MailCalm Test Mode and Live Mode Guide

MailCalm has two operating modes:

• Test mode for safe setup and checking
• Live mode for normal email routing

MailCalm opens in Test mode after first-time setup.

Test mode

When Test mode is on, MailCalm checks each email and shows what would happen without changing the mailbox.

In Test mode, MailCalm does not:

• forward emails
• move emails
• mark emails
• rename email subjects
• add ownership prefixes

Activity is shown as simulated so you can review the proposed routing safely.

Controls unavailable in Test mode

While Test mode is on, these controls are temporarily disabled:

• Move to Allocated
• Add prefix
• Schedule
• Edit schedule

This prevents mailbox-changing settings from being used while MailCalm is simulating routing.

Your saved settings are not deleted. They become available again when Test mode is turned off.

When to use Test mode

Use Test mode when:

• setting up MailCalm for the first time
• adding or changing routing people
• changing working hours or availability
• creating Sticky rules
• creating Filter rules
• creating Special rules
• checking changes before going live
• troubleshooting unexpected routing

How to test safely

Before switching to Live mode:

1. Confirm the correct shared inbox is connected.
2. Check every routing person’s name and email address.
3. Review who is Active, Available or Off.
4. Check working hours and schedules.
5. Review Sticky, Filter and Special rules.
6. Send harmless test emails using clear subjects and senders.
7. Review the Activity panel.
8. Confirm that MailCalm selected the expected person and rule.
9. Repeat the test for each important routing scenario.

Test mode Activity entries are simulated and should be treated as a preview of what MailCalm would do.

Switching to Live mode

To begin live routing:

1. Open the main MailCalm window.
2. Find the Test mode switch in the top control row.
3. Turn Test mode off.
4. Review the other controls:
   • Move to Allocated
   • Add prefix
   • Schedule
5. Make sure the MailCalm engine is running.

When Test mode is off, MailCalm is live and processes emails normally.

Depending on your settings, MailCalm may:

• forward the email to the selected person
• add a routing header to the forwarded email
• move the original email to the Allocated folder
• add the assigned person’s prefix to the original subject
• update live routing and ownership state
• record the result in Activity

Move to Allocated

When Move to Allocated is on, MailCalm moves the original email into:

Inbox / Allocated

after processing.

When it is off, the original email remains in the inbox.

Add prefix

When Add prefix is on, MailCalm adds the assigned person’s ownership label to the original email subject.

Example:

[🔴 JIM] Re: Customer enquiry

When it is off, the original subject is not changed.

Schedule

When Schedule is on, MailCalm processes emails only during the configured days and hours.

Use Edit schedule to change the operating schedule.

When Schedule is off, the configured schedule does not automatically start or stop the routing engine.

Returning to Test mode

You can turn Test mode back on at any time.

This is useful before:

• changing important rules
• adding new team members
• testing holiday-cover arrangements
• changing mailbox settings
• investigating unexpected results

Once Test mode is on, MailCalm returns to simulated routing and stops making mailbox changes.

Important safety check

Do not assume that one successful test proves every rule.

Test the scenarios that matter to your team, including:

• a completely new email
• a reply from an existing customer
• a sender covered by Sticky routing
• a phrase covered by a Filter rule
• a specialist phrase covered by a Special rule
• a team member who is Off
• a team member outside their working hours
• holiday-cover routing
• the final Round Robin fallback

Only turn Test mode off when the suggested Activity results match the routing behaviour you expect.