WiscIT Email Handler #TAG (custom process)

This document describes the process for a custom email account setup in WiscIT. The account is checked by WiscIT every minute via IMAP; new threads sent to this address will result in new WiscIT calls being created. Replies to existing threads will result in journal entries.
In addition to sending email from a customer account built around the #Tag process, WiscIT also sends the following emails from wiscit@doit.wisc.edu:
  • Subject: Fulfill Request Service Request 1234567 escalated to XYZ Team 
  • Subject: Resolved Service Request 1234567 assigned to XYZ Agent
These emails should not be responded to; the commands/workflow detailed below only apply to emails sent from/to the account built around #Tags.


Standard Workflow
  • Customer emails sent to your email account with a request with a request.
    • WiscIT creates a new Incident that is assigned to the default pre-defined team. Note that WiscIT uses the terms Call, Incident, Service Request and Ticket interchangeably.
    • WiscIT sets the Requestor of the Incident to the person who sent the original email. If the Requestor cannot be found in WiscIT, the Requestor will be set to WiscIT Default and the person who sent the email will be add to the Alt Contact field.
      • If the Requestor adds email addresses to the To: or Cc: fields on the initial email, those email addresses should be added to the Alt Contact: field in the Service Request.
  • WiscIT sends a copy of the email to the members of the Pre-Defined team. 
    • WiscIT also sends a WiscIT Incident escalated to (XYZ Team) email to the members of the XYZ Team
  • XYZ team member replies to requestor email (reply not reply-all).
    • WiscIT sends an email to requestor.
    • WiscIT assigns ownership of the Incident to the XYZ team member that replied.
      • The first XYZ Team member to reply to an email will be assigned ownership unless the first line of the email begins with #replyonly. See the Email Actions section below for additional commands.
  • WiscIT sends an email to XYZ Team indicating that the XYZ team member who replied to the email has taken ownership of the Incident.
    • Future email replies on this thread will not be forwarded to the CCI-Virtualization Team.
  • The Requestor and Incident Owner reply back and forth in the email thread as needed.
    • As each email is sent, a journal entry is added to the Incident.
    • If additional email contacts need to be added to the Incident, this must be done in WiscIT by adding the email address to the Alt Contact: field.
      • Format of Alt Contact: field: email.address; email.address;
      • Email addresses added to the To: or Cc: fields after the initial request will not be automatically added as Alt Contacts.
  • The Incident Owner should add a #comment to the Incident if the work performed was non-standard and may be used for future reference.
    • Please note that while #comment commands do not generate emails, they can be seen by any WiscIT Officer. Sensitive information (passwords) should never be stored in a Incident. 
  • When the work has been completed, the Incident Owner marks the Incident as resolved by replying to the thread with #resolve as the first line of the message.
    • The Incident will auto close after 10 days. This allows a customer to reply (i.e. "Thanks") without creating a new Incident.
    • Alternatively, the Incident can be resolved via the Rich Client or Browser Client.
Email Actions

NOTE:A command can be included in the first line of an email sent to WiscIT. The command will be parsed from the first line in an email and the corresponding action performed; notifications will be sent technologists if an invalid action is received. NOTE: Only Team members can have #commands processed. Expect at least three (3) minutes to pass between when you send an email and when you see the results in WiscIT.

