Replies & Acknowledgments

Replies are what make mailiam different - no more “no-reply@” addresses. Every email can start a real conversation.

Overview

mailiam’s reply system provides:

• Reply-enabled emails - Customers can reply directly to form notifications
• Automatic acknowledgments - Instant confirmation emails to form submitters
• Conversation threading - Keep related emails together
• Custom reply-to addresses - Professional email routing
• Template-based responses - Branded acknowledgment emails

Basic Reply Setup

Enable Replies for Forms

mailiam.config.yaml

domains:
  mycompany.com:
    forwarding:
      # Set up replies@ address for conversations
      "replies@mycompany.com": "support@company.com"
      "*@mycompany.com": "general@company.com"

    forms:
      contact:
        template: "professional"
        replies: true                    # Enable replies
        replyTo: "support@mycompany.com" # Where replies go
        acknowledgment: true             # Send confirmation to user

How It Works

1. User submits form → Form data sent to you
2. System sends acknowledgment → Professional email to user from your domain
3. User can reply → Reply goes directly to your specified address
4. You reply back → Continues the conversation naturally

Acknowledgment Templates

Default Acknowledgment

When acknowledgment: true is set, users automatically receive:

Subject: Thank you for contacting MyCompany

Hi [Name],

Thank you for reaching out to us. We received your message and will
get back to you within 24 hours.

Your message:
"[Original message text]"

Best regards,
The MyCompany Team

---
This email was sent from MyCompany.com
You can reply directly to this email.

Custom Acknowledgment Templates

domains:
  mycompany.com:
    templates:
      acknowledgments:
        contact:
          subject: "We received your message, {{ form.name }}!"
          html: |
            <div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; max-width: 600px;">
              <div style="background: #007cba; color: white; padding: 20px;">
                <h1>{{ company.name }}</h1>
              </div>

              <div style="padding: 30px;">
                <h2>Thanks for reaching out!</h2>
                <p>Hi {{ form.name }},</p>

                <p>We received your message and our team will review it shortly.
                Here's what happens next:</p>

                <div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 20px; border-left: 3px solid #007cba;">
                  <h3>Your Message:</h3>
                  <p>{{ form.message }}</p>

                  {% if form.phone %}
                  <p><strong>Phone:</strong> {{ form.phone }}</p>
                  {% endif %}
                </div>

                <div style="background: #e8f4f8; padding: 15px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 20px 0;">
                  <p><strong>⏱ Response Time:</strong> Within 4 business hours</p>
                  <p><strong>📞 Urgent?</strong> Call us at {{ company.phone }}</p>
                  <p><strong>💬 Questions?</strong> Just reply to this email</p>
                </div>

                <p>Best regards,<br>
                The {{ company.name }} Team</p>
              </div>

              <div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 15px; text-align: center; color: #666;">
                <p>{{ company.name }} | {{ company.address }}</p>
                <p>You can reply directly to this email to continue the conversation.</p>
              </div>
            </div>
          text: |
            Hi {{ form.name }},

            Thanks for reaching out to {{ company.name }}!

            We received your message: "{{ form.message }}"

            Our team will get back to you within 4 business hours.

            For urgent matters, call us at {{ company.phone }}
            You can reply directly to this email with any questions.

            Best regards,
            The {{ company.name }} Team
    forms:
      contact:
        acknowledgment:
          template: "contact"  # Use custom template above
          delay: "0"           # Send immediately

Reply Routing Configuration

Simple Reply Setup

domains:
  mycompany.com:
    forwarding:
      "replies@mycompany.com": "support@company.com"
    forms:
      contact:
        replies: true
        replyTo: "replies@mycompany.com"

Department-Based Routing

domains:
  mycompany.com:
    forwarding:
      "support-replies@mycompany.com": "support-team@company.com"
      "sales-replies@mycompany.com": "sales-team@company.com"
      "billing-replies@mycompany.com": "billing-team@company.com"

    forms:
      support:
        replies: true
        replyTo: "support-replies@mycompany.com"
        acknowledgment:
          template: "support"

      sales:
        replies: true
        replyTo: "sales-replies@mycompany.com"
        acknowledgment:
          template: "sales"

      billing:
        replies: true
        replyTo: "billing-replies@mycompany.com"
        acknowledgment:
          template: "billing"

