Understanding Enquiry Statuses
Overview
In a typical email platform like Outlook, there are only a few actions you can perform on an email – Reply, Reply All, Forward, or Delete. Our product works a little differently. Instead of simply replying to or forwarding emails, users work through enquiries, and the system tracks the progress of that work using statuses.
A status shows what stage the enquiry is currently in and gives the user an idea of what action is likely to happen next. This helps teams manage email enquiries more effectively and ensures that nothing gets overlooked.
In our product, enquiry statuses fall into two main categories:
- Unresolved enquiries – work is still in progress
- Completed enquiries – the enquiry has been finished
Each status helps users understand where an enquiry sits in the process and what actions may still be required.
Unresolved Enquiry Statuses
Unresolved statuses mean that the enquiry is still active and requires further action.
In most cases, when an enquiry is placed in one of these statuses, the user is required to diarise the enquiry to a future point, ensuring they are reminded to follow up if necessary.
Received
This status is automatically applied when a new enquiry arrives in the system.
It simply means the enquiry has been received but has not yet been worked by a user.
Users cannot manually select this status, it is managed by the system. A timeout for enquiries in this state is also preconfigured to ensure new enquiries are picked up within the expected timeframes.
Pending – Corresponding
This status is used when additional information is required from the enquirer before the enquiry can be completed.
For example, a customer may send a request but forget to include important information such as an agreement number or account details. In this case, the user would reply asking the customer to provide the missing information and place the enquiry in Pending – Corresponding.
The enquiry is then diarised to a future date to give the customer time to respond.
Pending – Request Internal Feedback
Sometimes resolving an enquiry requires input from another team or department.
In these situations, the user may need to send an email internally to request information or assistance. While waiting for that response, the enquiry can be placed in Pending – Request Internal Feedback.
The enquiry should then be diarised to a date that aligns with the timeline promised to the enquirer.
Pending – General
There are times when an enquiry requires an action that does not involve sending an email.
For example, the request might be processed in another system, such as a workflow tool, or it may require waiting for a time-based process to complete.
In these situations, the enquiry can be placed in Pending – General and diarised to the appropriate follow-up date.
Pending – Escalated
This status is used when the enquiry needs to be escalated.
Escalation usually happens when attempts to resolve the issue have not been successful or when the matter needs to be reviewed by a manager or another area of the business.
Once escalated, the enquiry is diarised so that the user can follow up within the agreed timeframe.
Has New Message
This status is automatically applied by the system.
It occurs when an enquiry has previously been completed but a new inbound email is received relating to that enquiry.
When this happens, the enquiry is “reopened” and marked as Has New Message, bringing it back into the active queue.
You can think of this status as similar to Received, except that the enquiry already contains previous email history.
User Processing
This status indicates that a user is currently working on the enquiry.
When a user activates the wizard and begins processing the enquiry, the system temporarily locks it and applies the User Processing status. This prevents multiple users from working on the same enquiry at the same time.
Once the user finishes their action, the enquiry moves to the next appropriate status.
Completed Enquiry Statuses
Completed statuses indicate that the enquiry has been resolved and no further action is required.
Completed – Responded
This is the most common completion status.
It means the enquiry has been resolved and a response has been sent to the enquirer via email.
Completed – No Response
This status is used when the enquiry has been completed without sending a response email.
This is often used in situations such as:
- A customer sends a “thank you” message
- A spam email is received
- A message is received that does not require any action
Completed – Forwarded
Sometimes an enquiry is received by a mailbox but actually belongs to another team or department.
In this case, the user can forward the email to the correct area and mark the enquiry as Completed – Forwarded.
This indicates that the request has been passed to the appropriate team and no further action is required within the current mailbox.
Completed – Reassigned
Occasionally an email arrives that should actually form part of another existing enquiry.
Users can link the email to the correct enquiry thread. When this happens, the current enquiry is marked as Completed – Reassigned, as the work will now be handled within the correct enquiry.
Why Enquiry Statuses Matter
Statuses are an important part of how our product manages email enquiries.
They help your team:
- Understand what stage each enquiry is in
- Keep track of work that is still in progress
- Ensure follow-ups happen when promised
- Prevent enquiries from being forgotten
- Maintain a clear history of how each enquiry was handled