3579601 - Inbound Emails Creating Duplicate Cases in SAP Service Cloud Version 2

• Users report that inbound emails sometimes create duplicate cases in SAP Service Cloud Version 2, even when there are already existing cases for the same issue.
• This issue can also occur when an end customer replies to an email sent from Service Cloud.
• This article provides a technical explanation of how threaded emails work in Service Cloud V2.

• SAP Service Cloud Version 2 1.0
• SAP Sales Cloud Version 2 1.0

Any Image/data in this KBA is from SAP internal systems, sample data, or demo systems. Any resemblance to real data is purely coincidental.

• Missing Message-ID in the MIME header of the email thread
• In Service Cloud Version 2, email threading is based on the Message-ID and References fields rather than the subject line.
• This means that even if the Subject of an email changes, it will still be linked to the correct case if the references are correctly included.

Steps to Investigate Email Threading

1. Check the email that created the duplicate case (assuming the sender and recipients are, for example, info@example-supplier.com/support@example-company.com :
   1. Go to Settings > Emails > Inbound Monitoring
   2. Search for the email with the subject "Order Inquiry"
   3. Sender: info@example-supplier.com
   4. Recipient: support@example-company.com
   5. Download and check the MIME Header
   6. Review the MIME Header of the second email (which created the duplicate case), where you may see something like:
      Subject: Order Inquiry  
      Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2025 10:26:36 +0100  
      Message-ID: <00e401db8a8c$07d47420$177d5c60$@example-supplier.com>  
      MIME-Version: 1.0  
      --> there should be a reference here, but that is missing (hypothetically) 
      --> Observation: This email had no references, meaning it was not linked to any prior conversation.  
   7. Compare to the original email in the conversation thread, where you will see something like:
      Subject: RE: Order Request  
      Sender: sales@example-company.com  
      Recipient: support@example-company.com  
      Message-ID: <8273c3368c78440d9f81ddf019c7443f@example-company.com>  
      References: <015901db88ec$35309f80$9f91de80$@example-supplier.com>  
                  <6c0f72cd66ef46639ca9670faddf2c16@example-company.com>  
      In-Reply-To: <6c0f72cd66ef46639ca9670faddf2c16@example-company.com>

Conclusion: Since the second email that Service Cloud V2 received had no reference to the original email, it was treated as a new interaction, leading to the creation of a duplicate case instead of being linked to the existing one.

Best Practice to Avoid Duplicate Cases:

• • Ensure that inbound emails retain References and In-Reply-To fields when responding to cases.
  • Encourage customers and agents to reply directly to emails rather than composing new ones, as new emails may lack the correct threading references.
  • Use the Inbound Monitoring Tool to investigate cases where threading does not work as expected.

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