Yes, it helped! - Marks the ticket as Resolved and creates an internal note
No, I need more help - Creates an internal note alerting your team to follow up

This feedback helps:

Automatically close resolved tickets
Alert your team when human follow-up is needed
Track AI response effectiveness

Feedback links expire after 7 days for security.

When AI Responds vs. Escalates

The AI will send an automated response when:

Your knowledge base contains relevant information
The question has a clear, helpful answer
The email isn't from a no-reply address

The AI will NOT respond (leaving the ticket for your team) when:

No relevant content exists in your knowledge base
The email is a bug report, account issue, or billing question
The question is unclear or too complex
The AI isn't confident in providing a good answer

When the AI doesn't respond, it creates an internal note summarizing what the customer is asking about.

Images in AI Responses

The AI can include relevant images from your knowledge base articles directly in email responses. When your documentation contains screenshots or diagrams that help illustrate the answer, the AI will embed them inline in the email.

To get the best results:

Add descriptive alt text to images in your articles
Use captions to describe what images show
Include screenshots of UI elements you reference

Enabling AI Auto-Response

For the default email address:

Go to Integrations > Email
Find the AI Auto-Response toggle in the table
Toggle it on

For email aliases:

Go to Integrations > Email
Find the alias in the Email Addresses table
Click the AI Auto-Response toggle for that alias

Requirements:

AI credits must be available (Starter plan and above)
Knowledge base content must exist for AI to reference

Step 4: Test the Integration

Send a test email to your support address
Wait a few moments for forwarding to process
Verify the ticket appears in Support Station
Reply to the ticket
Confirm the customer receives your email response

How Email Tickets Work

Incoming Emails

When someone emails your support address:

Your email provider forwards the email to Support Station
Ticket created - Email becomes a new ticket
Customer created - Sender is added to customers (if new)
Subject mapped - Email subject becomes ticket subject
Body captured - Email content becomes first message
Attachments saved - Files are attached to the ticket

Email Threading

Replies to existing tickets are automatically threaded:

Customer replies to your email → Added to existing ticket
You reply from Support Station → Sent to customer via email
Thread headers maintain conversation continuity

Responding to Email Tickets

Reply to email tickets like any other ticket in Support Station:

Open the ticket
Type your response
Click Send
Response is delivered via email to the customer

Email Channel Configuration

Auto-Create Customers

When enabled, incoming emails from new senders automatically create customer records. When disabled, you'll need to manually create customer records.

Default Tags

Apply a specific tag to all email-sourced tickets. Useful for:

Routing all email tickets to a specific team
Filtering tickets by source channel
Tracking email vs. other channels

Email Blocklist

Block spam or unwanted senders:

Go to Integrations > Email > Blocklist
Add email addresses or domains to block
Emails from blocked addresses won't create tickets

Best Practices

Use a Dedicated Support Address

Set up a specific address for support:

Avoid using personal email addresses for support.

Monitor Your Forwarding

Periodically check that forwarding is working:

Send test emails
Verify they create tickets
Check that no emails are being dropped

Watch for Spam

Occasionally check your email spam folder for legitimate support emails that might have been caught by spam filters before forwarding.

Troubleshooting

Emails Not Creating Tickets

Check:

Forwarding is configured correctly in your email provider
Email is being sent to your support address
Forwarding address is correct (check for typos)
Email isn't being blocked by your provider's spam filter
Sender isn't on your blocklist

Test:

Send email directly to your Support Station forwarding address
If this works, the issue is with your email provider's forwarding

Replies Not Delivering