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  1. Jira Service Management Data Center
  2. JSDSERVER-2373

Replies to a Service Desk email from an unknown user should add comment to original issue and not create a new one

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      NOTE: This bug report is for JIRA Service Desk Server. Using JIRA Service Desk Cloud? See the corresponding bug report.

      Summary

      When a customer of a JIRA Service Desk sends an E-mail from Service Desk to another person (who is not an agent, reporter or request participant) of the issue, if that additional party replies to the issue and includes the JIRA Service Desk E-mail, the E-mail is treated as a new issue, even though:

      • Subject Line contains the Issue Key,
      • Email Headers are still intact.

      For Example:

      1. Customer 1 raises a Service Desk request.
      2. Agent 1 responds to the Service Desk Request.
      3. Customer 1 receives a response and CC's the response to another Customer (Customer 2).
      4. Customer 2 responds to the service desk request, CCing in the same people.

      Creating new E-mails under this scenario causes additional overhead for the Service Desk Administrator, and may be confusing to the customer interacting with the Agent, due to the fragmented nature of the E-mail interactions

      This was introduced as a result of the changes in: JSD-1876 which fixed an issue when a user who was not a Service Desk customer responded to a Service Desk Email.

      Steps to Reproduce

      1. Set up a new Service Desk
      2. Create an Issue and Send a Comment to a customer as an Agent
      3. As a customer forward the issue to a colleague to get help responding to the Agents queries
      4. Respond to the agent, and customer as the external party.
      5. The response will not be linked to the existing issue unless you are already a request participant of the issue.

      Expected Results

      JIRA Service Desk should be able to detect the E-mail trail relates to a specific issue, and give the customer an option to enable Automatic request participants based on Email interactions.

      Actual Results

      JIRA Service Desk fails to recognise that the Emails in the aforementioned scenario relate to a pre-exiting issue, even thought the Email contains the correct headers, subject line, and the other users in To/CC fields are the customer and the Service Desk Email address.

      Notes

      The current functionality for inbound E-mail appears to be:

      1. Check who the sender of the Email is
      2. Add sender as a new customer if they are not (depending on SD configuration)
      3. Decide what to do with E-mail content based on the sender's authorisation.

      Workaround

      Please use either Service Desk Automation or the JIRA Automation Plugin to do this.

      Using JIRA Service Desk

      1. Go To your Settings under the affected JIRA Service Desk
      2. Select *Automation
      3. Create a new Rule and select "Custom Rule" with the following:
        1. WHEN: Issue Created
        2. IF: Issue Matches and Create an Advanced JQL filter
        3. THEN: Add a Comment that indicates that the user is not authorised to comment on the request
        4. THEN Issue Transition that Resolves the issue.

      Using the Automation Add-on

      1. Create a new Rule
      2. Set the Issue Event to be Issue Created
      3. Set the JQL Expression to something S
      4. Add Actions as to how you would like to handle this circumstance.

      Note on JQL matching.
      The Affected issues are expected to contain:

      • Your E-mail Prefix in the Subject line of the Email
      • An Issue Key in the Subject line of the Email
      • Either a "Re:" or "Fwd:" in the Subject line of the Email.
      • The content should contain "This message is automatically generated by JIRA Service Desk."

      Therefore we can create a JQL query to match on these issues: 

      text ~ '"This message is automatically generated by JIRA Service Desk."~0' 
AND 
(summary ~ "Re \\[CDX\\] \\[SD" OR summary ~"Fwd \\[CDX\\] \\[SD")

      You could add different options to this JQL Query as you see the need to do so, such as project filters. See: Performing Text Searches for more hints on this.

          Form Name

            [JSDSERVER-2373] Replies to a Service Desk email from an unknown user should add comment to original issue and not create a new one

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment -

            JSD 3.5.0 has already been released.

            Please see https://confluence.atlassian.com/servicedesk/jira-service-desk-3-5-x-release-notes-894738991.html

            Regards
            Matt

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment - JSD 3.5.0 has already been released. Please see https://confluence.atlassian.com/servicedesk/jira-service-desk-3-5-x-release-notes-894738991.html Regards Matt

            Leonard Lacsamana added a comment -

            Hi Matt

             

            When can we expect JSD Server 3.5.0's release? We're in urgent need of this update.