Command/Action
  • #addcontact
    • Append to the 'Alt Contact:' field via email without sending an email to the requestor.
      • For example, prefacing an email with '#addcontact bernie.bernstein@wisc.edu' would append bernie.bernstein@wisc.edu to the 'Alt Contact:' field and no email would be sent to the customer 
        • To add multiple contacts, use '#addcontact email.address; email.address;'
      • If the service request is unowned, ownership will be assigned to the technologist sending the email, 
  • #addcontactreply
    • Append to the 'Alt Contact:' field via email and send an email to the requestor.
      • For example, prefacing an email with '#addcontactreply bernie.bernstein@wisc.edu' would append bernie.bernstein@wisc.edu to the 'Alt Contact:' field and an email would be sent to the customer
        • A #addcontactreply tag must be include /addcontactreply on a blank line to end the command.
        • To add multiple contacts, use '#addcontactreply email.address; email.address;'
      • If the service request is unowned, ownership will be assigned to the technologist sending the email
  • #assign
    • Assign ownership of a Service Request without sending an email to the requestor or adding a journal.
      • #assign <team member email address> - assign to team member
        • Must be email address as defined in WiscIT. Assigning to an invalid email address will unassign the ticket.
        • WiscIT - Updating Contact Information: https://kb.wisc.edu/wiscit/internal/page.php?id=45350
      • #assign nobody - unassign the ticket
  • #comment
    • Add a journal entry to a Service Request without sending an email to the requestor.
      • A #comment tag must be include /comment on a blank line to end the comment. This is to prevent the entire email thread from being included in the journal added to WiscIT. Not including the '/comment' line will result in the #comment command not being processed by WiscIT.
      • If the service request is unowned, ownership will be assigned to the technologist sending the email
  • #commentonly
    • Add a journal entry to a Service Request without sending an email to the requestor. 
      • A #commentonly tag must be include /commentonly on a blank line to end the comment. This is to prevent the entire email thread from being included in the journal added to WiscIT. Not including the '/commentonly' line will result in the #commentonly command not being processed by WiscIT.
      • Ownership will not be assigned when using this command.
  • #project
    • Create a WiscIT project (Category: Server Projects, Subcategory: CCI-Virtualization) and assign it to yourself
      • #project only works with initial emails
  • #replyonly
    • Add a journal entry without taking ownership of a service request. An email will be sent to the requestor. 
      • The #replyonly line will be deleted from the email sent to the requestor
      • Ownership will not be assigned when using this command.
  • #requestor
    • Create a new WiscIT Service Request on behalf of another person and assign it to yourself
      • #requestor <requestor email address>
      • #requestor only works with initial emails
  • #resolve
    • Resolve a Service Request without sending an email to the requestor. The Service Request will auto close after 10 days. This allows a customer to reply (i.e. "Thanks") without creating a new Service Request. There is no need to set a Service Request to Closed manually.
      • If the service request is unowned, ownership will be assigned to the technologist sending the email
  • #resolvereply
    • Add a journal entry, send an email to the customer, and resolve the service request. The Service Request will auto close after 10 days. This allows a customer to reply (i.e. "Thanks") without creating a new Service Request. There is no need to set a Service Request to Closed manually.
      • The #resolvereply line will be deleted from the email sent to the requestor
      • If the service request is unowned, ownership will be assigned to the technologist sending the email
  • #spam
    • Close and ReClassify an incident created by spam.
NOTE: Once ownership of a service request has been established, emails will not be sent to the entire team, only the technologist who owns the service request.

NOTE: Requestor is defined to mean the combination of the Requestor: and Alt Contact: fields in a WiscIT Service Request.

Reference an Incident
  • When a service request is first created, WiscIT will send an additional email to CCI-Virtualization. Do not reply to this email
    • Subject: WiscIT Incident 1234567 escalated to (CCI-Virtualization): Title {CMI: BADGER344163}
  • When ownership of a service request is assigned, WiscIT will send an additional email to CCI-Virtualization. Do not reply to this email 
    • Subject: Virtualization Admin has taken Ownership of Incident 1234567 (Title)

Determining the customers of an Incident
  • Open the Incident
  • Customers == Requestor: + Alt Contact: 
    • To verify to whom an email was sent, open 'Journals - All' and look for 'Journal - Mail History' entries
Manually assigning an Incident
  • Open the Incident
  • The Owned By: section should have -select owner- for the Owner and CCI-Virtualization for the Owned By team. Click on -select owner- to assign to another member of the team 
    • NOTE: You can use the Assign To... link, but doing so requires both the Owner and Owned By Team be set
Closing an Incident
  • To close a service request (generally only required for monitoring emails and out-of-office emails)
    • Open the Incident
    • One-Step > OneStep Manager -> Incident -> Close Incident 
      • Right-click and select Run for Group
Bulk closing an Incident
  • Create a saved search and run it to display its results 
    • Searching -> Search Manager -> (Saved Search)
  • One-Step > OneStep Manager -> Incident -> Close Incident 
    • Right-click and select Run for Group
Checking your email account directly in an emergency
  • Outlook Web App (OWA) to access email account (not recommended as any message accidentally marked as read will not be processed by WiscIT, see below)
    • Open a new [incognito/private] browser window
    • Open email.wisc.edu and login
    • Unread messages in the Inbox have yet to be processed by WiscIT
      • If you see messages in the Inbox that aren't recent (and unread), email wiscit@doit.wisc.edu
      • To try to reprocess a message in the Inbox, mark it as unread
    • After WiscIT successfully processes an email, it will be marked as read and moved from the Inbox to a Processed folder.
    • If WiscIT encounters a problem processing a message, it will be marked as read and moved from the Inbox to a Failed to Process folder.
      • If you see messages in the Errors folder that are recent, email wiscit@doit.wisc.edu
      • To try to reprocess a message, move it to the Inbox and mark it as unread
      • After it is known why a message was moved to the Errors folder, moved it to the ArchivedErrors folder for archival purpose


Keywords:
wiscit email handler #tags 
Doc ID:
77856
Owned by:
Will C. in WiscIT
Created:
2017-11-01
Updated:
2023-07-19
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, DoIT Staff, WiscIT - Wisconsin IT Service Manager