Email to Case: Specify From Addresses and Setting up Case Feed

The Question:

So this is a simple one, but the question seems to come up all the time, especially with people who are less familiar with Service Cloud. Can I specify the "From" address on case emails so it doesn't default to the Agent, but rather to a address that makes sense like, "Support@mycompany.com"?

The Answer:

Yes!

How?

Good question. The easiest way, is to use the coolest Service Cloud Feature. It's called, Case Feed. Haven't heard of it? Shame on you! It's fantastic, and will make your Techs lives better. Check it out today! 

I digress, the great thing about Case Feed is that it allows you to specify in the individual page layout the ONLY email addresses allowed as shown below, here's how I did it:

1-) ENABLE CASE FEED! This  might be the hardest step for many of you. But don't be intimidated, all of your existing case page layouts, record types...etc will stay intact even if you enable case feed. Also, you can have it on a user by user basis, so some users see case feed, and other users see the standard case page layout!

To Enable case feed go to Setup->Customize->Cases->Support Settings here you will check the checkbox that says, "Case Feed Enabled"

Ok, now it's enabled. What next?

2-) Next you'll have to  setup your page layout and record type. If you navigate to the case page layouts you'll see a new section. It looks like this:

The key here is to notice the middle section. Page Layout for Case Feed Users. It's telling that it says, "FOR CASE FEED USERS" this is Salesforce's way of telling you that only certain users will see these page layouts.  Also you should notice the little drop down arrow.

If your anything like me and come across something like this in Salesforce you have to click it, which you should do anyway.

You'll now be presented with three options:

• Edit Feed View
• Edit Detail View
• Delete

Delete is straightforward and we'll skip that. Edit Detail View is going to be the "Detail" part of your new case feed. Or in other words where you add and remove fields.

The Feed View is where you get to introduce cool new stuff! Primarily where you can specify the "FROM ADDRESS(ES)". This is shown below:

Now that it's set your outcome should look like this:

Look how pretty! It defaults to my support address now. I didn't have to do anything else.

Notice that when I click on the drop down there is no other option available. Not even my own address. No longer do I have to worry about clients responding to an email from a tech and it going into the Technicians personal email box! It will always come back to salesforce.

The last thing that you want to do in setting up case feed is start to enable it for end users. To do that there is two things.

1. Ensure that the new "Case Feed Page Layout" is assigned to a record type. (Just like you would any other page layout)
2. (And this is VERY important), From the PROFILE update the "Use Case Feed" permission to TRUE.

That's it. You've both now enabled Case Feed, and narrowed the available Emails for a single page layout. Your support center can now send and receive emails flawlessly with Clicks and Not Code!