---
title: "Support Department Email & Assignees"
description: "Support Departments in ClearCRM help organize and route customer tickets to the right group of agents."
url: https://help.clearcrm.com/en/articles/12597035-support-department-email-and-assignees
collection: "Support"
updated: 2026-06-15
language: en
---

# Support Department Email & Assignees

Support Departments in ClearCRM help organize and route customer tickets to the right group of agents.

Each department can have its own **email address**, **assigned staff**, and **notification rules** — making it easier to manage incoming support requests efficiently.

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## **1\. Department Email (IMAP)**

Each department can be configured with its own email address under  
**Setup → Service → Departments**.

This email serves a _specific purpose_:

-   It’s used for **email piping**, which means that any message sent to that address will **automatically create a new support ticket** in ClearCRM.
    
-   It does **not** send notifications about new or updated tickets.
    

👉 **Important:** The department’s IMAP inbox is an _input channel_, not a notification sender.  
If you expect to receive alerts about ticket creation, that depends on **team member assignments**, not the IMAP address itself.

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## **2\. Assigning Team Members to Departments**

To ensure that your staff receives ticket-related notifications, each relevant team member must be assigned to the appropriate department.

Here’s how:

1.  Go to **Setup → Team → Team Members**.
    
2.  Click on the name of a team member.
    
3.  Scroll down to the **Member Departments** section.
    
4.  Check the box(es) next to the department(s) they should belong to.
    
5.  Click **Save**.
    

Once assigned:

-   The staff member will receive notifications when a new ticket is created in their department (depending on email notification settings).
    
-   They will also see tickets from that department in their ticket list.
    

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## **3\. Testing the Setup**

To confirm that everything is configured correctly:

1.  Create or open a test department.
    
2.  Assign at least one staff member to it.
    
3.  Create a test support ticket and assign it to the department.
    
4.  Check that the assigned staff receives the email notification.
    
5.  Verify that the IMAP mailbox remains inactive unless someone sends a message _to_ it (which would then generate a new ticket).
    

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## **4\. Common Misunderstandings**

-   The **department’s IMAP email** does _not_ receive notifications — it only listens for incoming messages.
    
-   If no staff are assigned to a department, **no one will be notified** when a new ticket is created.
    
-   Staff assignment is handled **per team member**, not from the Departments setup page.
    

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## **Example Scenario**

A customer sends an email to _support@yourcompany.com_.  
That email is piped into ClearCRM and automatically creates a new ticket under the **Support** department.

If Alice and Bob are assigned to the Support department in their Team Member profiles, both will receive an email notification about the new ticket.

The mailbox _support@yourcompany.com_ itself will not receive a separate alert — its job is simply to forward that email into the ticketing system.