             

            Regards
            Leonard

            Leonard Lacsamana added a comment - Hi Matt   When can we expect JSD Server 3.5.0's release? We're in urgent need of this update.   Regards Leonard

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment -

            Hi James

            This change does not apply to the Cloud version.

            It might be a good idea to raise a Cloud support ticket.

            Regards
            Matt

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment - Hi James This change does not apply to the Cloud version. It might be a good idea to raise a Cloud support ticket. Regards Matt

            James Flavell added a comment -

            Hi Matt, does this also apply to JIRA Software Cloud version and if so since which release/date?

            Seems emails from customers that should add comments to JIRA tickets are no longer working on my cloud version and wondering what I need to check to get it to work again (internal emails are adding comments still).

            I have JIRA Service Desk but comments are not even coming up in JIRA Software projects from external users now.

            James Flavell added a comment - Hi Matt, does this also apply to JIRA Software Cloud version and if so since which release/date? Seems emails from customers that should add comments to JIRA tickets are no longer working on my cloud version and wondering what I need to check to get it to work again (internal emails are adding comments still). I have JIRA Service Desk but comments are not even coming up in JIRA Software projects from external users now.

            Steven English added a comment -

            Thanks, Matt.

            Regards,
            Steven

            Steven English added a comment - Thanks, Matt. Regards, Steven

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment -

            Non customers in a closed access Service Desk will need to first exist on the instance. If they have an account on the system they will have the comment added to the issue. However if they do not have an existing account, in this closed access case, a new user account will not be created and no comment / new issue added, just as things currently work.

            The follow up to this feature is making what you mention, possible. However as of now, there is no confirmed release timeframe for when this functionality will become available.

            Hope this helps
            Matt

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment - Non customers in a closed access Service Desk will need to first exist on the instance. If they have an account on the system they will have the comment added to the issue. However if they do not have an existing account, in this closed access case, a new user account will not be created and no comment / new issue added, just as things currently work. The follow up to this feature is making what you mention, possible. However as of now, there is no confirmed release timeframe for when this functionality will become available. Hope this helps Matt

            Steven English added a comment -

            Matthew,

            Can you clarify this part a bit, and perhaps give a fleshed out example?  It sounds like the difference between the two scenarios is that in one the user has an account, but is not a customer?  Does this mean that an individual with an account belonging to a different service desk or somewhere else? 

            In my use case I am looking to allow my customers to solicit input/additional info from other people - whose names and info I will not know in advance - and have it automatically be added to the ticket. I prefer not to allow public signup, but rather to allow emails to come in and my team have the ability to "activate" that user so they have permission to log in and see things. 

            On one hand what you've said sounds like the email would not be processed (the service desk is closed, and their email address is not known to the system) https://confluence.atlassian.com/servicedesk025/configuring-public-signup-754977408.html#Configuringpublicsignup-Openingyourservicedeskupforpublicsignup

            In the next sentence though, it indicates that non-customers in a closed Service Desk will have their comments added after all?  I must be missing on some of the terminology here (closed vs. public sign up disabled, not having an account vs. a non-customer). 

            If public signup is not enabled, and the user does not have an existing account, the email will not be processed, as currently occurs. But it is important to note, that even in a closed access Service Desk, non customers of that Service Desk will have their comments added to issues that they have replied to via Email, and can be easily promoted to being a customer of the Service Desk and Request Participant of the issue, by the single click hover on the comment in question.

            Steven English added a comment - Matthew, Can you clarify this part a bit, and perhaps give a fleshed out example?  It sounds like the difference between the two scenarios is that in one the user has an account, but is not a customer?  Does this mean that an individual with an account belonging to a different service desk or somewhere else?  In my use case I am looking to allow my customers to solicit input/additional info from other people - whose names and info I will not know in advance - and have it automatically be added to the ticket. I prefer not to allow public signup, but rather to allow emails to come in and my team have the ability to "activate" that user so they have permission to log in and see things.  On one hand what you've said sounds like the email would not be processed (the service desk is closed, and their email address is not known to the system) https://confluence.atlassian.com/servicedesk025/configuring-public-signup-754977408.html#Configuringpublicsignup-Openingyourservicedeskupforpublicsignup In the next sentence though, it indicates that non-customers in a closed Service Desk will have their comments added after all?  I must be missing on some of the terminology here (closed vs. public sign up disabled, not having an account vs. a non-customer).  If public signup is not enabled, and the user does not have an existing account, the email will not be processed, as currently occurs. But it is important to note, that even in a closed access Service Desk, non customers of that Service Desk will have their comments added to issues that they have replied to via Email, and can be easily promoted to being a customer of the Service Desk and Request Participant of the issue, by the single click hover on the comment in question.

