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Integrations

Email for your contact center

Email brings in pricing inquiries, quote requests, and repeat orders – often your warmest buyers. CONTACT.WORK connects sales@, info@, and other mailboxes to the platform: an inquiry email becomes a lead in your CRM right away, a sales rep replies on time with the customer's full history in view, and an AI agent can answer questions about pricing and availability.

Get a quotePricing
All mailboxessales@, info@, and more in one windowRoute each mailbox to its own team
Deadlinefor replying to every inquiryFor example, one hour for a pricing inquiry
$0for the channel itselfSetup is covered by support hours
Any emailMicrosoft 365, Exchange, Google Workspace, your own serverReplies go out from your address

Capabilities

What you get with Email

Every email becomes a leadAn email from a new sender becomes a CRM lead right away, with the subject, body, and attachments.
Reply before competitors doEvery email has a response deadline, so inquiries don't sit in the inbox until evening.
Reps know the customerBefore replying, reps see the customer's past emails, calls, and chats, plus a short AI summary: what they bought and what they asked about.
One email, one repOne employee takes the email, colleagues see that, and nobody writes to the customer twice.

Examples

How email helps you sell

People who email you have usually already chosen and want a price, an invoice, or a quote. The key is to reply fast, not lose the email, and not lose the customer to a competitor.

A pricing inquiry turns into a deal

An email asking for a price or a quote lands in the sales queue and becomes a CRM lead right away. An AI agent answers simple questions about price and availability, while a sales rep approves the quote and any discount – with a draft prepared by the AI agent. The customer gets a reply from the company address in the same email thread, and the deal moves down the pipeline.

  • A CRM lead from every inquiry
  • Replies from the company address
  • No inquiry gets lost
Example 1 of 3

Complaints and returns also come in by email – the platform routes them to support so they don't get in the way of sales.

How it works

What your sales team gets

Speed

Inquiries answered on time

You set a deadline for each mailbox or topic: for example, one hour for a pricing inquiry and four hours for everything else. The customer gets an instant auto-reply confirming receipt, and emails close to their deadline move up the queue.

  • A response deadline for every email
  • Instant auto-reply to the customer
  • Moves up the queue before it's overdue

AI agent

Pricing questions answered instantly

The AI agent reads the email and answers routine questions by itself: price, availability, delivery times, how to pay. It pulls data from your price list and knowledge base. When the customer is ready to buy, asks for a discount, or disputes something, the email goes to a sales rep with a short summary – and a ready draft reply or quote that just needs a check before sending.

  • Price and availability right away
  • Draft replies and quotes for reps
  • The language model is billed separately

CRM

Deals start with an email

A new inquiry creates a lead or deal in your CRM, and all of the customer's emails are saved to their record. The rep sees emails, calls, and deals in one place and doesn't ask the customer about things they've already written.

  • A lead or deal from each inquiry
  • Emails in the customer record
  • The full history in one place

Reports

How many emails turned into sales

Managers see how many inquiries came in by email, how fast they were answered, and how many ended in a deal – by mailbox and by rep.

  • Inquiries by mailbox
  • First response time
  • Emails that became deals

Setup

How we connect email

  1. 01MailboxesWe list the addresses buyers write to and decide which team answers each one.
  2. 02AccessYou create an app password or an account for IMAP, SMTP, or Exchange for each mailbox.
  3. 03ConnectionWe connect the mailboxes and set response deadlines, rep signatures, and the receipt auto-reply.
  4. 04AI agentWe load your price list, canned responses, and knowledge base into the agent and decide which questions it handles without an agent.
  5. 05TestingWe send test inquiries with attachments and replies to old threads, and check the CRM leads and sender address.
  6. 06Go-liveWe move the mailboxes to the platform and, for the first few days, check that every email has an owner.

