Identify the contact
MCS says who the sender is. Their email address is looked up on your customers, suppliers and their contacts in MCS, every time.
Where it goes: always first. A workflow cannot be published without it.
How it works
The sender's email address is looked up in MCS against customer, supplier and prospect accounts and their contacts. Only active accounts count. An email domain on its own never identifies anyone: only an address MCS has on the account does. So nobody at a supplier's domain can send an invoice in the supplier's name unless MCS has their address.
The first time MCS recognises a sender whose email passed authentication, a contact is made for that MCS account.
The depot comes from the mailbox, or otherwise from the account's depot in MCS.
Settings
| Setting | Choices | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Who can send to this workflow | Known suppliers only: the address must be on a supplier in MCS, or on one of its contacts. Known customers only: the same, for customers. Anyone: customers, suppliers and prospects MCS knows, and new senders it does not | Anyone |
| Look the sender up in MCS by | Their email address. You can also tick Also check details in the documents: a VAT or company number on the document must belong to the same sender. It never identifies a sender by itself | Their email address |
| When MCS does not know the sender | Only for "Anyone". Carry on as a new sender, or hand to a person | Hand to a person |
| When the depot is not known | Carry on. Hand to a person. Stop | Carry on |
With known suppliers only or known customers only, a sender MCS does not have as one goes to a person. They can add the address to the account in MCS, and the next email from it matches.
What can happen
| What happened | What happens next |
|---|---|
| MCS found one account of a kind the workflow takes, and the email passed authentication | Carries on with that contact |
| The email did not pass authentication | Goes to a person: "the sender could not be verified" |
| MCS does not have the sender as a kind the workflow takes | Goes to a person: "MCS does not have this sender as one this workflow accepts" |
| The address is on two MCS accounts, or the documents name a different company | Goes to a person: "more than one record matches" |
| The contact is blocked | Stops |
| MCS cannot be reached | Waits, then carries on |
What you see on the work item
What MCS said, for example the supplier's name and account code, and the contact.
Use it for
- Supplier invoices: known suppliers only, with "Also check details in the documents", so the VAT number on the invoice must match the supplier.
- Requests from customers: known customers only.
- Enquiries from anyone: Anyone, so new senders are handled too.
:::tip Testing with one mailbox In MCS's own internal companies, the step can use a "From: address" line in the email body as the sender. This lets you try a workflow as many senders from one mailbox. It does nothing in customer companies. :::