Sharpen Q (Email)

Overview

Q Email is a feature within the Sharpen platform that enables agents to communicate with customers directly via email from within the Sharpen Q application. When used alongside other Sharpen Q channels, Q Email provides a seamless multi-channel experience, allowing agents to manage voice, email, and other interactions all from a single interface without switching between tools.

Sharpen Q Email is not a mail provider or mail service. Sharpen receives forwarded emails on your behalf and sends outbound emails on your behalf; it does not host or manage your organization's email accounts.

Before You Begin

Q Email requires some setup before agents can send or receive emails through the queue. There are three components necessary: the “Inbound Email Address” (for receiving customer emails), the “Outbound Email Address” (for sending replies), and the “Outbound Queue Email Name” (the display name in the Sharpen Q UI). These are configured at the queue level.

Configuration

Step 1: Open or Create a Queue

Navigate to Admin → Configuration → Sharpen Q and select an existing queue, or click New Queue to create a new one.

If you are creating a brand new queue, the Inbound Queue Email Address field will be incomplete and highlighted in yellow until the queue has been saved for the first time. You must save the queue before an inbound email address is generated. Once saved, the field will display a fully generated address that looks something like *********@sharpenmail.iz1.sharpen.cx, this is the address you will configure your mail service to forward inbound customer emails to.

Inbound Queue Email Address

This is the Sharpen-generated address that your organization's mail service will forward customer emails to, highlighted in yellow. Once forwarding is configured, any email sent to your organization's customer-facing address will be routed to Sharpen and delivered to agents logged into the queue.

If the field shows only @sharpenmail.iz1.sharpen.cx with nothing before it, the queue has not been saved yet and forwarding cannot be set up until it has been.

Outbound Queue Email Address

This is the email address that will be visible to the customer when they receive a reply from your team, highlighted in red. It represents your organization to the recipient, so it should be a legitimate, professional email address associated with your organization.

Outbound email sending will not function until this address has been registered and validated by Sharpen Care Engineers. Before configuring this field, submit a request through the Sharpen Portal with the email address your organization plans to use. Your organization's Mail Admin will need to generate this address, and Sharpen Care will need to register and validate it on your behalf before replies can be sent.

Outbound Queue Email Name

This is the display name associated with the outbound email configuration, highlighted in green.

It will appear in the dropdown when an agent selects which email address to send from, particularly useful when agents are logged into multiple queues that each have their own email configuration.

Receiving and Sending Emails in Sharpen Q

Once configuration is complete, agents must be logged into the configured queue in Sharpen Q to receive inbound emails or send outbound emails.

Receiving an inbound email

When a customer email is forwarded to the queue, it will appear as an interaction waiting to be received by an agent, similar to how inbound calls are presented in the queue.

Sending an outbound email

To initiate an outbound email, click the email icon in the Q Phone settings panel. A dropdown will appear allowing you to select which email address the recipient will see, if you are logged into multiple queues with email configured, each will appear as an option here.

Composing an Email

Whether you are replying to an inbound customer email or composing an outbound message, click Reply to open the email composition interface.

The following fields and options are available:

To
- The email address of the person you are sending the email to. This is the primary recipient — the customer or contact who should receive your message.
CC (Carbon Copy)
- Additional recipients who should receive a copy of the email for their awareness. CC recipients are visible to everyone on the email thread, including the primary recipient. Use this field when others need to be kept in the loop but are not the main recipient of your message.
Subject
- A brief line that summarizes the purpose or topic of the email. The subject is the first thing a recipient sees before opening the email, so it should be clear and relevant to the content of your message.
Body
- The main content of your email. This is where you write your full message or response to the customer. Take care to be clear, professional, and complete before sending.
Attach Files
- Use this option to include any files or documents that should be sent along with the email, such as forms, reference documents, or supporting materials.
Close Interaction
- When checked, this option will automatically close the interaction in Sharpen Q as soon as the email is sent, removing it from your active queue without requiring a separate step.
Send
- Selecting Send will deliver the email to all recipients listed in the To and CC fields