Office 365 Shared Mailboxes: Everything You Need to Know

A Shared Mailbox in Office 365 is a mailbox that multiple users can access and use to send and receive email messages. Shared mailboxes are typically used for collaboration among teams or departments where multiple people need access to the same email messages.

In most cases, a shared mailbox does not require a license, and thus it will not cost you anything. However, any user having access to the shared mailbox must have an appropriate license, such as the Microsoft Business Basic license.

Some common use cases for shared mailboxes in Office 365 include:

• Customer Service: Customer service executives can use a shared mailbox to receive and respond to customer inquiries and support requests.
• Human Resources Departments: a shared mailbox can be used to receive job applications and candidate resumes.
• Project Teams: A project team can use a shared mailbox to receive project-related emails and communicate with team members.

The Basics

When you create a shared mailbox in Office 365, you can give permissions to specific users or groups of users to access the mailbox. Users can then access the shared mailbox in Outlook or through the Outlook Web App (aka Outlook on the Web) using their own credentials.

Shared mailboxes in Office 365 do not have their own login credentials or separate passwords. However, in certain circumstances, they do require an Office 365 license to be assigned to them.

Use Cases for Office 365 Groups and Shared Mailboxes

You should use Office 365 groups when the collaboration between team members is more involved, and requires sharing of documents, frequent online meetings, messaging, tracking multiple issues, collaborating with persons outside of organization, and more.

For example, if you are an architecture firm having undertaken a big project for a client, you probably need:

• A SharePoint Library for document management
• A shared calendar
• Microsoft Teams for quick messaging and meetings
• Granular access control mechanism
• Provision of automated backup
• Above requirements can be met by Office 365 Groups but not by shared mailboxes.

On the other hand, there are several scenarios where a shared mailbox may be more desirable than an Office 365 Group:

Email-centric collaboration: If your team primarily collaborates through email, a shared mailbox may be more appropriate than an Office 365 Group. Shared mailboxes are designed specifically for email collaboration, and they provide a centralized location for team members to access and respond to emails.

Limited team size: If you have a small team that only needs to collaborate on email messages, a shared mailbox may be a simpler and more efficient solution than an Office 365 Group.

No need for advanced features: If your team does not require the advanced collaboration features provided by Office 365 Groups, such as shared calendars or Microsoft Teams integration, a shared mailbox may be a more streamlined and straightforward solution.

Read-only access: If you need to provide read-only access to a mailbox, a shared mailbox is a better option than an Office 365 Group. With a shared mailbox, you can give users access to view email messages without giving them full permissions to modify or delete messages.

Specialized use cases: Shared mailboxes may be more appropriate for certain specialized use cases, such as customer service teams that need to respond to emails from a centralized mailbox or departmental mailboxes that need to be accessed by multiple users.

In summary, while Office 365 Groups offer more advanced collaboration features than shared mailboxes, there are still several scenarios where a shared mailbox may be more appropriate or efficient. Ultimately, the choice between a shared mailbox and an Office 365 Group will depend on the specific needs and requirements of your team.

An Example of Use of Shared Mailbox

Let us say there is a team of customer support executives. All team members have licensed mailboxes. We also have a shared mailbox for them which is help@example.com.

Here are a few examples of how this setup can be used:

• Managing customer inquiries: The help@example.com shared mailbox can be used to receive and manage customer inquiries, such as support requests or product inquiries. The team members can all have access to the mailbox and work together to respond to customer inquiries, ensuring that customers receive timely and consistent support.
• Team collaboration: The team members can use the shared mailbox to collaborate on customer inquiries and share information and insights with each other. They can use the mailbox’s features, such as tags and folders, to organize and prioritize their work and ensure that all inquiries are properly handled.
• Out-of-office coverage: If one of the customer service executives is out of the office or unavailable, the others can use the shared mailbox to manage their inquiries and ensure that customer support remains uninterrupted. This can help to provide better customer service and ensure that customers receive timely and responsive support.
• Escalation management: If a customer inquiry requires escalation to a manager or higher-level support team, the team members can use the shared mailbox to coordinate the escalation and ensure that the customer receives the appropriate level of support. They can use the mailbox’s features, such as message tagging, to identify and prioritize inquiries that require escalation.
• Performance tracking: The help@example.com shared mailbox can be used to track customer service performance metrics, such as response time and resolution rate. The team can use the mailbox’s features, such as message tags and folders, to categorize and track inquiries, providing valuable data that can be used to improve customer service processes and procedures.

So, a shared mailbox for customer service executives can provide a centralized location for managing customer inquiries, facilitating team collaboration, providing out-of-office coverage, managing escalations, and tracking performance metrics. It can help to improve customer service processes and ensure that customers receive timely and consistent support.

Summary

A shared mailbox in Office 365 can be a useful feature for teams or departments that need to manage a common email address. Shared mailboxes have benefits such as no separate license required, multiple users can access simultaneously, and can be used with automation tools such as Microsoft Power Automate.

Useful Links

• What is Microsoft Intune?
• Learn about Microsoft Intune
• Microsoft Intune Core Capabilities