# Channel Configuration — Incoming Documents

In the **Incoming Documents** section, you define **how** documents enter a channel. There are three ways:

- **Email** — documents arrive as an attachment (or as the email body itself) via the channel's inbox.
- **Self-service forms** — your customers enter orders directly in a web form. Order channels only.
- **File upload** — you upload files yourself in the Workbench, for example for testing.

Voice agents are set up in a separate area, see [Voice agents](#sprachagenten).

## Prerequisites

- Permission to configure channels (**Manager** and **Admin** roles), see [Users, roles & teams](/en/docs/administration/users-and-roles.md).
- For **Email**: your senders know the channel's address, or you set up forwarding to it in your mailbox.
- For **Self-service forms**: an order channel and permission to set up self-service forms (**Manager** and **Admin** roles). Customer master data helps but is not required.

## Step 1 — Email Configuration

In the navigation, under **Receiving Documents**, select the **Email** entry.

A new channel gets an inbox name automatically, and its inbox is **active immediately**. The channel therefore accepts emails from the moment it is created.

| Field | Default | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Enabled** | on | Main switch. While it is off, the channel does not process emails sent to its address. |
| **Inbox Name** | assigned automatically (e.g. `orders`, `orders-1`) | The individual part of the inbound address. The full address is `<your organization's short name>-<inbox name>@inbox.workist.com`, in lower case. Example: short name `muster`, inbox name `orders-5` gives `muster-orders-5@inbox.workist.com`. The inbox name must be unique within your organization. |
| **Recognize associated user also by sender name** | off | Workist automatically assigns every incoming email to a **Workbench user of your organization** when the sender address matches that user's email address or one of their email aliases. That user is recorded as the creator and the document is assigned to them. With this switch, Workist also looks for a user's full name in the sender name or for their email address in the subject, for example in forwarded emails. Workist only assigns when exactly one user matches. Customers from your master data are not recognized through this switch. |
| **Process emails without attachments as document** | on (invoice channels: off) | When enabled, Workist also processes emails that have no usable attachment (see [Which files does Workist process?](#welche-dateien-verarbeitet-workist)). The data is then read from the email body. |
| **Filter email thread messages by document type** | on | Order and price request channels only. When an email is part of a conversation (thread), Workist first considers only the messages whose content matches the document type. Useful for long threads. |
| **Only extract from the topmost matching thread message** | off | Order and price request channels only. A stricter variant of the filter: Workist considers only a single message (the topmost matching one), not the entire conversation. |

:::note When does the inbox address change?
The **Email Inbox Address** shown in the *General* section is assembled automatically from the *Inbox Name*. If you change the *Inbox Name*, the inbound address changes as well. In that case, inform your senders and update any forwarding rules.
:::

:::tip Copy the address
Copy the full address in the channel's document list via **Send file...** → **Copy channel email address**.
:::

If the channel receives the same email (same Message-ID) a second time while the document from the first delivery is still open, Workist does not create a second document.

Click **Save**.

## Which files does Workist process? {#welche-dateien-verarbeitet-workist}

Workist processes the following file types, as email attachments as well as when [uploading](#dateien-direkt-hochladen):

| File type | Extensions | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF | `.pdf` | Always considered, even when embedded in the email body. |
| Images | `.png`, `.jpg`, `.jpeg`, `.bmp`, `.tif`, `.tiff` | Only as a real attachment and at least 640 × 640 pixels. Smaller images and images embedded in the email body (e.g. logos in a signature) are ignored. |
| Spreadsheets | `.xls`, `.xlsx`, `.xlsm`, `.ods`, `.csv` |  |
| Text documents | `.doc`, `.docx`, `.rtf`, `.html`, `.htm` |  |
| Plain text | `.txt` | Converted to HTML, then processed. |
| XML | `.xml`, `.x83` |  |
| Emails | `.eml`, `.msg` | An attached email is handled like any other attachment. `.msg` (Outlook) is converted to `.eml` first. |
| Archives | `.zip`, `winmail.dat` | Unpacked; every file inside is checked against the same rules. |

For emails, these rules also apply:

- **One attachment, one document.** Every usable attachment becomes a separate document in the channel.
- **PDFs take precedence.** If an email has several usable attachments and at least one of them is a PDF, Workist processes only the PDFs.
- **Document filtering.** If [document filtering](/en/docs/channel-configuration/document-processing/document.md) is switched on (default for new order channels), Workist decides by content which of several attachments match the channel's document type. A single attachment is always processed.
- **No usable attachment.** If no attachment is left, Workist reads the data from the email body.
- **Ignored** are empty files, signatures (`.p7s`), business cards (`.vcf`), calendar invitations (`.ics`), executables and all other file types not listed above, as well as files embedded in the email body (except PDF).

