Follow the steps in this guide to quickly and securely get Drift Email back up and running.

In this article we’ll cover reconfiguring Drift Email, including:

• Reconnecting Inboxes (GSuite or Office 365)
• Verifying Subdomain (Reply Domain) Setup
• Verifying Integrations and Automations
• Reconnecting Okta SCIM (SSO)
• Navigating Common Security Blockers
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Support Ticket Creation Checklist

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Reconnecting Inboxes (GSuite or Office 365)

Drift Email relies on connected inboxes to process replies. Re-authentication is required to get replies flowing back into the platform.

To reconnect your inboxes:

1. Navigate to Settings > Inbox Connections within your Drift Email account.
2. Select either Sign in with Google or Sign in with O365.
3. You will be redirected to the respective provider's login page. Enter the email address and password for the inbox you wish to connect and grant the necessary permissions.

Best Practices for Inbox Connection

• Use Dedicated Inboxes: Do not connect a personal inbox. This prevents private or irrelevant conversations from flowing into the product.
• Use Full User Accounts: The inbox must be a standard "user" account with its own password. Drift Email cannot connect to aliases, shared mailboxes, or distribution lists.
• Use Private Browsing: It is best practice to perform this process in an Incognito (Chrome) or other private browsing window to prevent your browser from automatically trying to connect your personal inbox.

After Connecting

• Data Backfill: Upon a new, successful connection, Drift Email will automatically backfill the last 30 days of replies from that inbox.
• Status Indicators:
  • A green checkmark with a "Good" status indicates a successful and healthy connection.
  • A red icon with a "Failing" status indicates an issue that requires action.

Figure 1: The Connected Apps page showing a successful connection to Eloqua. Your Connected Apps page may show different integrations.

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Verifying Subdomain (Reply Domain) Setup

A correctly configured subdomain ensures that replies to your marketing campaigns are properly directed to Drift Email's servers for processing.

Required DNS Configuration

In the DNS settings for your reply subdomain (e.g., hello.yourcompany.com), you must verify that the following MX records are present and have the highest priority (i.e., the lowest preference number).

• [subdomain] MX 10 smtp.driftmail.net

• [subdomain] MX 20 smtp2.driftmail.net

• It is crucial that the MX record pointing at Drift Email has the highest priority (lowest preference number, e.g., 10 and 20) compared to any other MX records in the DNS setup for that subdomain.

Verifying Domain Status in Drift

To verify your Domain Status in Drift, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Reply Domains in Drift Email.
2. Ensure your subdomain is listed and shows a verified status. If it is missing, select "Click here to add a reply domain" and enter your subdomain.
3. For Email Bot Customers: You must also verify the domain status is "Verified" within the main Drift platform under Settings > Conversations > Email Sending Domains.

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Verifying Integrations and Automations

Once your inboxes and domains are reconnected, verify that your Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) integration is active and that your automation skills are functioning as expected.

Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) Integrations

1. Navigate to Settings > Integrations.
2. If the integration is disconnected, log in to your MAP and re-authorize the connection.
3. Click the Test button next to the integration. A successful test will result in a green, connected status.
   • Marketo: Requires five fields, including the Endpoint URL, Client ID, and Client Secret.
   • Pardot: Requires the Salesforce integration user's credentials, Consumer Key & Secret, Business Unit ID (starts with "0Uv"), and Security Token. Note: Updating your password in Pardot will expire the security token, requiring an update in Drift Email.
   • HubSpot: Redirects to HubSpot's authorization page for authentication.

Skills (Automation Engine) Verification

Skills define how email replies are routed and what actions are taken.

• Important: Skills run approximately every 10 minutes. There may be a short delay before you see automation actions take effect after reconnection.
  If a Skill is Not Working, Check the Following:
  1. Check Filters: Review the skill's settings to ensure filters (e.g., Reply Type, keywords) are correct.
  2. Check Classification: Find an example reply that should have triggered the skill. If its classification is "Unknown" instead of the expected type (e.g., "Left Company"), the skill will not fire.
  3. Check Integration: Confirm your MAP integration shows a successful, connected status in Settings > Integrations.
• If Emails Are Not Appearing: Confirm that the marketing emails being sent from your MAP have the correct "reply-to" address that matches your connected inbox or subdomain in Drift Email.

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Reconnecting Okta SCIM (SSO)

Drift Email supports Single Sign-On (SSO) through Okta SCIM. Please note that SAML is not supported for this integration.

Follow these steps to Reconnect Drift Email to Okta SCIM:

1. Retrieve API Token: In Drift Email, navigate to Settings > Integrations to find and copy your API token.
2. Configure Provisioning in Okta:
   • Enable API Integration and paste the API Token from Drift Email.
   • Under Provisioning Features, select Creating, Updating, Deactivating, and Sync Passwords.
   • Under Sync Password, check "Sync a randomly generated password".
3. Set Sign On Format: In the Sign On tab in Okta, set the username format to "Email".
4. Assign Users: Assign users to the app. Ensure the "User Name" and "Primary Email" fields have the same value, as Drift Email requires email addresses for login.

