Email to Database? How is it done?

Hi all,

How do you go about creating a system whereby an email is automatically inserted into DB?

For example in an online support ticketing system, whereby a support agent can have an email conversation with a customer however all emails are automatically captured and logged by the ticketing system so that either user can log in and see the full conversation?

Is there some standard software that does this or is it a more customised solution?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,

Ben

Exactly how depends on some implementation details, but typically there is a system that reads email – either from it’s own dedicated mailbox or through some hooks in sendmail / exchange / whatever – and then parses it out and does appropriate things with it. Not horribly difficult to stand up, fun comes in edge cases and parser errors.

What you are describing is called email ticketing. For that you do not need a customized solution, just a system like focalscope (easy to use, affordable, and a proper ticketing system). There are others, but that is the one I am using because it really outperformed the other systems I tested.