Create Zoho Desk tickets from email

How it works

1. 1

   Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "add Megan as a contact, then raise this as a high-priority ticket for her".

2. 2

   Zoho Desk will only hang a ticket off a contact it already holds, so when the sender is new to your helpdesk ForwardThis adds the contact first and then raises the ticket against it.

3. 3

   The ticket is created as per your instructions: the subject line, the email as the first message, the priority, the team it sits with, the due date and the agent it goes to. Zoho Desk priorities are low, medium and high, so ask for high rather than urgent.

4. 4

   You receive a confirmation email containing a link to the new ticket, plus an undo button if something doesn't look right. Undo moves the ticket to Zoho Desk's recycle bin, so an agent can still restore it afterwards.

FAQs

How do I create a Zoho Desk ticket from an email?

Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "raise this as a high-priority ticket for Megan". ForwardThis creates the ticket and replies to confirm with a link to it. The first time, you will need a free ForwardThis account with Zoho Desk connected - it takes about 30 seconds.

What if the customer is not a contact in Zoho Desk yet?

Ask for both in the same email. Zoho Desk refuses a ticket whose requester it does not already know, so ForwardThis adds the contact first, then raises the ticket against it. They stay two separate things it did, and each can be undone on its own.

Can it set the priority, the team and who picks it up?

Yes, all three when the ticket is created, plus a due date. The department is matched by name, and on a helpdesk with only one department it is used automatically. Priorities are Zoho Desk's own three: low, medium and high.

Can it put the file from my email onto the ticket?

Yes, and it is marked agents-only so the customer is never sent a file they did not ask for. It checks with you before it uploads, because Zoho Desk gives no way to take a ticket attachment off again, which also means that one cannot be undone afterwards.

Can it work on a ticket that already exists?

Yes. It can read a ticket back to you, add a private comment only your agents see, change the status, priority, due date, subject or the team it sits with, and reply to the customer by email. Changing a ticket and replying to a customer are both checked with you first: closing a ticket can send the customer a happiness-rating survey depending on your own settings, and a reply that has gone out cannot be pulled back.

Doesn't Zoho Desk already turn emails into tickets?

It does. Anything sent to your support address becomes a ticket, and for mail customers send you directly that is the right way in. ForwardThis is for the one sitting in your own inbox: forward it and the ticket arrives with the contact, the priority and the team already set, and a link back in the reply.

Does it work with Outlook and other email apps?

Yes. ForwardThis works with any email provider: Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and everything else. If it can forward an email, it works.

What happens to my email afterwards?

It gets deleted. ForwardThis holds your email briefly in case you press undo, then removes it completely. Nothing is stored long term.