Documentation / Working with tickets
Files and attachments
In short: You add files by dragging them into the editor or with the attachment button. For each file, aishaa decides how it reaches the recipient: in the message, as an attachment or as a download link, and shows this in advance together with an estimated message size. If the message still does not fit within the limit of the mail route, it is stopped before it is sent. You find received files in the Media tab.
Where to find this
Open a ticket via Tickets. The attachment list is below the editor; the attachment button (paperclip) is in the editor toolbar. In the Forward dialog and in a reply to an external party, the final preview contains the What the recipient will get block. Received files are in the Media tab next to the ticket.
Who: from the Agent role upwards for adding and sending; anyone can view the Media tab. The limits follow from the channel and the mail route of the organisation.
Adding files to a reply
- Drag one or more files into the editor (Drop files here to attach them), or click the attachment button and choose files. In the WhatsApp editor you can also paste a file.
- An image you paste into the body of an email becomes an image in the message itself.
- Every file you add appears in the attachment list with its name and size. The eye icon opens a preview; the cross (Remove attachment) removes the file again.
- A recorded WhatsApp message appears in the list as Voice message.
Files that are too large are rejected on upload with the message The file size cannot exceed 35 MB.
Files from an action in a connected system
If an action in a connected system that has been run produces a file, for example a return label or an invoice, it appears on the action card under Produced files, with the file name, type and size.
- Add to reply attaches the file to your reply. After that it says Added to the reply, and the file shows Goes with the next reply.
- Depending on the settings of the integration, a file can also be attached to your reply automatically.
- Once the file has been sent, it says Sent with a reply.
A produced file is only offered for the next reply on that ticket. If you remove it from your reply, or the reply goes out without that file, aishaa does not offer it again; not after reloading the page and not for a colleague either. The file itself stays among the customer’s files, so you can still send it later from the Media tab. See To do.
Passing a file from the ticket to an action
The reverse is possible too: if an action in a connected system asks for a file, for example a photo of the damage or an invoice, aishaa offers the attachments of this ticket.
- Choose the file in the Attachments field of the action, with the placeholder Choose a file. For each file you see the name and the size.
- While the malware scan is still running, Malware scan pending appears after the file. Files that the malware scan has blocked are not offered.
- If there are no attachments on this ticket, it says No files of this ticket are available for this action. Add the file to the ticket first, or ask the customer for it.
- After the action has run, the file that was used appears on the action card under Attachments, with the name, type and size.
See To do.
How a file reaches the recipient
For email, aishaa calculates a delivery plan before sending: each file goes along in exactly one form. Each file in the attachment list has a chip showing that form, with the line Estimated message size: (size) (limit (limit)) below it. While the calculation is running, it says Calculating how the message will be delivered…
The editor of a ticket with the attachment list, showing for each file the chip In the message, Optimized, in the message or Download link, and the Estimated message size line.
| Delivery form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| In the message | An image in the body of the message that is sent unchanged. |
| Optimized, in the message | An image in the body that aishaa has resized and compressed for reliable delivery (see below). |
| Attachment | The file is sent as a normal attachment. |
| Download link | The file no longer fits as an attachment and is sent as a link. The recipient sees the line Attachment can be downloaded here. in the message, with a link to the file. In a forwarded or quoted message, that link block sits above the quoted text, so the recipient does not have to scroll to find it. |
The order matters: attachments are sent as attachments in the order in which you added them, until the budget is used up. Anything after that becomes a download link. An image in the body is never sent as an attachment as well.
Large photos are optimised automatically
Photos in the body of an email (JPEG, PNG, WebP and TIFF) are resized if the longest side is larger than 1600 pixels or the file is larger than 400 KB. The result is at most 1600 pixels wide or high; PNG stays PNG, other formats become JPEG. aishaa also removes all metadata from the photo, such as the location where it was taken. Small images such as logos and signatures, GIF animations, SVG and HEIC files are left unchanged. If the result is not smaller, the original is sent.
The message then shows the note Large photos are automatically optimized for reliable delivery. If you want the recipient to receive the original files as well, turn on the Also send the originals in full quality switch (The originals travel along as attachment or download link.). The originals then follow the same rules as other attachments.
The What the recipient will get block in the final preview of a forwarded message, showing the delivery form of each file and the Also send the originals in full quality switch.
Limits per mail route
Mail servers work with the size of the complete, encoded message. That is about 37 percent larger than the individual files added together. aishaa takes this into account and also keeps a safety margin of 5 percent below the limit of the route.
| Mail route | Limit for the complete message |
|---|---|
| Gmail or Google Workspace | 25 MB |
| Outlook or Microsoft 365, and sending via aishaa | 10 MB |
| Own SMTP server | The limit set for the connection (1 to 150 MB). Without a value of your own, known providers use their documented limit, and otherwise 10 MB applies. See Sending via your own SMTP server. |
In the editor, aishaa uses this to work back to how much fits in individual files: about 68 percent of the limit. With a limit of 10 MB, about 6.8 MB of attachments fits as attachments; the rest goes as a download link.
If the message is still too large
If the message is too large even with download links (for example because of a very large number of images in the body), you see This message is too large to send. Remove content or send fewer files. and sending is stopped. Your text and attachments stay where they are; remove content or files and try again.
If the mail server still rejects the message because of its size, the timeline shows Not delivered: the message was too large for the mail server. at the message, with the option to edit the message and send it again. See also Email not arriving or not going out.
Attachments via WhatsApp
WhatsApp has fixed limits per file type. A larger file is automatically sent as a download link; the Download link chip explains that the file is larger than WhatsApp allows for this type.
| File type | Maximum size as media |
|---|---|
| Image | 5 MB |
| Video | 16 MB |
| Audio | 16 MB |
| Document (all other types) | 100 MB |
Finding received files
Attachments to a message are shown below that message in the timeline; click one to open a preview. An attached email (.eml) opens in its own preview with the tabs Message, Text and Attachments.
All of the customer’s files together are in the Media tab next to the ticket, including files from earlier tickets.
The Media tab next to a ticket with the filters, the file cards with preview and download button and the badges From this ticket and Other ticket.
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Type filter | All, Images, Videos, Documents, Audio or Other. |
| Only this ticket | Shows only files from the open ticket. Otherwise you see the badges From this ticket and Other ticket (with Open ticket #(number)). |
| Only this channel | Only files from the same channel as the ticket. |
| Include inline files | Also shows images that were in the body of messages. |
| Include likely noise | Also shows images that aishaa considers noise, such as logos and icons from signatures. |
| Source | All, Customer or Agent. |
| Contact person | For a company: files from one contact person or All contacts. |
For each file you see a preview or icon, the name, a short AI summary of the content if there is one, and the buttons for preview and Download. Each file also has the paperclip Add to reply, which attaches the file to your reply. A file blocked by the virus scan does not have this button.
Virus scan
Every received file is scanned. While the scan is running, it says Malware scan pending. An infected file or one that cannot be scanned is marked Blocked by malware scan and cannot be opened or downloaded. An Account admin can still make such a file available with Release anyway; a Reason for release is required.
Good to know
- With Forward you also choose which attachments from the customer message go along (Attachments from customer message); the same delivery forms and limits apply there. See Forwarding a message.
- Download links contain a random code; the link cannot be guessed from a ticket number or file name.
- A download link is an ordinary link in the message. The recipient does not need an aishaa account to download the file.
- aishaa cannot compress or zip files; if you want to send several large files as one attachment, do this beforehand on your own computer.
- The internal chat has its own upload limit of 100 MB per file, see Internal chat.
- Full details of image optimisation and the sending limits per provider are also in Sending limits and image optimisation.