Quick Start
What is respond.io?
Setting Up an Account
Connecting Channels
Inviting Your Teammates
Getting Contacts to Message You
Automated Welcome and Away Messages
Responding to Messages
Glossary of Terms
Channels
WhatsApp Overview
WhatsApp Cloud API Quick Start
360dialog WhatsApp Quick Start
Twilio WhatsApp Quick Start
MessageBird WhatsApp Quick Start
Vonage WhatsApp Quick Start
WhatsApp Message Templates
Phone Number Migration to WhatsApp Cloud API
Facebook Messenger
Website Chat Widget
Website Chat Widget Overview
Install Website Chat Widget on WordPress
Install Website Chat Widget on Shopify
Install Website Chat Widget on Wix
Install Website Chat Widget on Joomla
Install Website Chat Widget on Squarespace
SMS
Channels Overview
Telegram
Viber
LINE
Google Business Messages
Custom Channel
Product
Dashboard & Reporting
Dashboard
Reports Overview
Reports: Conversations
Reports: Users
Reports: Contacts
Reports: Messages
Reports: Logs
Messages
Contacts
Contacts Overview
Contact Details
Merge Suggestions
Contact Activity
Contact Channels
Contact Import
Segments
Broadcasts Module
Workflows
Dynamic Variables
Workspace Settings
Managing a Workspace
Workspace Settings: General
Workspace Settings: Users
Workspace Settings: Teams
Workspace Settings: Channels
Workspace Settings: Contact Fields
Workspace Settings: Integrations
Workspace Settings: Closing Notes
Workspace Settings: Snippets
Workspace Settings: Files
Workspace Settings: Data Export
Workspace Settings: Data Import
Workspace Settings: Growth Widgets
Organization Settings
Organization Overview
Organization Settings: General
Organization Settings: Users
Organization Settings: Workspaces
Organization Settings: Billing & Usage
User Account
Support Use Cases
Inbound Support: Identify Contacts by Email and Phone Number
Inbound Support: Enrich Customer Data from a CRM or other Business Software
Inbound Support: Route Customers to the Right Team Automatically
Inbound Support: Auto-Assign Customers to a Team or Dedicated Agent
Send Outbound Support Messages
Support: Closing Conversations
Use respond.io to Create Tickets in External Ticketing Systems
Supervising Your Support Agents
Reporting for Support
Send CSAT to Customer and Save Data in Google Sheets or CRMs
Sales Use Cases
Inbound Sales: Collect Leads' Email and Phone Number
Inbound Sales: Enrich Contact Data and Qualify Leads
Inbound Sales: Routing Leads
Inbound Sales: Auto-Assign Leads to Sales Agents
Sending Outbound Sales Messages
Track Productivity by Closing Conversations
Using respond.io to Create Deals in a CRM
Supervising Sales Agents
Reporting for Sales
Broadcasts Use Cases
Sending a Simple Broadcast
Start a Workflow Based on Broadcast Response
Troubleshooting a Failed Broadcast
Integrations
Dialogflow
Dialogflow Overview
Dialogflow: Connecting to Dialogflow
Dialogflow: Creating a Chatbot
Dialogflow: Managing Intents
Dialogflow: Parameters
Dialogflow: Events
Dialogflow: Response Templates
Dialogflow: Custom Payloads
Dialogflow: Fulfillment Webhook Request
E-Commerce & CRM Integrations
E-Commerce Integration: Shopify
E-Commerce Integration: BigCommerce
E-Commerce Integration: WooCommerce
E-Commerce Integration: Magento
CRM Integration: HubSpot
CRM Integration: Salesforce
CRM Integration: Pipedrive
CRM Integration: ActiveCampaign
Zapier
Developer API
Webhooks
Partnership
We love to hear from you!
Table of Contents
Email Overview
Updated
by Joshua Lim

Introduction
When using the respond.io platform for email messaging, it's important to understand what email is and how it works. Email is short for electronic mail and is a way for users to exchange information over telecommunications. This can include text, files, images, or other attachments that are sent through a network to a specified individual or group of individuals.
Connecting Email
Gmail Inbox
If the inbox to be connected to is a valid Google Workspace account, it can be connected to the platform with some extra configuration. Please refer to this page on how to connect to Gmail.
Other Email Providers
Not using Gmail? Don't worry, the inbox can be connected via IMAP/SMTP. There is an option for non-Gmail users whether other email providers can be connected by providing some credentials and configuring a forwarding rule.
Email Limitations
Email Channels have a distinctive communication style that differs from messaging Channels. In particular, content style in email is typically expected to be more formal, long, and slow compared to instant messaging Channels, which tend to be short, casual, and quick. Therefore, when using the email Channels on the respond.io messaging platform, there are certain limitations that users should be aware of.
- Email broadcasting is not supported on respond.io as the broadcast module is designed for sending broadcasts over messaging Channels. Email broadcast has a different infrastructure as well as requirements and rules to avoid domain being flagged. Thus, consider using messaging Channels for broadcasts.
- Dialogflow's chatbot is not supported for email Channels on respond.io due to Dialogflow's intent text input limit. For more advanced and user-friendly automated replies to conversations, consider using Workflows.
- When using the Ask a Question step in Workflows, you may experience some limitations such as a new email thread created with a blank subject and multiple questions being sent individually instead of in a single thread. This is because email and the Ask a Question step feature are not compatible technically. We do not recommend using the Ask a Question step with the email channel. However, if you are interested in having this feature available, you can upvote the feature request here.
Feeling stuck? Do not fear.
Help is here!Gmail (Google Workspace)
Related Articles
Other Email
Connect respond.io to an email inbox and start receiving emails on the platform.
Dialogflow Overview
Get an overview of how to use Dialogflow with respond.io.
Organization Overview
Learn how to create and view an Organization, as well as access the Organization settings.