Smart Routing Based on Form Data

domains:
  mycompany.com:
    forms:
      contact:
        replies: true
        conditionalRouting:
          - condition: "form.subject contains 'support'"
            replyTo: "support@mycompany.com"
            acknowledgment: "support"
          - condition: "form.subject contains 'sales'"
            replyTo: "sales@mycompany.com"
            acknowledgment: "sales"
          - condition: "form.company != ''"
            replyTo: "enterprise@mycompany.com"
            acknowledgment: "enterprise"
          - default:
            replyTo: "general@mycompany.com"
            acknowledgment: "general"

Conversation Threading

Enable Threading

domains:
  mycompany.com:
    forms:
      contact:
        replies: true
        threading:
          enabled: true
          idPrefix: "MC"              # Thread IDs like MC-abc123
          maxAge: "30d"               # Keep threads for 30 days
          subjectTemplate: "Re: {{ original.subject }}"

Thread Management

mailiam automatically:

1. Generates unique thread IDs for each conversation
2. Adds proper email headers for threading
3. Maintains conversation history in your email client
4. Routes follow-up emails to the same handler

Initial Form → MC-abc123 → "Contact Form Submission"
First Reply → MC-abc123 → "Re: Contact Form Submission"
Your Response → MC-abc123 → "Re: Contact Form Submission"
Their Reply → MC-abc123 → "Re: Contact Form Submission"

Advanced Reply Features

Auto-Response Rules

domains:
  mycompany.com:
    forms:
      support:
        replies: true
        autoResponders:
          # Out of office style responses
          - trigger: "received"
            condition: "business_hours == false"
            response:
              template: "after-hours"
              delay: "0"

          # Escalation after time
          - trigger: "no_response"
            condition: "elapsed_time > 4h"
            response:
              template: "escalation"
              notify: "manager@company.com"

          # Keywords trigger responses
          - trigger: "content_match"
            condition: "message contains ['urgent', 'emergency', 'asap']"
            response:
              template: "priority"
              priority: "high"

Reply Analytics

forms:
  contact:
    replies: true
    analytics:
      trackReplies: true
      trackResponseTime: true
      trackResolution: true
      reportingEmail: "analytics@company.com"

View reply metrics:

# Reply statistics
mailiam analytics replies contact --last 30d

# Response time metrics
mailiam metrics response-time contact

# Conversation completion rates
mailiam analytics conversations --completion-rate

Template Variables for Replies

Available in Acknowledgment Templates

# Form submission data
form:
  name: "John Doe"
  email: "john@example.com"
  message: "Original message text"
  phone: "555-123-4567"
  # ... any custom fields

# Company information
company:
  name: "MyCompany Inc."
  email: "contact@mycompany.com"
  phone: "555-987-6543"
  address: "123 Business St"
  website: "https://mycompany.com"

# Thread information
thread:
  id: "MC-abc123"
  created: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
  url: "https://app.mailiam.dev/threads/MC-abc123"

# System information
submission:
  id: "sub_123456789"
  timestamp: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
  ip: "192.168.1.1"
  userAgent: "Mozilla/5.0..."

# Custom variables
responseTime: "4 hours"
priority: "normal"
department: "support"

Professional Reply Patterns

Support Form Acknowledgment

<!-- Professional support acknowledgment -->
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; max-width: 600px;">
  <div style="background: #2c3e50; color: white; padding: 25px; text-align: center;">
    <h1>{{ company.name }} Support</h1>
    <p>Ticket #{{ thread.id }}</p>
  </div>

  <div style="padding: 30px; background: white;">
    <h2>Hi {{ form.name }},</h2>

    <p>Your support request has been received and assigned ticket number <strong>{{ thread.id }}</strong>.</p>

    <div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 20px; border: 1px solid #dee2e6; border-radius: 5px;">
      <h3>Your Request:</h3>
      <p><strong>Subject:</strong> {{ form.subject | default:"General Support" }}</p>
      <p><strong>Priority:</strong> {{ priority | title }}</p>
      <p><strong>Message:</strong></p>
      <p>{{ form.message }}</p>
    </div>

    <div style="background: #d4edda; padding: 15px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 20px 0;">
      <h3>What happens next:</h3>
      <ol>
        <li>Our support team will review your request within 2 hours</li>
        <li>We'll investigate and work on a solution</li>
        <li>You'll receive updates as we make progress</li>
        <li>We'll notify you when your issue is resolved</li>
      </ol>
    </div>

    <p>You can reply directly to this email to add more information or ask questions about your request.</p>

