Email is the backbone of 4fleet. Your quotes, invoices, partner dispatches, and automated follow-ups all leave the building through your connected mailbox, and inbound customer emails flow in to become enquiries. If you set up only one thing before going live, make it this.
Why this is critical
Here is the part to internalise: if no mailbox is connected, client-facing emails are not sent - quietly. There is no bounce and no error thrown in your face. Quotes do not reach customers, invoices do not go out, partner dispatch notifications never arrive, and follow-up chases never fire. The work looks done inside 4fleet, but nothing actually left. Connect email first, then test a real send, and you avoid the single most common "why didn't my customer get the quote?" surprise.
Two ways to connect
You have two options, chosen on the Integrations settings page:
Gmail (OAuth) - recommended if you use Google Workspace or Gmail
Connecting Gmail uses Google's secure OAuth flow. You click connect, authorise 4fleet on Google's screen, and you are done - no password is stored by us for this path. On connect, 4fleet downloads your last 100 inbox messages so your inbox is populated immediately. From then on it syncs both ways: replies you send appear in Gmail, and stars, moves, and reads mirror across.
IMAP / SMTP - for any other mailbox
If you use a non-Gmail provider (your own domain mailbox, Outlook via IMAP, etc.), use the generic IMAP/SMTP option. You supply your incoming (IMAP) and outgoing (SMTP) server details. 4fleet keeps a persistent IMAP IDLE connection open, which means inbound mail arrives in near real time rather than waiting for the next poll.
How syncing works
Once connected, 4fleet keeps your inbox current in a few ways:
- A background sync runs about every five minutes for every connected mailbox.
- When you open the inbox it also pulls new mail, and refreshes silently every couple of minutes while you work.
- IMAP mailboxes additionally use a live connection (IMAP IDLE) for near-instant arrival.
Newly arrived booking-request emails are automatically read by AI and turned into structured enquiries, so a customer email becomes a pipeline card without you re-typing anything.
Testing your connection
After connecting, use the "Test email" action in Integrations settings. It runs a real connection probe and sets your connection status. A green status means you can both receive and send. If sending fails, re-check your SMTP details (for IMAP/SMTP) or re-authorise Gmail.
Templates, signatures, and tracking
With email connected you also get:
- Templates - reusable, company-scoped email templates for quotes, confirmations, reminders, and more, with variable substitution.
- Signatures - per-user signatures with a default.
- Open and click tracking on marketing-category emails (follow-ups, review requests), so you can see whether a quote was opened.
Transactional emails such as invoices and booking confirmations keep clean, direct links and are never suppressed - only marketing-category mail respects unsubscribe and tracking rules.
Multiple mailboxes
You can connect more than one account per company. When two or more are connected, the inbox shows an account switcher and a per-message badge, and when you compose you can choose which address to send from. A reply defaults to sending from whichever mailbox received the original message.
If in doubt
Open the Go-Live readiness check. It reports your email connection status directly, so you always know whether your outbound path is live before you rely on it.