Overview
Agentforce Service Agents have significantly improved how Service teams operate. While commonly associated with chat, they can also be integrated into existing Email-to-Case functionality to deliver a much more robust support experience.
With Email-to-Case already handling case creation, the agent does not need to create records. Instead, it uses its reasoning engine and connected knowledge sources to respond directly to incoming emails.
This approach is especially useful for high-volume, low-complexity queries.
For Everhome Solutions, a home appliances company, internal reporting showed that nearly 60 percent of incoming support emails were basic product guideline questions. These still required manual effort from reps to review documentation and respond. By extending Agentforce into Email-to-Case, these queries can now be handled automatically, allowing reps to focus on more complex issues.
Prerequisites and Permissions
Before starting, ensure the following are in place:
- Email-to-Case is enabled
- Agentforce is enabled
- Connection Management is enabled
- A Service Agent user is available
Ensure the configuring user (you) has the following permissions:
- Lightning Experience User (for email templates)
- Manage Agentforce Service Agents and Manage AI Agents or Customize Application
- Customize Application (for routing addresses and Omni-Channel flows)
- Permissions to edit public templates if required
Org requirements:
- Lightning Experience only
- Supported in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions
- Applicable to Agentforce Service Agents
Step 1: Enable Email-to-Case
Go to Setup, search for Email-to-Case, and enable it. For this use case, default settings can be retained.
Click Create New Routing Address, provide a routing name and the support email address, and save.
A verification email will be sent to the support inbox. Open it and verify the routing address.
Once verified, Salesforce generates a service email address. This will be used in the next step.
Step 2: Configure Email Forwarding
Set up forwarding from the support email to the Salesforce-generated email address.
For Gmail:
- Go to Settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP
- Add the Salesforce generated Service Email as a forwarding address
A verification email will be generated as a Case in Salesforce. Open the Case and complete the verification through the link.
Then enable forwarding in Gmail.
At this point, Email-to-Case is fully set up! Any incoming email will now create a Case in Salesforce.
Step 3: Enable and Configure Agentforce
In Setup, search for Agentforce and enable it if not already done.
Then search for Agentforce Agents and create a new Service Agent.
Add relevant topics and actions. For Everhome:
- General FAQ
- Escalation
Additional topics and instructions can be added depending on requirements.
Create a Data Library, which will act as the knowledge source for the agent.
In the Connections tab:
- Enable Connection Management
- Add a new connection: Service Email
A small but useful step here is updating the agent user’s First Name. This makes it easier to identify the agent user during selection when building routing configuration.
Also ensure that the agent user has access to Cases and any data sources being used.
Test the agent responses at this stage and activate it once validated.
Step 4: Create Lightning Email Template
Create a Lightning Email Template and ensure the body contains:
[[[GENERATED_CONTENT]]]
[[[LEGAL_DISCLOSURE]]]
Additional static content such as logos or headers can also be included.
Step 5: Create Email Configuration
In Setup, search for Agentforce for Service on Email.
Create a new configuration and provide:
- Label
- Email Template
- Active Service Agent
- Agent Signature
- Legal Disclaimer (required)
Step 6: Route Cases to the Agent (Omni-Channel Flow)
Salesforce provides three routing options:
- Direct assignment on routing configuration
- Case Assignment Rules
- Omni-Channel Flow
For this setup, Omni-Channel Flow is used for flexibility.
Go to Flows → New Flow → Omni-Channel Flow
Add a Route Work element:
- Create a variable recordId (Text, available for input)
- Service Channel: Cases
- Route To: Agent
- Select the agent user
- Enable Required Agent
Save and activate the flow.
Step 7: Update Email-to-Case Routing
Return to the Email-to-Case routing configuration.
Update the following:
- Email Configuration
- Omni-Channel Flow
- Fallback Queue (for example, General Queue)
Step 9: Add an Escalation flow
Create another Omni-channel flow with the Route Work element, this time routing to an active queue for escalation. Activate the flow.
Now go into your agent, in the Connections tab, go into the Service Email connection, and add the flow just created into the Escalation Flow.
Step 10: Test the Setup
Send a test email to the support address.
In one test scenario, the case was created successfully but no response was sent. On reviewing the Case Activity, the agent had logged a comment and reassigned the case to the default owner. The issue was traced back to missing permissions on the Case object for the agent user.
After correcting the permissions and testing again, the agent successfully generated a response using its knowledge base.
Key Considerations
- The agent responds only after a Case is created via Email-to-Case
- Responses are generated using the configured data library
- The email template must include:
- [[[GENERATED_CONTENT]]]
- [[[LEGAL_DISCLOSURE]]]
- If the agent cannot process the request, the case is reassigned to a fallback queue or default owner
- Routing must explicitly assign the case to the agent
- When using Omni-Channel Flow, enabling Required Agent prevents fallback routing
- Responses are generated asynchronously after case creation
Outcome
With this setup in place, Everhome Solutions can automatically handle a large portion of incoming support emails. The Agentforce Service Agent responds to common queries instantly, while more complex cases are routed to human agents, improving overall efficiency and response times.
Author: Nashra Fatima