## Step 2 — Self-Service Forms

Self-service forms exist in **order channels** only. In the navigation, under **Receiving Documents**, select the **Self-service forms** entry. Setting them up requires permission to set up self-service forms (**Manager** and **Admin** roles), see [Users, roles & teams](/en/docs/administration/users-and-roles.md).

With a self-service form, your customers enter orders on a web page instead of sending an email. Every submission creates an order in the channel.

:::note Form submissions go straight to assistance
Workist does not extract form submissions and never processes them automatically. Every submission arrives as an order in assistance and must be checked and completed by your team. A submission can contain up to 500 line items.
:::

The setup has two levels: **forms** (templates) and **customer links** (one personal link per customer).

### Create a form

A form defines what your customers see. Fill in the **New form** card at the bottom of the page and save it.

| Setting | Default | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Name** | — | Internal name to identify the form. |
| **Intro text (optional)** | empty | Text at the top of the form, e.g. notes on delivery times. |
| **Form fields** | all visible | The header and line item fields from the channel's field configuration (**Order fields**, **Line item fields**). Uncheck fields that should not appear in the form. |
| **Allow form requests** | on | Customers can request their own link via the form's public request page (see below). |
| **Auto-confirm requests** | off | Requests whose email address exactly matches a contact in your master data are confirmed automatically, and the link is sent right away. |

:::note
Which fields can appear in the form depends on the field configuration in [Document Processing → Header Fields / Line Item Fields](/en/docs/channel-configuration/document-processing.md). If a field is missing, enable it there first.
:::

### Create a customer link

A customer link is a personal link for exactly one customer. In the forms list, click **Add customer link** for the form and fill in:

- **Customer**: search for the customer in your master data. If no customer master data source is set up for the channel yet, enter the customer number (`client_id1`) manually.
- **Customer display name**: shown at the top of the form. It is filled in automatically when you pick a customer from master data.

After creating it, copy the link from the list (**Copy link**) and send it to the customer. Whoever opens the link orders for this customer and sees that customer's specific master data (e.g. prices).

### Let customers request links via the request page

Every form has a **public request page**; copy its address with **Copy request link** in the forms list. You can share this link openly, for example on your website. Customers enter their email address, optionally a phone number, and a note. Workist then searches your master data for a matching contact:

| Search result | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| Email address exactly matches a contact | The customer is prefilled. If **Auto-confirm requests** is on, Workist creates the customer link and sends it to the requester right away. Otherwise the request waits for your review. |
| Only the email domain matches a customer | The customer is prefilled; the request **always** waits for your review. |
| No match | The request waits for your review; you pick the customer when confirming. |

Pending requests appear at the top of the page under **Open form requests**. When you **Confirm** a request, Workist creates the customer link and emails it to the requester. When you **Reject** it, no link is sent. Users with the **Manager** role receive an email for every new request that waits for review. If the same email address requests again, no second request is created; if the link was already confirmed, it is sent again.

### Delete a form or link

When you delete a customer link, it stops working immediately. When you delete a form, its request page and all its customer links stop working immediately. Neither can be undone.

## Voice agents {#sprachagenten}

Voice agents (add-on) take orders and price requests by phone. They are no longer part of the Channel Configuration but have their own area in the Workbench. A voice agent creates its documents in the order or price request channel you select in its configuration. Setup and prerequisites: [Voice agents](/en/docs/agents/voice-agents.md).

## Uploading files directly {#dateien-direkt-hochladen}

You can also upload files to a channel yourself, for example to test the configuration:

1. Open the channel's document list.
2. In the top right, click **Send file...** → **Upload from computer**.
3. Select one or more files or drop them into the window, and click **Upload**.

The same file types as above apply. Workist processes an uploaded `.eml` or `.msg` file like an email received in the inbox, including its attachments. Workist records you as the creator and assigns the document to you.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Can I use email and a voice agent in parallel?**
Yes. A voice agent is independent of the email inbox. If you select the same channel in the voice agent's configuration, orders captured by phone arrive as separate documents next to the email documents in that channel. See [Voice agents](/en/docs/agents/voice-agents.md).

**What happens if I disable the email configuration?**
Emails that have already arrived are retained and remain in processing. New emails to the address are no longer processed. Coordinate the change with your senders and your Workist contact.

**Are form submissions processed automatically?**
No. Every form submission arrives as an order in assistance and must be completed by your team, even if the channel's automation is switched on.

**Who sees the link to the self-service form?**
A **customer link** contains a random secret key, not customer data. It is, however, locked to one customer and shows that customer's specific master data (e.g. prices). Only pass it on to that customer, and delete it if it has fallen into the wrong hands. The link to a form's **request page** can be shared openly; it shows no customer data.

## Help and Support

If an input does not work as expected, have the following information ready when contacting Workist:

- the **channel name** and which **input** (email / form / upload) is affected,
- for email issues: the **inbox name** and the sender address from which a test mail was sent,
- for form issues: the **form name**, the **customer** the link is assigned to, and, if applicable, the link the customer-side person opened.