Siebel Email Administration Guide > Overview of Siebel Email Response > Architecture for Siebel Email Response >

Processing Incoming Email

After a customer sends an email to your company, your email server, which is connected to the Siebel Server, receives the email and passes it to Communications Inbound Receiver. Communications Inbound Receiver resides on the Siebel Server and has a primary role in the Siebel Email Response processes.

Email processing uses workflow processes, which call other Siebel Server components, such as Assignment Manager. Communications Inbound Receiver uses the Internet SMTP/POP3 Server driver or Internet SMTP/IMAP Server driver to periodically connect to your email server and check for new email messages. When Communications Inbound Receiver detects a new message, it completes the following tasks:

• Downloads the message and attachments from the email server.
• Parses the elements of the email message (To:, CC:, Subject:, and body content) and places these elements in memory.
• Converts the email data into event data that is saved in the Siebel database (if less than 15 KB) or in the Siebel File System (if greater than 15 KB).
• If you use nonreal-time email processing, creates a server request for the Server Request Broker component to notify Communications Inbound Processor that a new event is created.
• If you use nonreal-time email processing, passes the event data from memory to Communications Inbound Processor.

  NOTE:  Communications Inbound Processor can start multiple subprocesses so that multiple instances of a workflow can operate in parallel.

Real-Time and Nonreal-Time Processing

Depending on your business requirements, you can process email in one of the following ways:

• Real-Time Processing
• Nonreal-Time Processing

Figure 2 provides examples of different configurations for Communications Inbound Receiver and Communications Inbound Processor in your Siebel Enterprise, as follows:

• Configuration A. Shows real-time processing for Communications Inbound Receiver on one Siebel Server.
• Configuration B. Shows Communications Inbound Receiver on one Siebel Server and Communications Inbound Processor divided between two Siebel Servers.
• Configuration C. Shows Communications Inbound Receiver and Communications Inbound Processor on two Siebel Servers.

Figure 2. Examples of Configurations for Communications Inbound Receiver and Communications Inbound Processor

Real-Time Processing

Real-time email processing uses only one server component, the Communications Inbound Receiver. Communications Inbound Receiver both receives and processes inbound messages. Communications Inbound Processor is not used in real-time processing. This type of processing is best for businesses with a low volume of email customers or businesses that primarily use phone events because these events always use real-time processing.

Figure 3 describes the architecture for real-time email processing. This figure shows that Communications Inbound Receiver (CIR) pulls email from the email server. CIR includes the Workflow Process Manager (WPM) and Server Request Broker (SRB), and CIR communicates with the Siebel File System (SFS) and with other entities, such as the driver and the user interface (UI). For information about how to enable real-time email processing, see Enabling Real-Time Email Processing. For more information about processing email in real time, see Events and Communications Inbound Receiver.

Figure 3. Real-Time Email Processing

Nonreal-Time Processing

Nonreal-time email processing has two server components, the Communications Inbound Receiver and the Communications Inbound Processor, running as separate server components. This type of processing enables you to have multiple instances of Communications Inbound Receiver and Communications Inbound Processor on different Siebel Servers, providing a distributed architecture that is more scalable and reliable.

Figure 4 describes the architecture for nonreal-time email processing. This figure shows that Communications Inbound Receiver (CIR) pulls email from the email server. CIR includes Server Request Broker (SRB), and Communications Inbound Processor (CIP) includes the Workflow Process Manager (WPM). CIR and CIP communicate with each other, with the Siebel File System (SFS), and with other entities, such as the driver and the user interface (UI). For information about how to enable nonreal-time email processing, see Enabling Nonreal-Time Email Processing.

Figure 4. Nonreal-Time Email Processing

Siebel Workflow and Processing Incoming Email

Communications Inbound Processor uses the Workflow Process Manager, part of Siebel Workflow, to process an email message in several different ways, depending on the workflow process that you select to handle that type of message. Siebel Email Response includes several preconfigured workflow processes that provide email processing features. For more information, see Managing Workflows for Siebel Email Response.

You can set up the Workflow Process Manager to perform the following tasks:

• Determine the commit time (the time by which you must reply to the message) by using the customer's service-level agreement.
• Send the message to Assignment Manager for routing or to a custom routing and queueing solution.
• Write a record to your Siebel database if the message is routed to an agent for response.
• When integrated with routing and queueing software, route incoming email to an agent by using defined parameters such as agent skills. The selected routing and queueing processes route and queue messages to the agent with the skills that are necessary to respond to the message.

About Returning Replies to Customers

The agent reviews the message using the Siebel client and composes and sends a reply using templates that users configure for your company's needs. When the agent sends the reply, the Communications Outbound Manager server component sends the reply through your email server using the SMTP communication protocol. Your email server then sends the email over the Internet to the customer's email server, and the customer's email server delivers the email to the customer's mailbox. Figure 1 illustrates this process.