Connected Communications and the CRM Activity Timeline
Connected communications lets emails and chat messages appear automatically on your lead and deal timelines — without any manual logging. This page explains how it works, how messages get onto timelines, and how automatic entries relate to activities you log by hand.
What connected communications covers
Raytio can capture two types of external communication and place them on a CRM record's timeline:
- Emails — received through your personal capture address or a deal/lead-specific capture address (BCC capture), or sent as a reply from the record.
- Chat messages — from Telegram (and other channels as they are added) when the conversation is bound to a lead or deal.
Once a communication is captured, a timeline entry appears on the lead or deal automatically. You do not need to open an email client or chat app to log the interaction.
BCC capture for email
Every Raytio user has a personal capture address — a mailbox provisioned specifically for you, in the form:
adjective.noun@<your-tenant>.mail.rayt.io
You can find your capture address in your profile settings.
There are also record-specific capture addresses for deals and leads:
| Format | Routes to |
|---|---|
deal+<uuid>@<tenant>.mail.rayt.io | The specific deal with that UUID |
lead+<uuid>@<tenant>.mail.rayt.io | The specific lead with that UUID |
How to use BCC capture
To log an email on a lead or deal timeline, BCC or forward the email to a capture address:
- Use your personal address when you want Raytio to identify the related lead or deal from the email thread (identity resolution runs against known contact email addresses).
- Use a record-specific address (e.g.
deal+<uuid>@…) when you want to log directly to a known record without any resolution step.
You do not need to be in the email thread yourself. Forwarding any email to a capture address is sufficient.
What happens after you send or forward
- Raytio receives the email on the capture address.
- The system identifies the related lead or deal (from the plus-address UUID, or by matching the sender address against known contact records).
- The full email — subject, body, sender, recipients, and any attachments — is stored as a communication record.
- A timeline entry appears on the lead or deal within seconds.
- Any attachments are stored as documents on the communication record.
If the sender address cannot be matched to an existing lead, the email is placed in the sales queue for triage. An administrator can review it there and either link it to an existing record or promote it as a new lead.
Thread continuity
Raytio tracks email threads using the References and In-Reply-To headers. When a reply arrives in the same thread, it is added to the same conversation record — not a new one. The full thread is visible in one place, including any replies you sent from Raytio (see Reply from a CRM Record).
Chat messages on lead and deal timelines
Chat conversations (Telegram and other channels) can also be bound to a lead or deal. When a conversation is bound:
- Every inbound and outbound message in that conversation projects a timeline entry automatically.
- You can read the full message thread by clicking through from the timeline entry.
Binding a conversation to a record works the same way as binding to a work item — see Manage Queues for triage instructions.
How timeline entries are created
All automatic timeline entries use projected activity types:
| Activity type | What triggers it |
|---|---|
EMAIL_MESSAGE | An email is captured on a bound conversation (inbound or outbound) |
CHAT_MESSAGE | A chat message is sent or received on a conversation bound to the record |
CALL_LOG | A call is logged against a bound conversation (future) |
These differ from the manual activity types (CALL, EMAIL, NOTE) that you can create directly on a record. Projected entries are created automatically by the system — you cannot edit or delete them. Manual activities remain unchanged and continue to work as they always have.
Timeline view
The lead and deal timeline shows both manual and projected entries in chronological order. You can tell them apart by the activity type badge:
- Manual entries show
CALL,EMAIL, orNOTE. - Projected entries show
EMAIL_MESSAGE,CHAT_MESSAGE, etc.
Clicking a projected entry opens the linked conversation, where you can read the full message body, thread history, and any attachments.
Relationship between manual logging and connected communications
Connected communications complements manual logging — it does not replace it.
| Scenario | Recommended approach |
|---|---|
| Phone call with a contact | Log a manual CALL activity with your notes |
| Internal note about a deal | Log a manual NOTE activity |
| Email you sent from your inbox | BCC your personal capture address |
| Email forwarded to you by a colleague | Forward to the record-specific capture address |
| Chat conversation via Telegram | Bind the conversation to the lead or deal |
| Reply to a contact from within Raytio | Use Reply from a CRM Record |
Both sources feed the same timeline. You do not need to duplicate entries — if an email is captured automatically, you do not also need to log a manual EMAIL activity for the same message.