Learn how the Outlook channel evaluates incoming email before the AI Assistant generates a response.
To help protect employee privacy, prevent unwanted replies, and reduce automated email loops, the Outlook channel applies the same filtering and safety rules to every connected shared mailbox. These rules can't be customized.
| Category | Includes |
| Message filtering | Validates the sender, recipients, and message content before processing. |
| Attachment filtering | Checks attachments for supported types, size limits, and security restrictions. |
| Content safety | Prevents AI Assistant from responding to unsafe or unsupported requests. |
| Operational safeguards | Protects against automated replies, reply loops, and excessive message volumes. |
How message processing works
When an employee sends an email to a connected shared mailbox, the Outlook channel evaluates the message before the AI Assistant generates a response.
The message must:
- Be sent by a recognized Applaud user.
- Be addressed directly to one connected shared mailbox.
- Contain enough information to understand the request.
- Pass content safety checks.
If a message doesn't meet these requirements, the AI Assistant either ignores the message or returns a warning, depending on the scenario.
Message filtering
The Outlook channel doesn't process the following message types.
| Message type | Result | Reason |
| Unknown sender | No reply | Only active Applaud users can start conversations. |
| Empty message | No reply | A request is required before the AI Assistant can respond. |
| Message sent from a connected shared mailbox | No reply | Prevents mailboxes from replying to themselves. |
| Message sent from another connected shared mailbox | No reply | Prevents automated reply loops. |
| Automatic replies, delivery notifications, or system messages | No reply | Prevents responses to automated email. |
| Bulk, junk, or automatically forwarded email | No reply | The Outlook channel responds only to direct employee requests. |
Conversation rules
The Outlook channel supports conversations between one employee and one connected shared mailbox.
Additional recipients are removed from the AI Assistant replies to help protect employee privacy.
If an employee sends an email to multiple connected shared mailboxes, the AI Assistant doesn't generate a full response. Instead, the employee is prompted to resend the request to a single mailbox.
For more information, see One-to-one conversations.
Attachment filtering
Before processing an email, the Outlook channel evaluates all attachments.
The Outlook channel ignores:
- Signature images and logos
- Tracking pixels
- Unsupported attachment types
- Password-protected or encrypted files
- Attachments that exceed supported limits.
- Attachments blocked by security checks.
If one or more attachments can't be processed, the AI Assistant can still respond if the email body contains enough information.
For supported attachment types and size limits, see Outlook: Permissions, quotas, and limits.
Content safety
Before generating a response, the AI Assistant evaluates each message against content safety rules.
If a message doesn't pass these checks, the AI Assistant doesn't generate a response.
To continue the conversation, the employee should rephrase the request and send a new email.
Operational safeguards
The Outlook channel includes built-in safeguards to help prevent automated behavior and protect service reliability.
| Safeguard | Behavior |
| Reply limit | The AI Assistant sends up to 30 replies per sender per hour. |
| Reply loop prevention | Messages sent by connected shared mailboxes and automated email systems aren't processed. |
| Privacy protection | Additional recipients are removed from AI Assistant replies. |
Examples
| Scenario | Result |
| Employee emails one connected shared mailbox | The AI Assistant generates a reply. |
| Employee includes a colleague in Cc | The AI Assistant replies only to the employee. |
| Shared mailbox appears only in Cc | No reply is generated. |
| Employee emails multiple connected shared mailboxes | The employee is prompted to resend the request to one mailbox. |
| Employee sends an out-of-office message | No reply is generated. |
| Email contains unsupported attachments | The AI Assistant processes the email body and ignores unsupported attachments when possible. |