Requirements

What you need to connect email

Email
Any service with IMAP and SMTP – Google Workspace, your own server – plus Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft 365
Access
An app password or a separate account for each mailbox
Domain
SPF and DKIM records set up so replies don't land in spam
Platform
CONTACT.WORK in the cloud or on your server with access to your mail servers
CRM
Recommended: a lead or deal for every inquiry and emails in the customer record
Bulk email
A contract with a paid email marketing service that has an API – if you need bulk email
Cost
No channel fee – we connect mailboxes using support hours

Preparation

What to prepare for connecting email

Which mailboxes do we connect?Addresses customers write to – sales@, info@, reps' mailboxes – and their email service.
How will you grant access?An account or app password for IMAP and SMTP for each mailbox.
Keep emails in the mailbox?The platform can pull emails out of the mailbox or leave them there – your choice.
Do you have a price list and templates?Your price list and quote templates – we'll build canned responses and content for the agent from them.
Who owns which customers?Which customers are assigned to which reps – their emails will go straight to them.
Which CRM do you use?CRM access for the integration and what an email creates: a lead or a deal.

Q&A

Frequently asked questions

How do I connect email to a contact center?

We connect your mailboxes over IMAP and SMTP, and corporate email through Microsoft Exchange as well: the platform picks up new emails and sends replies from your address. Each mailbox needs an app password or a separate account.

Is a deal created from an email automatically?

An email from a new sender becomes a lead or deal in your CRM, depending on how your pipeline is set up. Emails from a repeat customer are added to their record and go to the rep who owns the account.

How do we make sure no inquiry email gets lost?

Every email has an owner and a response deadline. When the deadline is close, the email moves up the queue, and managers see overdue emails.

Will the customer notice the reply didn't come from regular email?

They won't. The reply goes out from the company address, with your signature, in the same email thread.

What if two people reply to the same email?

That won't happen: when a rep takes the email, it shows as taken for colleagues.

Does the rep see CC'd recipients?

The rep sees all recipients, including CCs, and can reply to all at once – handy when the customer's buyer and accountant are both on the thread.

Will auto-replies and newsletters create tickets?

They won't. The platform filters out automated emails – out-of-office replies, no-reply notifications, newsletters, and spam – and creates no tickets from them.

Will emails stay in the mailbox?

Your call: emails can stay in the mailbox, or the platform can pull them out. We set this up when connecting.

Will replies land in spam?

Replies go out through your mail server, so delivery depends on your domain settings. We check SPF and DKIM records when connecting.

Can the AI agent reply to emails by itself?

For routine questions, it does: price, availability, delivery times, payment terms. When the customer is ready to buy, asks for a discount, or files a complaint, the agent hands the email to an employee with a short summary.

Can the AI agent prepare a quote?

When a customer asks, the agent drafts a reply or a quote from your price list and templates. The rep reviews it, edits if needed, and sends it – faster than writing from scratch.

Can we email a customer first?

You can: the rep sends a new email from the platform window, and the customer's reply lands in the same ticket. Bulk email – promotions, news – is better sent through a paid email marketing service: the platform works with it via API, and your work mailbox stays out of spam.

Where are emails stored?

Emails and tickets live in CONTACT.WORK: in our cloud (data centers in the US and the UK), or on your servers if you self-host the platform. With a connected CRM, emails are visible there too.

How much does connecting email cost?

We don't charge for email as a channel: mailboxes are connected within your support plan hours. The AI agent's language model and the email marketing service are billed separately. Contact us for pricing.

Pricing →

Glossary

Terms on this page

CRM – customer relationship management
Where a company keeps its customers, deals, and full communication history. Learn more →
SMTP and IMAP – email protocols
Email protocols: SMTP sends messages, IMAP reads them on the server. Learn more →
API (application programming interface)
The way programs exchange data with each other without a person in the loop. Learn more →
Knowledge base
All answers, policies, and prices in one place – for agents and AI. Learn more →
Large language model (LLM)
A neural network that understands questions asked in everyday words and answers the same way. Learn more →
Customer record
The screen of customer data an agent sees during a conversation. Learn more →
Cloud deployment (cloud)
The platform runs on the vendor's servers, and agents connect over the internet. Learn more →
Data center
A building with servers, backup power, cooling, and network links. Learn more →

More

Other integrations

WhatsApp Two-way WhatsApp chats and approved templates in the agent's window. Learn more SMS Inbound and outbound SMS from the agent's window, next to the customer's history. Learn more P Pipedrive We connect Pipedrive to CONTACT.WORK through the Pipedrive API during implementation. Learn more API and protocols Connect your contact center to any system you use – via API, a database, or files. Learn more

Blog

Fresh from the blog

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