Email and calendar exclusions give you control over which emails, meetings, and meeting transcripts are captured by Backstory. When an exclusion is configured, Backstory skips any matching activity before it enters the platform, so excluded data is never stored, visualized, or synced to your CRM.
Backstory also supports other types of exclusions:
CRM pull exclusions prevent specific CRM records from being imported into Backstory. See CRM Pull Exclusions for more information.
CRM push exclusions prevent activities already captured in Backstory from syncing back to your CRM. See CRM Push Exclusions for more information.
Note: Managing email and calendar exclusions requires a Backstory administrator account.
What This Article Covers
Email and calendar exclusion types
Adding an email and calendar exclusion individually
Importing email and calendar exclusions via CSV
Editing and deleting email and calendar exclusions
Frequently asked questions
Email and Calendar Exclusion Types
There are three exclusion types:
Email: Blocks a specific email from being captured based on sender, participant, or subject line.
Meeting: Blocks a specific meeting from being captured, based on participant.
Conference: Blocks the transcript and recording of a meeting from being captured, based on participant. The meeting itself (invite metadata) is still captured. Conference exclusions are forward-looking only and do not affect transcripts already in Backstory.
Add an Email and Calendar Exclusion Individually
These steps walk you through creating a single exclusion to prevent a specific email, meeting, or meeting transcript from being captured in Backstory.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under Data Ingestion, click Email and Calendar Exclusions.
Click + Add Exclusion.
Click the Type dropdown and select Email, Meeting, or Conference.
Click the Field dropdown and select the field to filter on.
Enter the value you want to match in the Pattern field. Use * or ? as wildcards.
Click Save.
Note: The Conference type only supports the Any Participant field. To block both a meeting and its transcript for a given participant, create separate Meeting and Conference exclusions.
Import Email and Calendar Exclusions via CSV
Use CSV import to add multiple email and calendar exclusions at once.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under Data Ingestion, click Email and Calendar Exclusions.
Create a CSV file with the following columns: Category (enter "Intake"), Type, Field, and Pattern.
Click Import from CSV.
Select your CSV file to upload.
Edit or Delete an Email and Calendar Exclusion
These steps walk you through updating or removing an existing email and calendar exclusion.
Log into Backstory as an administrator.
Click the grid icon in the top left corner.
Select Admin Panel.
In the left navigation menu under Data Ingestion, click Email and Calendar Exclusions.
Locate the exclusion you want to update.
Click the three-dot menu at the end of that exclusion's row.
Click Edit or Delete.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an email exclusion, a meeting exclusion, and a conference exclusion?
An email exclusion blocks a specific email from being captured. A meeting exclusion blocks a specific meeting from being captured, including its metadata. A conference exclusion blocks only the transcript and recording of a meeting, while the meeting invite information is still captured.
Are patterns case-sensitive?
It depends on the field. Email address patterns are not case-sensitive, but subject line patterns are. If you're filtering on a subject field, add pattern variations to ensure complete coverage.
Can I block an entire email domain?
Yes, but it is not recommended. Broad domain-level exclusions can accidentally block important sales emails. Instead, add exclusions for specific email addresses that are not related to selling.
Should I create exclusions based on a person's name or their email address?
We recommend filtering by email address rather than name. Filtering by name can unintentionally block future prospects or colleagues who share the same name.
Are Conference exclusions retroactive?
No. Conference exclusions are forward-looking only and apply to future meetings. Transcripts and recordings already captured in Backstory are not affected. If you need existing transcript data removed, contact support@backstory.ai.
Need Help?
Contact your CSM or email support@backstory.ai.