A shared inbox for service requests: who replies, and what becomes an intervention?

Why emails get left lying in a shared inbox

A shared inbox, or an address such as service@ that goes to several people, solves one problem: the customer has one address and the email arrives. Who replies and what happens next is not something the inbox arranges. That is where it goes wrong:

• Read looks like handled. A colleague opens the email, is interrupted, and the email is no longer in bold.
• Nobody is responsible. Without an owner per email, everyone counts on someone else.
• Two replies, or none. Two colleagues reply to the same customer, sometimes with a different answer.
• A request stays an email. The customer asks for an intervention, but it does not reach the schedule until someone retypes it.
• The internal discussion disappears. Internal questions go through forwarded emails or messages on a mobile phone, and the next colleague does not know the context.

Five agreements for a shared inbox that works

1. One owner per conversation. Whoever picks up an email assigns it to themselves. A conversation without an owner stands out.
2. A status per conversation. To handle, waiting for the customer, snoozed until a date, done. An email that is waiting for the customer’s reply is no longer mixed in with today’s work.
3. Internal discussion stays internal. Questions to a colleague are kept as a note on the conversation, and not in an email that goes to the customer by mistake.
4. A request for work becomes an intervention straight away. With the customer, the address and the text of the email, so that nobody has to retype it.
5. An empty queue every day. Once a day, every conversation without an owner gets one.

An example: from email to intervention

The manager of an apartment building emails the service address: the heating in the common area keeps cutting out. Someone at the office assigns the conversation to themselves and notes internally for a colleague that the appliance was serviced recently. He then turns the email into an intervention: the customer, the subject and the text of the email are already filled in, he chooses the site and the priority and schedules it. The customer gets a reply from the service address, and the conversation moves to waiting for the customer. When the customer replies, that reply comes back into the same conversation.

How it works in Digitalnatie Service Suite

The service inbox shares the conversations sent to your organisation’s service address. By default, the administrator and the manager work with it; your administrator can adjust the roles.

• Queues: to handle, unassigned, waiting for the customer, snoozed and done, with a search bar, a filter by owner and a filter on unread.
• Assigning and snoozing: you assign a conversation to a colleague, or snooze it until a moment you choose. A new message from the customer brings a snoozed conversation straight back.
• Replying: the reply goes out from the service address, and when you send it you choose the status the conversation gets next. Each message shows whether it has been sent.
• Internal note: visible only to the service inbox team. Nothing is sent.
• Creating an intervention: the window opens already filled in with the customer (if the sender is recognised), the subject as the title and the email as the description. You choose the site, the installation if needed, the type and the priority, and schedule it straight away or later on the schedule. No email goes to the customer.
• Linking and following up: you can link the conversation to an intervention that already exists, or plan a follow-up activity on the intervention or on the customer.

The service inbox works as soon as your organisation’s email account is connected. Digitalnatie sets up the service address and the connection for you. Other shared mailboxes, for example the one for invoicing, you read in a separate mailbox screen, with quick actions such as creating an intervention, preparing a quote or planning a follow-up. If an email turns into a quote, read how to follow up a quote.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a shared inbox and a distribution list?

A shared inbox is one mailbox that several people open: everyone sees the same emails. A distribution list sends a copy of every email to everyone on the list, so nobody can see whether a colleague has already replied. For service requests, a shared mailbox with an owner and a status per conversation gives a clearer overview.

Who sees the service inbox in Service Suite?

By default, the administrator and the manager. The permissions depend on the roles, and your administrator can adjust them.

Does the customer see an internal note?

No. An internal note is only visible to the service inbox team, and nothing is sent.

Does the customer get an email when I create an intervention?

No. Creating an intervention from an email sends nothing to the customer. You reply to them yourself in the same conversation, for example with the date of the intervention.