Shared and Group Mailboxes for Small Teams

Why not just share a password?

The quick way to share info@ is one mailbox with one login that everyone knows. It works until someone leaves, a password is reused elsewhere, or two people reply to the same customer. You cannot tell who sent what, and changing the password means telling everyone again. Each of the options below gives people access with their own sign-in.

Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes

A shared mailbox is a mailbox nobody signs into directly. Instead, named users are given permissions, and it appears in their Outlook alongside their own mailbox.

• Full Access lets someone open the mailbox and read and organise mail.
• Send As lets them send as sales@ itself.
• Send on Behalf shows the message as sent by them on behalf of sales@.

Microsoft says shared mailboxes need no licence up to 50 GB, so they are a cost-effective way to handle role addresses for teams already on Microsoft 365. Sent items, folders and flags are shared, so the team sees what has been dealt with.

Two practical points. Once a user has Full Access, Outlook on the desktop usually adds the shared mailbox to their folder list by itself, while phones need it added by hand or read through Outlook on the web. And when a member of staff leaves, their mailbox can be converted to a shared mailbox, so colleagues keep access to the history without paying for a licence for someone who has gone.

Microsoft 365 Groups and distribution lists

A Microsoft 365 Group comes with its own mailbox-style conversation space, plus a shared calendar and file storage. It suits a project or department that works together beyond email.

A distribution list is simpler: mail to the address is copied to every member's own inbox. Nothing is shared, so it suits announcements more than customer enquiries.

Google Groups and the collaborative inbox

In Google Workspace, a Google Group gives an address that delivers to its members. Turn on the collaborative inbox feature and members can assign conversations to each other, mark them as resolved and see what is outstanding. Gmail delegation is another option, giving a named person access to someone else's mailbox, for example an assistant managing a director's mail.

The simple option: a forwarder

If your team is small and on basic email hosting, a forwarder that delivers sales@ to two or three mailboxes may be all you need. It costs nothing extra. The downside is that each person gets their own copy, so there is no shared view of who has replied. Agree a simple rule, such as copying the others in on replies, so customers do not get two different answers.

How dijitul helps

We set up shared mailboxes, groups, distribution lists and forwarders at £45 an hour + VAT, including the permissions and connecting them to Outlook or Gmail. For ongoing Microsoft 365 administration and user support, our sister site dijitul support provides IT support. Call 01623 650333 or email info@dijitul.uk.

How it works and what it costs

Domains are priced live in the client portal. DNS management and 10 mailboxes are included with dijihost Complete Hosting at £1 a day + VAT. On their own, DNS and email set-up is £45 an hour + VAT or a fixed quote.

1. Tell us what you have

   Your domains, who they are registered with, where your DNS and email live today, and what you want to change.

2. Plan the change

   We list every DNS record and mailbox first, so nothing is forgotten, and agree a time to switch.

3. Make the switch

   Transfers, nameserver changes, DNS records and mailbox moves, done carefully with low TTLs and a rollback plan.

4. Check it works

   We test the website, email delivery, SPF, DKIM and DMARC from the outside before calling it done.

5. Look after it

   Renewals, records and email stay looked after, and you can call a person when something changes.

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