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment - - edited

            The 3.5.0 JSD Server release will include a new feature that will allow users without existing access to see the requests, have their email replies added to the referenced ticket.

            They will not be given access to actually see the ticket, but from this comment, an agent may with a single click promote that user to being a Request Participant for the request.

            There will be a global setting to turn this feature off if undesirable, and in that case, the behaviour will fall back to now, and create a new issue if the user does not have permission to comment on the referenced request.

            Finally, for this feature to work, the user without access to the request, must already either have an account on the JIRA instance, or public signup must be enabled for that Service Desk. If public signup is not enabled, and the user does not have an existing account, the email will not be processed, as currently occurs. But it is important to note, that even in a closed access Service Desk, non customers of that Service Desk will have their comments added to issues that they have replied to via Email, and can be easily promoted to being a customer of the Service Desk and Request Participant of the issue, by the single click hover on the comment in question.

            I hope that this will be of great use, and benefit.

            Regards

            Matt

            JIRA Service Desk developer

            NB: It is important to note that the "Service Desk Customer - Portal Access" role must still have Add Comment permission on the project in order for this to work

            Matthew McMahon (Inactive) added a comment - - edited The 3.5.0 JSD Server release will include a new feature that will allow users without existing access to see the requests, have their email replies added to the referenced ticket. They will not be given access to actually see the ticket, but from this comment, an agent may with a single click promote that user to being a Request Participant for the request. There will be a global setting to turn this feature off if undesirable, and in that case, the behaviour will fall back to now, and create a new issue if the user does not have permission to comment on the referenced request. Finally, for this feature to work, the user without access to the request, must already either have an account on the JIRA instance, or public signup must be enabled for that Service Desk. If public signup is not enabled, and the user does not have an existing account, the email will not be processed, as currently occurs. But it is important to note, that even in a closed access Service Desk, non customers of that Service Desk will have their comments added to issues that they have replied to via Email, and can be easily promoted to being a customer of the Service Desk and Request Participant of the issue, by the single click hover on the comment in question. I hope that this will be of great use, and benefit. Regards Matt JIRA Service Desk developer NB: It is important to note that the "Service Desk Customer - Portal Access" role must still have Add Comment permission on the project in order for this to work

            Steven English added a comment -

            Agreed.  It is not a "new" feature, it is a bug fix/restoration of an original "feature" if I recall correctly.  I would think this is significantly less complicated than the email template customization, and even though it only impacts some customers, it is an equally or higher pain point for those that have to deal with it.  Please just get the ball rolling and let the "intention of ... being available in a future release" turn into releasing in this next/upcoming version.

            Regards,
            Steven

            Steven English added a comment - Agreed.  It is not a "new" feature, it is a bug fix/restoration of an original "feature" if I recall correctly.  I would think this is significantly less complicated than the email template customization, and even though it only impacts some customers, it is an equally or higher pain point for those that have to deal with it.  Please just get the ball rolling and let the "intention of ... being available in a future release" turn into releasing in this next/upcoming version. Regards, Steven

            Pedro Fonseca added a comment -

            Hi guys,

            Isn't there any news on this? This has long passed the reasonable time for a solution and enhancement by Atlassian.

            Has this been fixed and released or not?

            Looking forward for your feedback.

            Thanks,

            Pedro

            Pedro Fonseca added a comment - Hi guys, Isn't there any news on this? This has long passed the reasonable time for a solution and enhancement by Atlassian. Has this been fixed and released or not? Looking forward for your feedback. Thanks, Pedro

              mmcmahon Matthew McMahon (Inactive)
              majones Matt Jones (Inactive)
              Affected customers:
              55 This affects my team
              Watchers:
              67 Start watching this issue

                Created:
                Updated:
                Resolved: