Zoho Mail: Forward a Shared Mailbox to Zoho Desk

Zoho Mail: Forward a Shared Mailbox to Zoho Desk

Some organisations want a shared mailbox in Zoho Mail, so that several people can see the messages, and also want every message that arrives there to create a ticket in Zoho Desk. This article explains how to do it with an Incoming Email Rule in the Zoho Mail Admin Console, which forwards each incoming message to Zoho Desk automatically.

The question

A customer wants a single email address to work as both a Zoho Mail shared mailbox and the address connected to Zoho Desk, and asks whether Zoho Mail can automatically forward everything the shared mailbox receives to another address, in this case the one Zoho Desk uses.

The answer

In brief: yes. Zoho says it can be done with an Incoming Email Rule in the Zoho Mail Admin Console. You create a rule that forwards any email addressed to the shared mailbox to your Zoho Desk email address. It is a rule you configure, and not a separate auto-forward setting on the shared mailbox itself.

The suggested configuration

Setting Value
ConditionTo/CC Email Address
OperatorIs any of
ValueThe shared mailbox's email address
ActionForward the email
Forward toYour Zoho Desk email address
Apply toAll users

In outline

  1. Find the email address Zoho Desk gives you for receiving mail into your support channel. This is the address you will forward to.
  2. In the Zoho Mail Admin Console, open Incoming Email Rules and create a new rule.
  3. Enter the settings in the table above.
  4. Save the rule, and send a test message to the shared mailbox.
  5. Check that the message arrives in the shared mailbox and that a ticket appears in Zoho Desk.

Menu names in the Admin Console change from time to time, so look for Incoming Email Rules if the layout differs from what is described here.

What to test before you rely on it

This section is our own advice, not Zoho's.

  • Messages that do not name the shared mailbox in To or CC. The suggested condition matches the To and CC fields. A message that reaches the mailbox another way, for example through a BCC or a distribution list, may not match the rule and so may not be forwarded. Test the ways real customers and systems email the address.
  • Duplicate tickets. If anyone also forwards the same messages to Zoho Desk by another route, you could get two tickets for one email. Use one route only.
  • Email loops. Check that Zoho Desk's automatic replies and notifications do not go back to the shared mailbox and then forward again. Send a test and watch for repeats.
  • Replies. Customers will reply to the ticket from Zoho Desk. Decide which address those replies come from, and make sure the sending domain is set up properly so they are delivered, not treated as spam.
  • The "apply to all users" setting. It means the rule is not tied to one person's account. Check who can edit or switch off the rule in the Admin Console, because turning it off would stop tickets being created without any warning.
  • Personal data. Forwarding copies customer emails into a second system. Make sure your privacy notice and retention settings cover both Zoho Mail and Zoho Desk.
Need help? As a Zoho Partner serving the UK and Ireland, we can set up the shared mailbox, the forwarding rule, and the Zoho Desk email channel, and test the whole path end to end. Email zoho@1cloudconsultants.com or raise a support request with 1 Cloud Consultants.