    <div style="text-align: center; margin: 30px 0;">
      <a href="{{ company.website }}/support/ticket/{{ thread.id }}"
         style="background: #007cba; color: white; padding: 12px 24px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 5px;">
        View Ticket Online
      </a>
    </div>

    <p>Best regards,<br>
    {{ company.name }} Support Team</p>
  </div>
</div>

Sales Inquiry Acknowledgment

<!-- Sales-focused acknowledgment -->
<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; max-width: 600px;">
  <div style="background: linear-gradient(135deg, #667eea 0%, #764ba2 100%); color: white; padding: 30px; text-align: center;">
    <h1>Thanks for your interest!</h1>
    <p>{{ company.name }} Sales Team</p>
  </div>

  <div style="padding: 30px;">
    <h2>Hi {{ form.name }},</h2>

    <p>Thank you for reaching out to {{ company.name }}. We're excited to learn more about your needs!</p>

    {% if form.company %}
    <p>We see you're with <strong>{{ form.company }}</strong> - we love working with companies in your space.</p>
    {% endif %}

    <div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 20px; border-left: 4px solid #667eea;">
      <h3>Your inquiry:</h3>
      <p>{{ form.message }}</p>
    </div>

    <div style="background: #e8f5e8; padding: 20px; border-radius: 5px; margin: 20px 0;">
      <h3>Next steps:</h3>
      <p>📞 One of our sales specialists will call you within 24 hours</p>
      <p>📧 We'll send you relevant case studies and pricing information</p>
      <p>📅 We'll schedule a demo that fits your calendar</p>
    </div>

    <p><strong>Questions before we connect?</strong> Just reply to this email!</p>

    <div style="text-align: center; margin: 30px 0;">
      <a href="{{ company.website }}/calendar"
         style="background: #667eea; color: white; padding: 15px 30px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 5px; font-weight: bold;">
        Schedule a Demo Now
      </a>
    </div>

    <p>Looking forward to speaking with you!</p>

    <p>Best regards,<br>
    {{ sales.rep.name | default:"The Sales Team" }}<br>
    {{ company.name }}</p>
  </div>
</div>

CLI Commands for Replies

Reply Configuration

# Enable replies for a form
mailiam forms update contact --replies true --reply-to support@mycompany.com

# Set up acknowledgment template
mailiam forms update contact --acknowledgment true --acknowledgment-template professional

# Test reply configuration
mailiam forms test-reply contact john@test.com

Template Management

# Create acknowledgment template
mailiam templates create acknowledgment-contact --type acknowledgment

# Test acknowledgment template
mailiam templates test acknowledgment-contact --data test-form.json

# Deploy templates
mailiam templates deploy --type acknowledgment

Monitor Replies

# View reply analytics
mailiam analytics replies --last 30d

# Check response times
mailiam metrics reply-time --average

# View conversation threads
mailiam conversations list --active

Best Practices

1. Professional Acknowledgments

• Always acknowledge form submissions
• Set clear expectations for response times
• Provide alternative contact methods
• Include relevant company information
• Make it easy to reply with clear instructions

2. Smart Reply Routing

• Route by department based on form type
• Use dedicated reply addresses for different teams
• Set up proper forwarding for all reply addresses
• Monitor reply address deliverability

3. Template Design

• Keep it branded but not overwhelming
• Include the original message for context
• Provide clear next steps
• Make it mobile-friendly
• Test across email clients

4. Conversation Management

• Enable threading for ongoing conversations
• Set reasonable thread expiry times
• Monitor response times and set SLAs
• Have escalation procedures for urgent matters

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Replies not being received:

# Check reply forwarding
mailiam domains test mycompany.com replies@mycompany.com

# Verify MX records
mailiam domains dns-config mycompany.com --type mx

# Test reply routing
mailiam forms test-reply contact --verbose

Acknowledgments not sending:

# Check acknowledgment configuration
mailiam forms show contact --include-acknowledgment

# Test acknowledgment template
mailiam templates test acknowledgment-contact

# View acknowledgment logs
mailiam logs acknowledgments --last 1h

Threading not working:

# Verify threading configuration
mailiam forms show contact --include-threading

# Check thread headers
mailiam conversations show MC-abc123 --headers

# Test email client threading
mailiam conversations test-threading contact

Reply-enabled emails transform impersonal form submissions into the beginning of real customer relationships. That’s the power of professional email infrastructure.