Logging emails by bcc in Timeline

Related products: CS Timeline

For the Email logging, it looks like the only option right now to copy and paste in an email that's already been sent (ie. from Gmail).  It would be nice if there a way to actually cc or bcc Gainsight to create that email log, like we can to Salesforce.  It would also be nice if these were created automatically from email assist CTAs or other outreaches sent from GS.
I 100% agree with you Leanne!  The Email activity is not where it needs to be.  Auto-logging from Email Assist is on the near term roadmap.  We have also considered the bcc option -- glad to hear that this would work for you.  We'll dig further into that.  A full Gmail and Outlook integration is another possibility, though obviously a more substantial undertaking.  Would that be attractive to you? 
Thanks Karl!





Glad to hear you're considering the bcc option.  Depending on the particulars, a full Gmail integration would also be something I'd be interested in.  Mainly I'd want to make sure that the cc was NOT the default option when sending an email, but that Gainsight could be bcc'ed very easily if desired.  We've looked at a couple automated options like Yesware in the past for bcc-ing Salesforce, but most make it too easy to accidentally copy an email you don't want to.  Right now most of our CSMs are using a Chrome extension that adds a button into Gmail that says "Send & BCC Salesforce" in addition to the regular "Send" button, like this:



Very helpful input.  Thank you!
Does Timeline have a "reverse" functionality? Meaning, if we can sync the email from Outlook to SFDC (or Gmail to SFDC via the chrome extension) and can log the email in Activity History in SFDC, are we able to do a backwards sync and create a timeline post in GS?
Great question.  Not yet but this is (yet another) thing we want to do!  More generally, we want to enable creating Timeline Activities via Rules Engine.  This would let you populate Timeline based on any data in Salesforce (including SFDC activities but also things like "Urgent Priority Case") and also let you populate based on data in MDA. To pick one example of the later: you may want to upload info from a Webinar and generate a Timeline entry for each attendee and include the questions asked in the Webinar chat.
Outlook integration would be awesome, considering i think a lot of businesses out there utilize Microsoft Outlook.
Gmail integration would also be an attractive option; our business uses both Gmail and Outlook, but Gmail is dominant here.
We used to bcc to send emails into sfdc. Now we use cirrus plugin alongside gmail to do this as it does it automatically- no need to bcc.
Gmail and Outlook integration would be great addition to have. We are using Tout today, and it will be great if we can have 1 less tool on the CSM desk.
Our CSMs really like using Timeline to log customer calls and post meeting notes so that they are transparent to our sales team in SFDC Activities. They have requested the ability to send an email from timeline and have the email post to SFDC activities. Better yet, an email with an attachment.
Karl- First off, great meeting you at Pulse!





I think there are many ways this could go based on the above conversations. I would rank them as follows:


#1: Integrations either directly with the email provider or with other services such as Cirrus (which we use) that integrate between Gmail (and possibly other providers) and SFDC to automatically tie email addresses to contacts/accounts and store inbound and outbound emails to the activity history. Another great thing here is Cirrus's integration with SFDC email templates. Would be awesome to incorporate the use of Gainsight templates here too.


#2: Sending emails directly from Timeline like Email Assist from the CTA's, but this is limited because no inbound emails would be accounted for and same goes for replying to an inbound email. The CSM's would have to switch from email provider to Timeline to have their response logged to Timeline and it would not include the thread they are replying to unless they are copying and pasting it into timeline which is what this whole community post is trying to avoid. 


#3: The bcc option (least preferable because it doesn't encourage the CSM to live in Gainsight as much as possible, in my opinion, and has the same limitations as above)





That's my two cents 🙂
Really good input, Brittany.  [And ***awesome*** seeing you in person at Pulse, too!]  As a followup on your #1: there are two potential integration paths with an email provider.  Either we could get access on a per-user basis or we could ask for access via an admin interface.  The advantage of the later is that we could potentially access emails that were exchanged with a customer but not by someone who is using the integration themselves.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each -- do you have a point of view on it?  





As long as we are thinking big, here is a somewhat different question: in principle, if we do a per-user email integration, it would be possible to actually show a user their inbound emails within Gainsight -- basically embed an email client.  Cool idea or not so much?
Hi Karl,





Re: the first question- currently, Cirrus stores all emails as it is admin level access. It all goes directly to activity history so there can be a lot of noise there, but it also gives the whole picture of all interactions. 





Re: Embedded email client- I am all in favor of streamlining as much as possible so that the CSM's can live as close to solely in Gainsight as possible. So I see major benefit here, but at the same time they will still need to be sending internal emails, etc so they will still need to be living in their email provider as well.





Not sure. If anyof that was helpful.





Another thought but only partially related: are nps/survey responses on the roadmap to be added to to timeline? A post that would say X User took X Survey with a link to their response and if it was an nps question maybe X User took X Survey and responded #.
Thanks for the input.  I agree that Survey responses would make sense in Timeline.  I don't have an ETA but will look at it.  
+1 to this feature request. This came up in our training today. Would help reduce work.
+1 to this feature request as well. At the bare minimum a bcc functionality where each C360 account had a unique email address would be much appreciated. 
+1 This feature would save a lot of time. The ability to add attachments would be helpful as well.
Attachments are live with the September release! 🙂
Thanks Scott. That is great news!
We would love to have this functionality as well! Being able BCC Gainsight Timeline would make this feature a "can't live without" for our team.
Hello Karl, could you provide an update here? We'd also benefit from being able to get our Gmail emails logged into Timeline.
+1. We are in our first few weeks of our CSMs using Gainsight and they have all asked if this feature exists. Looking forward to any updates.
+1 agree that this would make it a "can't live without" for our team too.
I too agree.  Similar to how Cirrus works in conjunction with Gmail and SFDC, it would be great if there were a plug-on that allows the syncing of important and pertinent email directly into Timeline of a customer with a click of a button. :)  Thanks.
Logging emails with an integration or a bcc would be great. It would save so much time.