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Incoming Email Rules

Define rules once and let ServiceOps route every incoming email to the right team and ticket type without manual triage.

Incoming email rules let you match emails by mailbox, subject, or description, and automatically apply actions such as creating a specific request type or routing to a technician group. Rules are evaluated in order when an email arrives; the first matching rule's action is applied. If no rule matches, ServiceOps creates a standard ticket using the default settings of the incoming email server.

To access incoming email rules, navigate to Admin > Support Channel > Emails > Incoming Email Servers and click Configure Incoming Email Rules.

Prerequisite

Email to Ticket must be enabled in Admin > Support Channel > Emails > Email Preference before rules can trigger ticket creation.

How Incoming Email Rules Work​

When ServiceOps receives an email, it evaluates all enabled incoming email rules in sequence. For each rule, it checks whether the email matches the defined conditions. If a match is found, ServiceOps applies the configured action and stops evaluating further rules. If no rule matches, a standard ticket is created using the default settings of the matched incoming email server.

Configuring an Incoming Email Rule​

Click Configure Incoming Email Rules from the Incoming Email Servers list page. A panel appears.

Configure Incoming Email Rules panel showing conditions and action fields

Configure the following:

  1. Enabled: Toggle to enable or disable the rule.
  2. Conditions: Define the criteria an email must meet for the rule to apply.
    • Click Add Condition to add a condition row.
    • Specify conditions based on Subject, Incoming Mailbox, or Description.
    • Choose an operator (Contains, Equals, Starts With, In) and enter the matching value.
    • Use And or Or to combine multiple conditions within a group.
    • Use Add Condition Group for advanced logic, for example: (Condition A AND Condition B) OR Condition C.
    • Click Remove All Condition to clear all configured conditions.
  3. Action: Define what ServiceOps does when the conditions are met. Click Add Action to configure. Available actions include:
    • Create Service Request: Create a Service Request and optionally select a Service Catalog item.
    • Assign to a Technician Group: Route the ticket to a specific team.
    • Set a Category: Assign a predefined category to the ticket.

Click Update to save the rule. Use the Add Incoming Email Rules link to add multiple rules. Each rule can be enabled or disabled independently. All changes are recorded in the Configuration Audit trail.

Use Case: Routing Emails to the Right Request Type​

Scenario​

An organization uses two dedicated mailboxes:

  • hr.onboarding@example.com for HR onboarding requests
  • it.support@example.com for IT hardware requests

The goal is to:

  • Automatically create an Employee On-boarding service request from HR emails with "New Hire Onboarding" in the subject, routed to the HR Support Group.
  • Automatically create a Laptop service request from IT Support emails and auto-assign them to the right technician via a workflow.

Step 1: Configure the Incoming Email Servers​

Set up each mailbox as an incoming email server. The example below shows the HR Onboarding Mailbox configured with IMAP, the HR Support Group, and the HR category.

HR Onboarding Mailbox configuration with IMAP protocol, HR Support Group, and HR category selected

For the IT Support Mailbox, configure it similarly with the IT Support Team and Hardware category.

IT Support Mailbox listed on the Incoming Email Servers page with Configure Incoming Email Rules button visible

Step 2: Configure the Incoming Email Rules​

HR Onboarding Rule

Click Configure Incoming Email Rules and set the following:

  • Condition 1: Incoming Mailbox | In | HR Onboarding Mailbox
  • Condition 2 (And): Subject | Contains | New Hire Onboarding
  • Action: Create Service Request, Service Catalog: Employee On-boarding

Incoming email rule configured with two conditions matching the HR Onboarding Mailbox and subject keyword, with action set to create an Employee On-boarding service request

IT Support Rule

Add a second rule for the IT Support Mailbox:

  • Condition: Incoming Mailbox | In | IT Support Mailbox
  • Action: Create Service Request, Service Catalog: Laptop

Incoming email rule configured to match the IT Support Mailbox and create a Laptop service request

Step 3: Configure a Workflow for Auto-Assignment (Optional)​

To automatically assign IT Support tickets to a specific technician, create an event-based workflow triggered on Service Request creation.

Workflow editor showing trigger set to Service Request creation, with an If Else condition checking email source and subject, and an Update Request action assigning the ticket to Lizi

Configure the workflow as follows:

  • Trigger: Service Request is created
  • Condition (If Else): Source is Email AND Subject Contains the relevant keyword
  • Action (Update Request): Set Assignee to the designated technician

Result​

HR Onboarding: When a requester sends an email to hr.onboarding@example.com with the subject "New Hire Onboarding", ServiceOps creates Service Request SR-75, routes it to the HR Support Group, assigns the HR category, and records the source as Email.

SR-75 New Hire Onboarding ticket showing HR Support Group in Technician Group, HR in Category, and Email as the source

IT Support: When a requester sends an email to it.support@example.com, ServiceOps creates a Laptop Service Request and the workflow auto-assigns it to the designated technician. The Audit Trail confirms all automated actions.

SR-98 Request for New Laptop showing Lizi as assignee and audit trail entries confirming auto-assignment, tag addition, and location set by the workflow