Automatically Creating Contacts in Salesforce from Received Emails

One of the powerful features in Salesforce is the ability to automatically create contacts from incoming emails. This can streamline your workflow, reduce manual entry, and ensure that your data remains up-to-date. Here, we will walk you through the process of setting up this feature using Email Services and custom Apex classes.

The Key Components

Automating contact creation in Salesforce involves several key components:

Email Services: These allow you to receive and process emails directly within Salesforce. Inbound Email: A specific type of email service that routes incoming emails to a custom Apex class for processing. Apex Classes: These classes handle the logic for creating contacts based on the information in an incoming email.

Setting Up Email Services

To get started, you need to set up an Email Service in Salesforce:

Go to the Email Services under the Expert settings in the left-hand menu. Click on Create New Inbound Email Service. Name your service and configure the settings as needed. Make sure to select the option for processing incoming emails. Click Save.

Once the Email Service is created, you will be given a custom email address. You can start sending emails to this address to process them automatically.

Writing the Apex Class

The core of the automation lies in the Apex class. Here’s a basic example of how you can write an Apex class to create a contact from an incoming email:

![CDATA[
[Apex Code]
public class EmailToContact { 
    @InvocableVariable 
    public String incomingEmail;    
    @InvocableMethod
    global static Contact createContact(ListEmailInbound emailList) { 
        ListContact contactList  new ListContact(); 
        for( EmailInbound email : emailList ) { 
            Contact contact  new Contact(); 
              ; 
              ; 
              ; 
            ( contact ); 
        } 
        insert contactList; 
        return ().next(); 
    } 
}
]]/code

In this example, the incoming email variables will be mapped to the contact fields. You can modify the logic based on the specific format and fields of the emails you are receiving.

Processing Incoming Emails

After setting up your Email Service and writing your Apex class:

Forward the email you want to process to the custom email address provided by the Email Service. The email will be automatically directed to your Apex class for processing. The Apex class will create a contact in Salesforce based on the content of the email.

The record will appear in Salesforce within a few seconds of sending the email. This ensures that your database remains current and accurate.

Conclusion

Utilizing Salesforce's Email Services and custom Apex classes allows you to automate the process of creating contacts from incoming emails. This not only saves time but also ensures that your Salesforce data is always up-to-date. By following the steps outlined above, you can leverage this powerful feature to streamline your workflow and improve efficiency.