Shared mailbox: everything you need to know about it

Shared mailbox: everything you need to know about it

Shared mailboxes are a great way to get organized within a team or a company. A shared mailbox allows multiple users to access a mailbox and the messages going in and out of it. However, it is administered by only one user, called the owner.

When do you need a shared mailbox?

A shared mailbox makes sense especially if generic email addresses, such as info@, hr@, sales@ or support@, are to be managed. In most cases, the mailboxes behind such email addresses can be accessed by several people in a department or company.

Furthermore, a shared mailbox offers the chance to share your mailbox with other people, such as assistants or colleagues. This makes it easier to delegate the answering and organization of emails.

Project organization can also be simplified enormously with a shared mailbox. This way, everyone receives the same email. If a mail is answered from the mailbox, it is also saved in the mailbox with the corresponding configuration. Thus, everyone always has the same level of knowledge.

But not only projects, also the receipt of customer inquiries in sales and support or applications in the personnel department can be organized optimally via shared mailboxes.

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Advantages of a shared mailbox

Using a shared mailbox comes with some advantages:

• Projects, applications or customer inquiries can be processed in a more structured manner.
• Responsibility lies with several people who have access to the mailbox. This means that no communication is lost in the event of unexpected absences.
• Only explicitly selected users have access to the mailbox.
• Each user of the mailbox has the same level of knowledge and access to the communication taking place.
• It is easier to delegate the answering and organization of emails (e.g. to assistants or colleagues).
• When replying to an email, the mailbox address (e.g. info@) is also the sender address and there is no need to reply with a personal email address.
• Uniform communicative appearance to the outside world.

However, with all the advantages, there are also a few points to consider.

This should be considered during use

Especially in bigger groups, there is often a "someone else will surely take care of it" mentality. It can happen that everyone relies on the other person, which means that emails are not answered promptly. Yet a quick response, especially in support or sales, is a crucial factor for customer satisfaction or even closing a deal.
An automated workflow and the assignment of emails or tasks can easily remedy this.

Summary

The access of several users to one e-mail address brings many advantages, be it communicative or organizational. The organization of shared mailboxes is simple, and the clear responsibility of one owner means that technical changes or settings cannot easily be made by users.