Where does the email get filed at each stage of the response process?.How quickly are users expected to respond?.Who is responsible for responding to emails and when? Will you take turns by time zone, by day, by product line?.The biggest mistake companies make is to add users to a shared email without explaining what happens and who is responsible for each step of the process. By creating organization and communicating expectations to your users, you can maximize the odds of shared mailbox success. Shared mailboxes are a simple and effective way to manage inquiries and responses, but they lack the structure and standardization that comes with most support, project management, sales, and accounting systems. 5 Best practices for monitoring group emails Every member in the shared mailbox must have their own Microsoft 365 user license, but beyond that, this feature is free to use. Outlook shared mailboxes are setup by a Microsoft 365 global admin or Microsoft partner. For example, an email would look like it came from instead of Shared mailbox Outlook setup The main advantage of a shared mailbox is that emails, contacts, and calendars can be centrally stored and accessed, making communications easier to monitor.Īlso, when a user responds to a message, the email is sent from that same shared mailbox address – rather than from their individual email address. In an earlier post, we covered the differences between email aliases, shared mailboxes, and email distribution lists.

For simple processes, you may be able to avoid using third-party systems.

You’re able to collaborate efficiently without incurring the cost of additional user licenses.

Everyone can see the email thread and see which emails still need responses.

It’s less likely for emails to slip through the cracks.

Some of the advantages of using a shared email address are: Companies often use shared email addresses for centralized business functions such as: Shared mailboxes can be used either instead of – or in addition to – sending an email to a CRM (customer relationship management), project management, or accounting system. This post is part of our Mastering Microsoft 365 series What is a shared mailbox?Ī shared mailbox is a way to allow multiple Microsoft 365 (Office 365) users to send and receive emails from a central email address such as or Each person who is part of the shared mailbox can receive emails and reply as the email alias.

Open shared inbox outlook