Email Problems
The ticket from Stonebridge Insurance's claims team said the email was broken. It was not. One claims handler could not send to one external address because the recipient's mail service had rejected the message. The bounce explained this in its own way. But it had gone to the junk folder, where she had not looked because nobody looks there. Meanwhile her colleague's mailbox was full, which stopped him receiving but not sending. So his messages were going out into a silence he interpreted as everyone ignoring him. Two tickets, two causes, one word in both subject lines, and a technician who had learned to ask three questions before believing any of them.
This series is about those three questions and the rest of the mail ticket. It covers the classic email ticket categories and the first question for each. It covers can't send and can't receive as a diagnostic order. In that order, the bounce message is the clue and the full mailbox is the usual suspect. It covers mailbox full and the retention conversation that ends the recurring ticket. Then come shared mailboxes and delegation, where most of the confusion is two phrases that sound alike. It covers missing mail and the junk folder, including the honest answer when it was the sender. And it covers reducing email tickets with a setup guide, a quota warning and a standard. Email is not broken. Something specific is, and this is how you find it.
Articles in This Series
- The Classic Email Ticket Categories, and the First Question for Each
Cannot send, cannot receive, mailbox full, missing mail, shared-mailbox confusion, mobile sync stopped, the hacked worry; the first question for each; and the category table. - Can't Send, Can't Receive: The Diagnostic Order
One user, one mailbox, one device or everyone. Covers reading a bounce message in plain words, the stuck outbox, the full mailbox, the changed password, and the mail diagnostic card. - Mailbox Full, and the Retention Conversation
Quota, archive, the user who keeps everything, retention policy in plain words, the manager who wants an exception, ending the recurring ticket, and the mailbox-full reply. - Shared Mailboxes, Delegation and Who Can See What
Send-as against send-on-behalf, the shared mailbox nobody owns, calendar delegation, the assistant's access, the leaver's mailbox, and the shared-mailbox request form. - Missing Mail, Junk Folders and 'I Never Got It'
The junk folder, the forgotten rule, the sender's outbox, the blocked sender, the wrong address, the message never sent, the honest answer, and the missing-mail checklist. - Reducing Email Tickets Before They Reach the Desk
The mobile setup guide, self-help for junk and rules, the quota warning before the wall, the shared-mailbox standard, the is-it-hacked education, and the self-help index.
Explore More Topics
This series is part of the QuerySolv helpdesk topic library. It covers the foundations, processes, communication, knowledge, tooling, metrics, classic ticket domains, people and strategy behind a support desk that works. The library pairs well with the software we build: QuerySolv. It is a self-hosted help desk that runs as one Windows service on your own network. It is licensed once per installation, not per agent per month.