What are Shared Mailboxes

Many departments with an email address are now using "Office 365 Shared Mailboxes."

Here are the Microsoft instructions for accessing a Shared Mailbox, and how to send email from it: Open and use a shared mailbox in Outlook - Microsoft Support

• If you are using the Outlook application installed on your desktop (Apple or Windows), completely close Outlook and then re-open it. The shared mailbox should appear below your inbox.

• If you are using the Outlook web app on O365, follow the instructions below.

Permissions

Supervisors should be diligent in requesting access, as well as removing expired access.

To request access to a Department's Shared Mailbox, please have your supervisor open a ticket with IT on your behalf.

Accessing Shared Mailboxes

Browser/Web Access

Once access has been granted by a supervisor, students should access the inbox via their O365 account.

1. Sign in to your North Park email in a browser: https://outlook.com/northpark.edu

2. Click on your picture in the top-right hand corner

3. Select Open another mailbox

4. Type in the name of the mailbox you wish to enter and select Open.

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Windows Outlook Client

Once given permission, Shared Mailboxes should appear automatically in Outlook. If it does not appear after restarting Outlook, follow these steps to add it to the Outlook client.

1. Open Outlook

2. Choose the File tab in the ribbon

3. Choose Account Settings, then select Account Settings... from the menu

4. Select the Email tab

5. Click your own account to highlight it, then choose Change...

6. Choose More Settings > Advanced (tab) > Add...

7. Type the shared email address, such as "info@contoso.com"

8. Choose OK > OK

9. Choose Next > Finish > Close

macOS Outlook Client

Once given permission, Shared Mailboxes should appear automatically in Outlook. If it does not appear after restarting Outlook, follow these steps to add it to the Outlook client.

1. From the Tools menu on the top ribbon, click on “Accounts”

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2. Select: “Delegation and Sharing”

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3. Choose “Shared With Me” at the header of the window, then click the “+” button in the bottom left of the window to add a shared mailbox.

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4. Type the name of your shared mailbox in the search field in the top of the window, then select the desired added mailbox from the list below the search field.

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Sent Items and From Field

Shared mailboxes are different than licensed accounts like your own mailbox, so when you “send as” or “send on behalf of” a shared mailbox, you’re actually sending from your own account, and the message will be saved in your own Sent Items folder.

To also store a copy of sent items in the shared mailbox itself, Information Technology needs to set a couple of parameters. If you notice that sent items are not be preserved in your shared mailbox but they should be, please ask IT to change the sent items parameters for your shared mailbox.

You may also have to adjust the “From” field in your Outlook client. New emails and replies may come from your North Park account or from the Shared Inbox. Settings may vary by which client you’re using, and you may want to check with IT to ensure the settings are correct for the specific inbox.

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Out of Office - Automatic Replies

Automatic Replies allow an inbox to send an Out of Office response to incoming emails. This is helpful for holidays or time away from the office.

These instructions are for Shared Inboxes, but they can also apply to an individual inbox as well.

• To set an Out-of-Office or Automatic Reply message for a Shared Inbox, use the web version of Outlook:

  • https://outlook.com/northpark.edu

• Select your picture/initial icon at the top-right and choose "Open another mailbox"

• Type the Shared Inbox you wish to access.

• While in the Shared Inbox, select the Gear icon in the top navigation and choose "View all Outlook settings"

• In Settings, navigate to Mail > Automatic replies

• Toggle the option to "Turn on automatic replies" and adjust the options for your message and times/dates.
  
  

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• Instructions are also available for setting an automatic Out-of-Office reply from

  • Send automatic replies (out of office) from Outlook - Microsoft Support

  • Send automatic Out of Office replies from Outlook for Mac - Microsoft Support

  • Outlook on the Web: https://outlook.com/northpark.edu

Shared Mailboxes vs. M365 Groups

A shared mailbox is for a department or group who wants to send email to people outside of the group and receive replies to one mailbox that all members of the group can access. IT can create a shared mailbox at your request.

If you want a place for your team to share documents and to communicate via something like a distribution list, then an M365 group is the way to go. You can create an M365 group in Outlook.

If you want all of the above and real-time chat, channels, and video meeting space for your team, then Microsoft Teams is the way to go.

An M365 Group or a Teams space will automatically have “GRP-” prepended to its name and email address.

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