One of the key uses of the Instant Business Network Help Desk solution (which is part of our IBN Full Suite and On-Demand Service as well) is to manage customer service requests.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to configure an IBN Issues Box with a Gmail account to handle incoming customer service inquiries and requests.

First, go to "Issue Common Settings" which is in the Administration tab. (You will also notice advanced anti-spam features, but we will get into that in a later blog.)



Next, create a POP3 Box to capture all incoming emails (in the case of Gmail accounts, you can use all the settings shown below).



Assuming you already have an Issues Box set up (we are using "Customer Support"), you can go ahead and map this POP3 Box with the corresponding Issues Box.  To map the POP3 Box with the Issues Box, you can click the POP3 Box and select "Mapping Fields."  Then, make sure to select the Issues Box ("Customer Support) from the drop down list.



Now send an email to the email address (i.e. Gmail) that you plan to use to handle customer service requests.  After a few minutes, the email will appear in the "Customer Support" Issues Box found under the Issues/Help Desk tab.  Best of all, automatic notifications via email and desktop alert will be sent to every member of your support staff.



Yahoo no longer has a free POP3 service so if you are unable to configure a POP3 account with your internal mail server, we recommend Gmail.  Just follow the steps above and you should be all set.

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Mediachase Software