How to Prevent Duplicate Email Notifications in Ticket Replies

Email notifications play a crucial role in ticketing systems by keeping all parties informed about ticket updates. However, replying to tickets via email especially when CC’ing others can lead to duplicate notifications. This article explains how email notifications work in ticketing systems, highlights potential issues with duplicate alerts, and offers best practices to avoid them.

Understanding Email Notification Events

• Ticket Replied by Agent Event: When an agent replies, this also triggers a notification to the requester and any CC’d contacts listed under the Contacts tab in the ticket.
• Ticket Replied Event: When an agent replies to a ticket (either from the portal or via email), the reply is logged in the system, triggering a Ticket Replied event that sends email notifications to agents and watchers.

Key Considerations

1. Global Impact of Disabling Events:

   • Disabling an email notification event affects all tickets that trigger that event.
   • Use this option cautiously to ensure critical notifications are not missed.

2. Duplicate Notifications Issue:

   • Duplicate notifications can occur when agents reply to tickets via their email client (e.g., Outlook) and include the support email address in the CC field.
     • The first notification is sent by the email server (e.g., Outlook).
     • The second is triggered by the ticketing system (e.g., BoldDesk) when it logs the reply and sends a system-generated notification.

Recommendations to Prevent Duplicate Notifications

1. Reply Only to the Support Email Address:

   • When replying to a ticket via email, agents should send the reply only to the support email address and remove any CC’d recipients. This prevents the system from generating a second, duplicate notification.

2. Use the Agent Portal for Ticket Updates:

   • Whenever possible, agents should use the agent portal to reply to tickets. This ensures updates are accurately logged, and the system sends notifications appropriately without duplication.

By following these guidelines, you can effectively manage email notifications and prevent unnecessary duplicates, leading to a more seamless and professional support experience.

Related Articles

1. How do You Stop Sending Emails to the Entire Group?
2. How to Manage and Personalize Email Notifications