Using Exchange Integrations

User permissions required: ‘Sources Admin', 'Modify Integrations', 'Update Data to Buckets' , AND 'Datasets Admin'.

Understanding the relationship between key platform components

It's important to understand the relationship between key platform components such as integrations, mailboxes, buckets, sources, and datasets to set up your data effectively.

First, an Exchange 'Integration' is set up (via a Service Account), with data being synced from the Microsoft Exchange Server. This integration allows you to sync multiple 'mailboxes'.

These mailboxes are each stored in a 'bucket', and each bucket can contain multiple mailboxes.

Next, you will need to set up a 'source'. This is a collection of raw unlabelled communications data of a similar type. When setting up a source, if you are using data from an email integration you must specify which bucket you want to sync from (i.e. - the bucket where the mailboxes in scope for your use case are stored).

Once you have finished setting up your source, you will need to add your source to a 'dataset', which is where your Model will be trained.

Each dataset belongs to a 'project', which is a permissioned storage area within the platform. Each dataset and source belongs to a specific project, which is designated when they are created.

The following diagram illustrates how all these components are related:

Setting up your Integrations

At a high level, you will need to complete the following steps (in this specific order) to be able to have the data from your mailboxes show up in the platform:

1. Create a new Integration

   An integration refers to the connection and sync of data from the Microsoft Exchange Service. You can set up a single integration for an Exchange Service Account, which can contain multiple mailboxes within it.

   The 'Integrations' page on the Admin Console is where you can set up a live connection with Microsoft Exchange. More information on how to set up your integrations can be found here.

   Integrations page
   

   

   
   
2. Add your mailbox(es)

   After the integration has been set up with Microsoft Exchange, you can now add the mailboxes in scope for your use case.

   Click the 'Add mailbox' button at the bottom of the page to add a new mailbox.

   You will be prompted to fill out details about the mailbox (which will be described in Step 3).

   The 'Add mailbox' button on the Integrations tab
   

   

   
   
3. Configure your mailbox settings

   Fill out the email field, provide the bucket information, apply any relevant time filters, and any folder filters.

   When providing the bucket information, you will be asked if:

   • (a) You would like to connect it to an existing bucket
   • (b) You would like to create a new bucket

   A bucket is the location where your mailbox(es) will be stored, and each bucket can contain multiple mailboxes.

   Once you've filled out all the required fields, click ‘Add Mailbox’. Repeat the above steps for each mailbox that needs to be synced.

   Ensuring you select the appropriate bucket during this step is important, and it's important to bear in mind:

   • Mailboxes that you put into the same Bucket will always have to go into the same dataset together
   • If the number of mailboxes you need to sync is very large but they all eventually need to go into the same dataset, best practice would be to put them into the same Bucket

   If you are looking at syncing a large number of mailboxes to a Bucket, to ensure Communications Mining gives you the best performance we recommend contacting [e-mail] if you have over 2000 mailboxes.

   Settings when setting up a new mailbox on the Integrations page
   

   

   
   
4. Create a new source, specifying the Bucket where your mailbox(es) are located

   Next, you will need to create a new 'Source' in the platform. Instructions on how to do so can be found here.

   It is very important that during this step, you specify the bucket where you initially added your mailboxes in scope for your use case.

   Each data source will only have 1 bucket associated with it, at a maximum.

   Sources Page, and where to apply the bucket from the integration
   

   

   
   
5. Create your dataset, and add your source

   Lastly, you will need to create your dataset, and add the source containing the bucket (where your mailboxes are synced) to that dataset. Instructions on how to add a source to dataset can be found here.

   If you have an existing dataset you wish to add the source (containing the integration) to, then you can simply modify the dataset settings and add the new source.