What are IMAP and SMTP, and why does a CRM need them?
When you connect a mailbox to any app, sooner or later a form asks for an IMAP server, an SMTP server and a port. Here is what those fields mean and why they matter for a CRM.
IMAP: reading mail that stays on the server
IMAP, the Internet Message Access Protocol, lets an email program work with messages stored on your provider's server. The mail stays there, and every device or app that connects sees the same folders, read status and flags. Read a message on your phone and it is marked as read in the office too. The older POP3 protocol typically downloads mail to one device instead.
SMTP: sending mail
SMTP, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is how outgoing mail leaves your program and travels between mail servers to the recipient. Your app hands the message to your provider's SMTP server, which delivers it under your address. SMTP only sends; it does not read your inbox.
The settings you will be asked for
- IMAP server and port, commonly 993 with SSL/TLS encryption.
- SMTP server and port, commonly 587 with STARTTLS or 465 with SSL/TLS.
- Username, usually the full email address, and a password.
Why a CRM needs both
Most client work still happens in email: requests, quotes, confirmations, complaints. If mail lives only in personal inboxes, a colleague who takes over a client cannot see what was promised. Over IMAP a CRM reads the conversation and shows it with the contact. Over SMTP it sends replies from your real address, so the client gets a normal email from you. Both protocols are standard, so you keep your provider and address.
A small example
A sales manager connects the shared sales address and her own mailbox. A client's request arrives in the shared inbox and shows up in the CRM next to that client's contact. She answers from the CRM, and the reply goes out through the provider's SMTP server under her own address. The next colleague who opens the contact sees the whole exchange.
How OrgLines handles it
OrgLines connects to any IMAP/SMTP mailbox, and you can connect several. The messages stay on your mail server and are synced into OrgLines, and correspondence with a contact shows up on the contact card. The first sync of a new mailbox usually takes up to a minute, and if new mail stops arriving, OrgLines tells you which mailbox is affected and when it last synced.