This post shows how to set Email Piping for various mail servers –

EXIM MAIL SERVER

Open file — /etc/valiases/yourdomain.com

Assuming that we are setting up support@yourdomain.com,
sales@yourdomain.com, billing@yourdomain.com we will create the corresponding entries in the file as follows:

support@yourdomain.com: "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"
sales@yourdomain.com: "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"
billing@yourdomain.com: "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"

Save the alias file and run this command on shell - newaliases This will add the alias file.

cPanel use exim mail server and you can set alias from cPanel too — cPanel >> Mail section Forwarders set –

support@yourdomain.com: "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"
sales@yourdomain.com: "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"
billing@yourdomain.com: "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"

POSTFIX MAIL SERVER

Open alias file: generally its — /etc/postfix/aliases

You can check what alias file you have on your server — find line virtual_alias_maps in file /etc/postfix/main.cf

virtual_alias_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/aliases

So based on what is virtual_alias_maps set in main.cf you can edit respective file — in our case we will consider – /etc/postfix/aliases

Edit /etc/postfix/aliases and add below lines

support@yourdomain.com "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"
sales@yourdomain.com "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"
billing@yourdomain.com "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"

Save the alias file and run this command on shell - newaliases This will add the alias file.

If you made any changes in main.cf then run command –
service postfix reload

Second method is using .forward file for piping.

1) Open alias file: generally its — /etc/postfix/aliases

You can check what alias file you have on your server — find line virtual_alias_maps in file /etc/postfix/main.cf

virtual_alias_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/aliases

So based on what is virtual_alias_maps set in main.cf you can edit respective file — in our case we will consider — /etc/postfix/aliases

Edit /etc/postfix/aliases and add below line (This line is for catch-all)

@yourdomain.com accountusername

2) and in /home/accountusername create .forward file with this line

/home/accountusername/public_html/support/manage/pipe.php

That’s it!

QMAIL MAIL SERVER

Open alias file:

/usr/local/qmail/mailnames/yourdomain.com/support/.qmail

The above alias file is for the email support@yourdomain.com. In certain installations the alias file can also be created as:

Alias File:

/usr/local/qmail/mailnames/company.com/.qmail-support

You should open the above alias files and point them to full path to manage/pipe.php, prefixed with the “|” (Pipe) symbol.

support@yourdomain.com: "|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"

SENDMAIL SERVER

Step 1: Add an alias in /etc/alias for support email. Be sure to rebuild the alias file after by typing newaliases at the command line.

support: "|/usr/bin/php -q /full_path_to/manage/pipe.php"

Step 2: chmod the script so it is executable:

chmod 755 /full_path_to/manage/pipe.php

Step 3: Create a symbolic link in /etc/smrsh so sendmail will know about script. If you don’t do this then sendmail will give error message Service unavailable, and smrsh: “php” not available for sendmail programs (stat failed).

cd /etc/smrsh
ln -s /usr/bin/php ./php
ln -s /full_path_to/manage/pipe.php ./pipe.php

Note that if you are installing a script on a virtual site you need to make the above changes in the virtual site files. So instead of adding links in /etc/smrsh you would add them in /home/virtual/siteXX/fst/etc/smrsh and instead of adding the alias in /etc/aliases, you would add them in /home/virtual/siteXX/fst/etc/aliases. Then to rebuild the aliases DB, you need to do this:

/usr/sbin/chroot /home/virtual/siteXX/fst newaliases

Vision Helpdesk creates a logical separation across staff & clients of various domains/companies.

Vision helpdesk is true satellite helpdesk which allows you to add n number of companies and manage them all at single place with ease..

How does Satellite helpdesk feature  works ?

To illustrate this we will take an example of managing two companies which can be extended to any number..

We have added two companies in our demo. Both domains are hosted on physically different servers. (You can host on same server too )

Company One :  http://visiononlinedemo.com/

Company Two : http://iamdemo.com/

Vision setup needs to be installed on just one domain — In our case we have installed on Company One :  http://www.visiononlinedemo.com/support/manage/

Vision Database will be on server one — this database needs to have remote access enabled (If second domain is on different server other wise if both domains are on same server then no need to add remote connection to database)

While Company two needs just client portal files. (No installation setup required for company two)

Staff & Admin URL :: http://www.visiononlinedemo.com/support/manage/

Admin Login — admin / admin

Staff Login — chris / chris [Staff for Company One]

Staff Login — peter / peter [Staff for Company Two]

Staff Login– andrew / andrew [Staff for Company One & Company Two]

Control - Staff Access Rights

Not only you can add multiple companies and manage them but you can also organize staff as per respective company that means you can assign staff particular rights and controls over more then one department and further domain.

Client Portals for Company One and Two :

Client URL for Company One :: http://visiononlinedemo.com/support/

Here Company One clients can register / submit / view tickets.

Client URL for Company Two :: http://iamdemo.com/visiondemo/

Here Company Two clients can register / submit / view tickets.

