How can I block the email channel?

Question

How do I set up email replies to auto-close with messaging directing our end users to our Help Center?

Answer

There is no way to stop requests from being sent by email. However, you can use a workaround to close email tickets and direct your customers to the Help Center.

The workflow described in this article blocks emails from coming into your account. Your agents will still be able to use their email and the agent interface to communicate with their tickets.

This workflow is divided into three sections:

• Create a trigger
• Deactivate your default triggers and ticket CCs
• Use the blocklist feature

Create a trigger

Create a trigger that closes out the ticket, tags it, and sends back an automated response to direct the user to your Help Center.

To create the trigger

1. Create a new trigger.
2. Under Meet ALL of the following conditions, add the below conditions:
   • Ticket | Is | Created
   • Channel | Is | Email
     
3. In Actions, add:
   • Email user | (requester)
     Email subject | Thank you for your request
     Email body

     Thanks for contacting us.
     Please make sure to contact us through our Help Center:

   • Add tags | email_ticket

   • Status | Closed
     
4. Click, Create.

Now when a customer sends an email, Support responds with an automated email asking the user to create a ticket in your Help Center. The trigger closes the ticket automatically and applies a tag. This tag enables you to keep track of email tickets in your reports.

Deactivate default triggers and ticket CCs

Deactivate the default triggers that send out emails to your customers and ticket CCs to prevent users from responding via email. For instructions on how to deactivate a trigger, see the article: Managing triggers.

Deactivate CCs on tickets, for more information, see the article: Configuring CC and follower permissions.

Use the blocklist feature

Instead of creating triggers, use reject:* in your email blocklist to reject any email that comes into your account unless it's on the allowlist. For more information, see the article: Using the allowlist and blocklist to control access to Zendesk Support.