Inbox and email management
Incoming emails, AI intent detection, AI drafts for approval
Inbox and email management
The Inbox is the salon's central email receiver. If you connected your email account, every incoming customer message lives here, AI-classified by intent.
Where to find it
/manager/inbox. Sidebar → Inbox menu.
Tabs
Your incoming emails:
- Unread badge with count
- Star / favorite marker
- AI intent label (Booking Request, Question, Complaint, etc.)
- Read / unread status
- Sender name, subject, preview
AI Drafts
AI-generated reply drafts for approval:
- Pending drafts list
- Preview with suggested reply
- Customer intent label
- Approve / Reject buttons
- Edit before approval
Conversations
The customer conversations tab. → Customer conversations
AI intent detection
AI categorizes every incoming email:
| Intent | What it means |
|---|---|
| Booking Request | New booking request |
| Booking Change | Existing booking modification |
| Cancellation | Cancellation |
| Availability Inquiry | "When are you free?" |
| Price Inquiry | "How much?" |
| General Question | Any question |
| Feedback / Complaint | Review or complaint |
The label helps prioritization: Complaint is more urgent than Price Inquiry.
AI Drafts
Most salon emails are templatey ("Thanks for asking, yes Thursday is free"). AI prepares a draft, you just review.
The flow
- Customer writes
- AI reads, categorizes, drafts a reply
- You see it on AI Drafts tab
- Read, if good: Approve → sends
- Modification needed: edit, Approve
- Bad: Reject → you write your own
A purple banner at the top: "X drafts awaiting approval." One click goes there.
Email account hookup
SuperAdmin → Connect → Email-sync page lets you OAuth-connect Gmail or Outlook. From that point Bookinda reads incoming emails and stores them.
Without an email account hookup, Inbox is empty. Other surfaces (Messages, Conversations) work.
When to use it
Scenario 1, morning email review Inbox → Unread filter. Page through, prioritize by AI intent. Booking Request first, Complaint or Question after.
Scenario 2, AI Drafts quick approval AI Drafts tab. 10 drafts. Each: read customer question, AI reply, Approve/Reject. Avg 2-3 min/draft. Quick morning round-up.
Scenario 3, unknown sender If AI finds spam or unclear intent, you decide. Genuinely spam, delete.
Scenario 4, complaint email AI flags "Complaint." Separate category, you respond personally.
Scenario 5, booking request via email Customer emails for a booking. AI Draft: "We booked you for X day Y time." You check, if OK, Approve. AI books in Bookinda meanwhile.
Privacy and access
- Owner / Manager: every email
- Reception: every email
- Staff: only emails linked to them (their bookings)
Customer email content is often sensitive (complaint, medical info), so access is filtered.
Tips
- AI drafts approval flow: don't auto-Approve. AI sometimes makes factual errors (wrong date). Read first.
- Drafts tab doesn't replace Inbox, it accelerates. Complex emails still need your hand.
- Booking Request emails: book immediately, don't delay.
- Complaint emails need a separate workflow, not just a reply: maybe manager-level action, compensation.
- AI learns from feedback: lots of Rejects on a type teaches it.
- No email-sync = empty Inbox. Connect in SuperAdmin → Connect.