Lets say we have created departments and mail queues as [ You can create Mailqueues / Departments from Vision Helpdesk Admin Section]

Company One Mail queues / Departments

support@visiononlinedemo.com

sales@visiononlinedemo.com

billing@visiononlinedemo.com

Company Two Mail queues / Departments

support@iamdemo.com

sales@iamdemo.com

On server one you need to create pipe (you can also use pop/ imap, choice is your’s ) for support, sales and billing.

support@visiononlinedemo.com: “|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php”
sales@visiononlinedemo.com:”|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php”
billing@visiononlinedemo.com: “|/full_path_to/manage/pipe.php”

On server two forward support and sales@iamdemo.com to support@visiononlinedemo.com

You can check live demo of above example —

http://www.thevisionworld.com/vision-helpdesk/online-demo

Further Questions :

Can I setup different signatures for different companies?

Yes, you can setup different signatures for different companies and also you can have different signatures fo various departments.

How many companies we can add ?

Any number

Though we support multiple companies but we don’t want Company one clients know about Company two and vice a versa..

Absolutely, this was the basic question in our mind while designing vision, we have taken care of this. Even though vision manages multiple companies at one point but it keeps privacy amoung company clients too.

Vision helpdesk setup needs to be installed on all companies ?

NO, just on one company domain you need to install vision setup and on rest domains you need to just upload client portal files.

Vision Helpdesk SMS Alert Plugin allows staff to receive ticket alerts on their mobile phones. They can receive updates on helpdesk activity even if they have not logged in to helpdesk.

Vision Helpdesk Alert system allows you and your staff to select events (New Ticket, Ticket Reply, etc..) for which they want to receive SMS Alerts.  Further it allows you to filter event for specific Department / Ticket Status  ( Open /Awaiting/ Close etc.)

Currently we support Clickatell.com and 2SMS.com SMS gateways.

User can signup at Clickatell or 2SMS and update those login details in your Vision helpdesk.

Clickatell — If you want to choose Clickatell SMS Gateway follow below steps –

• Signup with Clickatell.com
• Edit configurations.php file located at plugins/sms in your Vision Installation.
• For clickatell you need to fill below details in configuration file

$user=”";
$password=”";
$api_id=”";
$baseurl=”http://api.clickatell.com”;

2SMS.com — If you want to choose 2SMS Gateway follow below steps –

• Signup with 2sms.com
• Edit configurations.php file located at plugins/sms in your Vision Installation.
• For 2sms you need to fill below details in configuration file

$user=”";
$password=”";

You can choose any one gateway at a time.

After setting configuration file — You can ask your staff to login to vision helpdesk >> Right Panel >> Alerts >> Add new Alert — enable SMS plugin.

Each staff can configure SMS alerts as per their own requirements.

Worried about the difficulties of switching to new helpdesk system? Vision Helpdesk provides an innovative data migration tool. The migration tool automates the entire migration process and easily imports data from major helpdesk’s like:

• Kayako Support Suite
• Kayako eSupport
  
• Cerberus
• WHMCS
• Support Trio (under development)

Migration of users, tickets/emails, ticket queue’s, ticket status and much more are seamlessly done that save time and efforts.

The migration tool is robust, user-friendly, and extensible migration process ensuring reliability and data integrity.

For more details please check –

http://www.thevisionworld.com/switching-to-vision-helpdesk-in-two-simple-steps.html

Email Piping is basically email forwarding where emails are just pushed to parser from actual email account. Piping is supported by many Mail Transport Agent’s includes but not limited to Exim, Qmail, Postfix, Sendmail. MTA’s pipes emails to parser and this process is instantaneous.

Piping is easy and efficient method to deliver your emails to parser.

Please follow below url to set up email piping  –

http://www.thevisionworld.com/help/index.php?title=Email_Piping

Greetings!!

Want to customize Vision Helpdesk Client Portal? Here are the files that can be edited –

You can edit header.php & footer.php to include your website header and footer.

You can also edit style.css file.

If you want to add new links to menu then can add it from tabinfo.php

Check out some customized client portal screenshots  –

http://www.thevisionworld.com/vision-helpdesk-client-portal-showcase.html

If you need more help contact us at support@thevisionworld.com we will be happy to assist you.

Please follow steps listed at –

http://thevisionworld.com/help/index.php?title=Downloading_Vision

Vision Helpdesk supports Google Apps (Gmail POP3, SMTP, IMAP with SSL)

Please read this post to know how to set up Google Apps / Google Hosted emails with Vision Helpdesk

http://www.thevisionworld.com/vision-helpdesk-supports-google-apps.html

Please follow steps in below listed URL –

http://www.thevisionworld.com/help/index.php?title=Downloading_Vision

Follow this url to setup cron job for cPanel / Plesk / Windows 2003 panels —

http://thevisionworld.com/help/index.php?title=POP3/IMAP/POP3_SSL/IMAP_SSL_Email_Fetching.