SugarCRM (POP3 vs. IMAP): -

Further Email Problems

The email was set-up with POP3 protocol settings which worked quite well for couple of months but recently users started complaining about emails been lost, arriving with a backlog of up to 90 minutes, and not getting deleted properly.

The first thing was to check our email server whether it was receiving the emails at all and if it was then at what time (to check the backlog). The server raw header stated the emails arrived into the email server at correct time and was delivered to the accounts without any delay which proved there was no problem from the server side. Nevertheless, I found there was time delay only if the emails where sent to the CRM accounts. Therefore, we came to a conclusion that the problem might exist the way CRM application was pulling the emails from the email server.

After checking the email settings I found the server protocol was set-up as POP3 and that gave another clue of checking and testing another resolution which was IMAP. I did some goggling over it (as we are using the community edition for which there is no support provided) and discovered there is indeed some issues with sugar on pop3 settings. Afterwards I contacted a support person in Dublin whom I met in the SugarCRM Acceleration summit in London and he kindly agreed to answer few of my questions. He too confirmed the same problems I found during my self-research.

I have been testing the trial and error method on my development version to see if the switch protocol to IMAP makes any effect to the email efficiency. The difference was easily noticeable. The email sent and received responded instantly on IMAP settings. Therefore, the problem of messed email inbox seemed resolved because in imap protocol the client takes a copy of the email and leave the original on the server which later on another client can copy too. Therefore, no lost emails.

The steps were quite straightforward. Just log-into CRM, go to email > then email settings > select the account you want to edit > change the server protocol to IMAP and monitor inbox, sent and trash folders. Save and do a test which completed successfully for me.