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FAQ: Best Practices for Choosing One-Time Save vs. Autopilot

ExtendSync Google | Learn when to use One-Time Save, Thread-Based Autopilot, or Email Address-Based Autopilot

ExtendSync provides three methods for saving Gmail messages to NetSuite:

  • One-Time Save

  • Thread-Based Autopilot

  • Email Address-Based Autopilot

The right method depends on whether you need to save one message, follow a specific conversation, or capture ongoing communication with a person.

Autopilot availability: Thread-Based Autopilot and Email Address-Based Autopilot are available to ExtendSync Enterprise users.

🎥 Watch the video or continue reading below to learn how and when to use each method effectively.

🧠 First Things First

Just because it’s easy to add emails to NetSuite doesn’t mean every email belongs there.

Before attaching an email, ask yourself:

“Will this information be helpful to others in the organization?”

If the answer is yes — save it.
If not — leave it out to avoid unnecessary clutter.

Compare the Email-Saving Methods

Method

Best for

How it works

One-Time Save

One email or an isolated conversation

Saves the selected email to one or more NetSuite records

Thread-Based Autopilot

A conversation tied to a specific transaction or business process

Saves the current conversation and automatically saves future replies in the same Gmail thread

Email Address-Based Autopilot

Ongoing communication with a specific person

Automatically saves eligible incoming and outgoing emails involving the selected email address

One-Time method

  • Attaches one specific email to a NetSuite record.

  • Ideal for isolated conversations or emails you don’t need future replies for.

  • Gives you full manual control over which emails are visible in NetSuite.

✅ Example Use Case:
A customer sends a one-time inquiry about an invoice, and you want to log that single email to their record without syncing the full reply chain.

Thread-based Autopilot

  • Available with Enterprise Edition

  • Automatically syncs all future replies and responses in an email thread.

  • Best for transaction-based records that are time-bound, such as:

    • Estimates

    • Opportunities

    • Sales Orders

  • Keeps related communication organized under one record without syncing unrelated messages.

✅ Example Use Case:
A sales rep is negotiating an opportunity with multiple follow-up replies. Thread-based Autopilot ensures every related message stays attached to that Opportunity record.

Email Address-Based Autopilot

  • Available with Enterprise Edition

  • Tracks and syncs all emails to/from a specific address to selected NetSuite records — automatically.

  • Best for entity-level records (Customers, Contacts, Leads, Prospects).

  • Ideal for long-term relationships where every email is relevant to the account.

  • Email Address-based Autopilot (To/From/CC) functionality is limited to the primary folder and the Sent folder in your Outlook.

✅ Example Use Case:
A prime example of how we use email Autopilot at CloudExtend lies with our Customer Success team. For each subscription, there is a primary customer contact. That contact’s email address is on Email Autopilot, ensuring every conversation automatically appears in NetSuite — even if handled by different CSMs over time.

⚠️ Caution:
Be selective when enabling Email Address–Based Autopilot. Every email exchanged with that address, even unrelated ones, will sync to NetSuite.

Practices to Avoid

❌ Avoid

Why

Adding your own email address or an internal colleague’s address to Email Address-Based Autopilot

Internal messages involving that address may be saved to the associated NetSuite records.

Enabling Autopilot without confirming the NetSuite record

Messages may be saved to an unrelated or overly broad record.

Using Email Address-Based Autopilot for a conversation tied to one transaction

Unrelated messages involving the same address may also be saved. Use Thread-Based Autopilot instead.

Having multiple users configure the same email address and NetSuite record

The same email may appear more than once in NetSuite.

Assuming future reply attachments are included automatically

Thread-Based Autopilot includes attachments only from the initial email when selected.

Using Autopilot without an internal email-management process

Teams may save unnecessary messages or create overlapping associations.

Turn Off Autopilot

Turning off Autopilot prevents future messages from syncing through that association. It does not remove emails already saved in NetSuite.

Turn Off Thread-Based Autopilot

  1. Open the Gmail thread.

  2. Open ExtendSync.

  3. Go to the Autopilot section.

  4. Click Cancel Autopilot.

After cancellation, you cannot reactivate Autopilot from the same email. To enable it again:

  1. Reply to the thread.

  2. Open the reply from the Gmail Sent folder.

  3. Select the appropriate NetSuite records.

  4. Enable Thread-Based Autopilot again.

Turn Off Email Address-Based Autopilot

  1. Open ExtendSync.

  2. Go to Menu → Settings → Email Autopilot Associations.

  3. Search for the email address.

  4. Select the matching result.

  5. Locate the associated NetSuite record.

  6. Click the delete icon to remove the association.

Future emails involving that address will no longer sync to the removed NetSuite record through that association.

📘 Learn how to turn off Autopilot for ExtendSync Google.

Diagram

Use this diagram to help understand our recommended best practices. Your own needs may vary, but we've found this to be a common starting ground.

Quick Decision Guide

Use One-Time Save when:

  • You need to save only the selected email.

  • You do not need future replies to sync automatically.

  • You want complete control over every message saved.

Use Thread-Based Autopilot when:

  • The conversation relates to a specific transaction or process.

  • You want future replies from the same thread to remain together.

  • You do not want unrelated conversations with the same participants to sync.

Use Email Address-Based Autopilot when:

  • Most communication with one person should be available in NetSuite.

  • The messages belong on an entity-level record.

  • You want eligible incoming and outgoing emails to sync automatically across different threads.

What to Expect

After choosing the appropriate method:

  • One-Time Save adds only the selected email.

  • Thread-Based Autopilot continues saving future replies from the same Gmail thread.

  • Email Address-Based Autopilot saves eligible messages involving the selected email address.

Gmail displays CloudExtend labels that indicate how an email was saved. You can also open the related NetSuite record and go to Communication → Messages to confirm that the email appears.

Need Help?

If you need help choosing or managing an email-saving method:

When contacting Support, include the saving method, affected Gmail account, selected NetSuite record, and screenshots when available.

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