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Is it possible to save an e-mail as a different object type than document?

Hi,

Is it possible to save an e-mail in Outlook as a different object type than document?

Thanks in advance,
Vicky

  • Hi Vicky,

    If you have some really good reasons to do so, I suppose it would be possible to create a new object type and allow it to have files attached. However, I would strongly advice against it! You will miss out on some features that only work on the Document object type including the integrations with common mail clients.
    May we ask what you want to achieve by creating a different object type?
    Perhaps someone can point out a way to achieve the same with a proper configuration a document class for emails.

    BR, Karl

  • Hi Karl,

    I am aware of the advantages/disadvantages of using an object type which can have files vs the built in document OT, however in this case the decision was not mine Smirk.

    In any case, the use case is that they want to be able to create a Complaint from an e-mail. The e-mail itself is saved into M-Files separately (as a document). 

    The current way of working is that they add the e-mail to M-Files. They are then required to select the appropriate Complaint from a drop-down list. If the Complaint doesn't exist yet, they have to create it first. Upon creation, the e-mail address for the main contact (which in 99% of the cases will be the e-mail address of the sender) is a required field. However, the M-Files metadata card pop-up blocks going back to Outlook to copy that e-mail address. So either you anticipated the need of copying the e-mail address beforehand, or you need to close the metadata card, lose all your changes and start over... 

    An alternative might be to drag the e-mail to a folder in Outlook and save it as a Complaint directly (we can get rid of the file later if needed) so we can automatically save the senders e-mail address as the main contact (and some other properties as well). The e-mail can then be saved a second time with the newly created Complaint. But this solution requires that you can save it as a different OT.

    Best regards,

    Vicky

  • Ok, that makes sense.
    You are probably aware that you can automatically save the sender's mail address in a property in M-Files.
    Rather then saving the email as a different object type I would be looking at a workflow, that creates the complaint as a new object while copying the available metadata from the email.

    A couple of years ago I configured a similar setup to handle proposal calculations by outsourced staff. Sales people send in their request to a specific mailbox. M-Files picks up the mail while adding metadata such as senders mail address and received time. M-Files then checks the subject for any reference to existing cases. If found, the email gets a relation to that existing case and is queued for the person who handles that case. If no reference is found it is assumed to be a new case and M-Files creates that new case object with as many details as available at the time. The new case is then queued for processing by the relevant staff. If the received email does not match certain characteristics typical for case related emails, the mail is characterized as "other mail" and send off in a third direction. This system has worked fine for several years and handles many emails every day.

  • That option crossed my mind as well, but the downside would be that they would have to go look for the newly (automatically) created Complaint in M-Files to complete the required metadata, rather then getting the pop-up immediately. 

    For now I think the best way forward is to open M-Files next to Outlook, create a new Complaint from there, and then classify the e-mail in Outlook...