Prevent Auto-Response Emails from Creating Salesforce Cases

Overview

Faculty Support cases are created by Email-to-Case: Salesforce watches the inbox of your team's email group account (EGA) and opens a new Case for every email that lands there. That includes automated messages nobody meant as a request — calendar responses (Accepted, Declined, Tentative), out-of-office replies, and bounce-backs ("Undeliverable").

There is no single Salesforce setting that ignores these messages. The recommended first step is an Outlook rule on the EGA inbox that moves them into a separate folder before Salesforce sees them. Only email in the inbox becomes a Case, so anything the rule moves out is never processed.

Why start in Outlook rather than Salesforce? A filter in Salesforce can accidentally catch a real request and silently prevent its Case from being opened. An Outlook rule only moves the email to a folder, so anything caught by mistake is still there to find and act on.

Before you start

• You need access to the EGA mailbox in Outlook. Contact SC Johnson IT if you have questions.
• Pick a folder name, for example Auto Replies.

Step 1 — Create the folder

1. Open the EGA mailbox in Outlook.
2. Right-click the mailbox name (or Inbox) and choose Create new folder.
3. Name it Auto Replies.

Step 2 — Create the rule

1. In Outlook, open Rules (Classic Outlook: Home › Rules › Manage Rules & Alerts; New Outlook / Outlook on the web: Settings › Mail › Rules).
2. Create a new rule that applies to the EGA mailbox, not your personal mailbox.
3. Set the condition to Subject includes (or Subject starts with) and add the phrases below.
4. Set the action to Move to folder › Auto Replies.
5. Save the rule.

Suggested subject phrases:

Microsoft's instructions for creating a rule: Manage email messages by using rules in Outlook.

Step 3 — Check the folder for a few weeks

For the first few weeks, look in Auto Replies now and then. If a real request was moved there, forward it back to the EGA address so a Case is created, and remove or narrow the phrase that caught it.

If unwanted Cases are still being created

The Outlook rule may not catch every automated email. If some still create Cases, a further filter may be needed:

• At the email level — a filter that stops the automated emails from reaching the EGA inbox, so no Case is created.
• At the Salesforce level — automation that deletes Cases created from these automatic replies.

Submit a ticket to SC Johnson IT with a few example Case numbers, and IT will review which option fits the messages that remain.

Related

• Salesforce Help: Prevent bounced and out-of-office emails from creating cases