SSO Troubleshooting

 

Issue	Cause	Resolution
User Cannot Log In (after assignment).	The user may need a password reset in Okta.	Under Assignments in Okta, click the edit button for the assigned user, then click the “Reset Password” Link. The user should then be able to log in using the Okta Browser Extension.
Okta Says User Already Exists.	The user was added directly through the Drift Email interface before Okta was enabled.	You must delete users from the Drift Email app under Settings > Users before configuring Okta. If users remain and are blocked, contact the Customer Success Manager to re-enable them.

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Navigating Common Security Blockers

Common security mechanisms, features, or external services can interfere with Drift Email tools, especially concerning email delivery and authentication. Understanding these points of friction can help you work with your IT team to resolve issues quickly.

1. Spam Filters Blocking Routed Replies

When a Drift Email skill routes a human reply to a designated external inbox, the message is sent from a specific notification subdomain. This process can be blocked by aggressive spam filters.

• Problem: The domain used for forwarding these messages is notifications.drifttmail.com. Spam filters may block emails coming from this domain.
• Solution: Your IT team must whitelist this domain and the associated IP addresses provided by Drift to ensure routed messages are delivered successfully.

2. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Credential Failures

Drift Email relies on a continuous, valid authentication token for connected inboxes. Security measures related to user accounts can cause these connections to fail.

• Problem: An inbox connection will be marked as "Failing" (in red) when Drift Email's credentials become invalid. This is most often caused by a user password change or an MFA policy update on your email server (GSuite or Office365).
  
• Solution: The only way to resolve this is to generate a new authentication token. This requires you to delete the failing connection in Drift Email and then reconnect the inbox from scratch.

3. IT and Security Team Coordination

Properly setting up Drift Email often requires network and domain configuration changes that must be implemented by your company's IT or security teams.

• Problem: Configuring a custom subdomain for reply processing requires creating MX records in your DNS that point to Drift Email's servers. Your IT team may have questions or require further explanation before making changes that route company email to a third-party service.
  
• Solution: Be prepared to involve your IT team early in the process. Providing them with Drift's official documentation can help explain the technical requirements and streamline the setup, preventing unnecessary delays.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Why is my inbox connection marked in red as "Failing"? 

A This typically occurs when Drift Email no longer has valid credentials for the inbox, often due to a recent password change or a multi-factor authentication (MFA) update. To resolve this, you must delete the failing inbox from Drift Email and then follow the steps to reconnect it.

Q: I just reconnected my inbox. Why don't I see new replies yet?

A: Please allow 5–10 minutes for new replies to begin flowing into the platform. When an inbox is reconnected, Drift also automatically begins backfilling the last 30 days of reply data, which may take some time to complete.

Q: My automation skill isn't working. What should I check first? 

A: First, confirm your MAP integration is successfully connected (Settings > Integrations). Second, check the skill's filters and review the classification of a sample reply to ensure it's being categorized correctly. Remember that skills run every 10 minutes, so there may be a slight delay.

Q: Can I use the same email address for both general reply management and as a Bot Account?

 A: No, an email address can only be connected in one place at a time. To move an inbox from Inbox Connections to Bot Accounts, you must first delete it from the former and then add it to the latter.

Q: When setting up Okta, it says a user already exists. How do I fix this?

 A: This happens when a user was added directly through the Drift Email interface before Okta was configured. You must delete these users from the Drift Email app (Settings > Users) before attempting to assign them via Okta. If a user remains and is blocked, please contact your Customer Success Manager for assistance.

Q: What is the difference between an inbox and a subdomain?

A: A connected inbox (e.g., replies@yourcompany.com) is a specific mailbox that Drift Email reads replies from. A subdomain (e.g., hello.yourcompany.com) is a domain-level configuration that uses MX records to route all mail sent to any address at that subdomain (e.g., anything@hello.yourcompany.com) directly to Drift Email's servers.

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Support Ticket Creation Checklist

Use this checklist to create a support ticket with all the right information. The more details you provide upfront, the faster our team can help you find a solution.

Mention Troubleshooting Steps: Briefly list what you've already tried (e.g., "I deleted and reconnected the inbox," "I confirmed the MX records with IT.").

What to Include: The Details (By Issue Type). Check the section that matches your problem and be sure to include these details.

For Inbox or Bot Connection Issues (Red "Failing" Status):

• Affected Email Address: Provide the full email address that is failing.
• Screenshot: Attach a screenshot of the Settings > Inbox Connections page showing the error.
• CC the Customer’s IT Team: Important: Add the customer’s IT team to the ticket if possible. Connection issues often require their help.

For Subdomain or Reply Domain Issues:

• The Subdomain: State the full subdomain you are trying to use (e.g., hello.yourcompany.com).
  
• Screenshot of DNS Records: Attach a screenshot from your DNS provider (like GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.) showing the current MX records for that subdomain. This is critical for diagnosis.
  
• CC the IT/DNS Team: Add the person or team who manages the company's DNS to the ticket.

For Automation Skill or Routing Issues:

• Skill Name: Provide the name of the skill that isn't working.
• Example Reply: Give a specific example of an email that was not processed correctly. Include:
  
  • The sender's email address.
  • The approximate date and time it was sent.
• Screenshot of Classification: Attach a screenshot showing how Drift Email classified that reply.

For Okta / SSO Login Issues:

• Affected User's Email: Provide the email address of the person who cannot log in.
• Error Message: Describe or attach a screenshot of the exact error they are seeing.
• CC Your Okta Administrator: Important: Add your IT or Okta administrator to the ticket.