If your customers already write to a support address, you don't have to change anything for them. Connect that mailbox to Frosvo and each new email arrives as a conversation in the shared inbox, next to your chats. Your replies go back to the customer by email.
Before you start
You need three things: the support email address, its password, and the name of your mail provider (Hostinger, Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365, Zoho, or another). Gmail and Outlook accounts with two-step sign-in need an app password instead of the normal one; your provider's help pages show how to create it.
Connect the mailbox
- Go to Channels and click Email. The setup opens in a window.
- Give the connection a name and choose the website it belongs to.
- Under Your mailbox, enter the support email address, click your provider (the server details fill in for you), and enter the mailbox password. Choose Other to type the servers yourself, or open Advanced settings to change ports, the folder, or to use a different login for sending and receiving.
- Click Save connection.
- Follow Steps to turn it on. One button shows the next step: Check sending, then Check receiving, then Turn on email. Each finished step gets a tick.
Check receiving signs in to the mailbox and marks where importing starts: mail already in the folder is left alone. New mail is checked about every five minutes.
How emails become conversations
- The sender becomes a contact, and a reply threads into the same conversation.
- Pictures and files are kept within the upload limits (5 files, 10 MB each).
- HTML emails are turned into readable text, and the quoted history under replies is dropped.
- Very large emails (over 25 MB) appear as a note instead of being downloaded.
- Emails sent from the support address itself are ignored.
Send replies from the same address
To have your replies leave from your own mail server too, set up email sending from your own address.
Which settings do I use for my mail provider?
Click your provider in the form and the servers fill in for you. This is what it fills in:
| Provider | Sending (SMTP) | Receiving (IMAP) | Good to know | |---|---|---|---| | Hostinger | smtp.hostinger.com, port 465 | imap.hostinger.com, port 993, SSL | Username is the full address; the password is the mailbox's own, not your hosting login. | | Gmail | smtp.gmail.com, port 465 | imap.gmail.com, port 993, SSL | Needs an app password (two-step sign-in must be on). | | Outlook / Microsoft 365 | smtp.office365.com, port 587 | outlook.office365.com, port 993, SSL | Many organisations switch password sign-in for mail off: ask your administrator. | | Zoho Mail | smtp.zoho.com, port 465 | imap.zoho.com, port 993, SSL | Accounts in Zoho's EU data centre use zoho.eu instead of zoho.com. |
The username for both is the full email address. If your provider is not listed, choose Other and type the servers from your provider's help pages.
How do I change something I saved?
Open Channels: the page lists your connections. Click Edit on the Email row and the form opens with everything you saved. Passwords show as "Saved securely": leave them empty to keep them, or type a new one. Change what is wrong and click Save and check.
Disable stops the connection and removes its saved passwords. A disabled connection shows Disabled, and a Delete button replaces Disable. Conversations already in your inbox stay either way.
What does the message on screen mean?
Sending (the Check sending part of Save and check):
| Message | What to do | |---|---| | "The mailbox refused the username or password…" | The login is wrong. Type the full email address and the mailbox's own password (an app password for Gmail or Outlook). If it still fails, log in to the provider's webmail with the same details to prove they work. | | "The server at … did not accept this security setting…" | The port and the security do not match. Use port 465 (SSL) or port 587 (STARTTLS), as your provider says. | | "Could not reach … on port …" | The server name or port is wrong, or the provider blocks the connection. Compare them with your provider's help page. | | "SMTP hostname did not resolve." | The server name has a typo. Open Advanced settings and check it. | | "Add SMTP host, port, username and password first." | Something is empty. Pick your provider again, or fill the fields in Advanced settings. |
Receiving (the Check receiving part):
| Message | What to do | |---|---| | "Incoming mail: the mailbox refused the username or password…" | Same as above, for the receiving login. If you use a different login for receiving, check it in Advanced settings. | | "Incoming mail: the secure connection failed…" | Use ssl for port 993 or starttls for port 143, under Security in Advanced settings. | | "Incoming mail: couldn't reach the IMAP server…" | Check the receiving server name and port in Advanced settings. | | "Incoming mail: the folder … doesn't exist in this mailbox." | Clear the folder box (it then reads INBOX) or type the folder's exact name. | | "Incoming mail: this mailbox is being checked. Try again shortly." | Frosvo is reading the mailbox right now. Wait a few seconds and click Save and check again. | | "Connection changed. Reload first." | Someone else, or another window, changed this connection. Close the window, reload the page and open it again. |
Why does a step stay unticked?
The steps tick in order: Saved, Sending works, Receiving works, Email is on. A step stays empty until its check passes, and a failed check also shows a message at the top of the window. After a failure, fix what the message says and click Save and check again: it repeats every check. If you change the servers or the password later, the checks run again from the start.
Nothing arrives although every step is ticked. What now?
- Send a test email to the support address from a different address and wait five minutes: new mail is checked about every five minutes.
- Mail that was already in the mailbox before you pressed Save and check is never imported. Only new mail is.
- Emails sent from the support address itself are ignored.
- Check the connection still says Active on the Channels page. An Error status shows the reason under the connection.
- A keeps failing message means Frosvo is retrying with longer pauses, up to an hour. The owner is emailed, and the problem is on the Problems page.
Related: all channels, the inbox and troubleshooting.