Managing a Shared Mailbox with Infomaniak

Customer support, sales department, front desk: these functions receive emails that need to be handled by multiple people. A shared mailbox lets an entire team manage the same emails without stepping on each other\'s toes. Here\'s how to set it up with Infomaniak.

Create My Infomaniak Mail Account

What Is a Shared Mailbox?

A shared mailbox is an email address (e.g., support@company.com) accessible by multiple users. Each person logs in with their own credentials but accesses the same mailbox. Received emails, sent emails, and folders are shared by everyone.

Difference from Aliases

An alias redirects to a user\'s personal mailbox. A shared mailbox is a real, separate mailbox with its own storage, accessible via delegation.

• Alias: Emails arrive in your personal mailbox, mixed with your other emails
• Shared mailbox: Emails stay in a separate mailbox, viewable by the team

Advantages of a Shared Mailbox

• Service continuity: If a team member is absent, others pick up the slack
• Collective visibility: Everyone sees what has been handled or not
• Centralized history: Conversations stay in the mailbox, not scattered across individual inboxes
• Clear accountability: Clients write to a stable address, not to a person

Creating a Shared Mailbox with Infomaniak

With Infomaniak, you can create a shared mailbox in two ways:

Option 1: Create a Dedicated Mailbox

Create a regular mailbox (support@company.com) then grant access to multiple users via delegation.

Option 2: Use kSuite Groups

If you use kSuite, groups allow you to create collective addresses where all members receive and can respond to the group\'s emails.

Accessing the Shared Mailbox

In Infomaniak Webmail

Once delegation is configured, the shared mailbox appears in the left panel of webmail, below your personal folders. Click on it to access it.

You can:

• Read received emails
• Reply on behalf of the shared mailbox
• Organize emails into folders
• Mark emails as handled

In Outlook

Add the shared mailbox as an additional account or use the "Open another mailbox" feature:

1. File → Account Settings → Account Settings
2. Select your account → Change
3. More Settings → Advanced
4. Add the shared mailbox

The mailbox will appear in your folder panel.

In Thunderbird

Thunderbird does not natively support IMAP shared mailboxes like Outlook. Solutions:

• Add the shared mailbox as a separate IMAP account (if you have the credentials)
• Use Infomaniak webmail for the shared mailbox

Organization and Best Practices

Create Sorting Folders

Organize the shared mailbox with folders that reflect your workflow:

• To process – New unassigned emails
• In progress – Emails awaiting client response or internal info
• Completed – Resolved emails (or archive directly)
• By category – Billing, Technical Support, Sales...

Use Flags and Categories

Flags (stars, flags) allow you to mark emails by status or assignment. Agree on a code with your team:

• Red flag = Urgent
• Yellow flag = Awaiting external response
• Green flag = Ready to close

Avoid Collisions

The risk with a shared mailbox: two people replying to the same email without knowing. To avoid this:

• Move the email to an "In Progress" folder when you take it on
• Mark it with a specific flag
• Communicate internally (kChat, comment) when you take an email

Replying from the Shared Mailbox

When you reply to an email from the shared mailbox, you want the reply to come from the shared address (support@company.com), not your personal address.

In Webmail

If you reply from the shared mailbox, webmail automatically uses the shared address as the sender. Check the "From" field before sending.

In Outlook

When composing a reply, click "From" and select the shared mailbox address. If you don\'t see the "From" option, display it via Options → Show From field.

Appropriate Signature

Create a specific signature for emails sent from the shared mailbox. It can include:

• The department name (rather than a personal name)
• General department contact details
• Optionally, the name of the person replying (to humanize it)

Example:

The Support Team
(Reply by Marie)

Customer Service - ABC Company
support@abc-company.com | +1 234 567 890

Notifications and Tracking

Who Gets Notified of New Emails?

By default, notifications depend on each user\'s configuration. Options:

• Everyone is notified → Risk of multiple replies
• No one is notified → Risk of unprocessed emails
• One person on duty is notified → Must dispatch to others

Find the balance suited to your organization. A best practice: collective notification with a dashboard indicating who handles which email.

Performance Tracking

With a standard shared mailbox, you don\'t have built-in statistics. To track performance (response time, volume handled per person), you\'ll need either a third-party tool or manual tracking.

Practical Use Cases

Customer Service

The support@company.com address receives customer requests. A 3-person team processes emails as they come in. Emails are moved to "In Progress" when taken on, then archived once resolved.

Reception/Front Desk

The contact@company.com address is the company\'s front door. The main receptionist handles emails, but when absent, her colleague takes over seamlessly.

Sales Team

The sales@company.com address receives quote requests. The sales director dispatches requests to sales reps via folders by geographic area or product type.

Limitations of a Shared Mailbox

A shared mailbox is a simple solution but has its limits:

• No automatic assignment: Someone must decide who handles what
• No statistics: Difficult to measure performance
• No workflow: Statuses are managed manually (folders, flags)
• Collision risk: Two people can handle the same email

For advanced needs, consider a helpdesk or CRM solution.

Conclusion

A shared mailbox is a simple and effective solution for teams managing a common email flow. With good organization (folders, conventions, internal communication), it ensures service continuity and centralizes conversations.

Evaluate your needs: for a small volume and a small team, a shared mailbox is sufficient. For high volume or advanced tracking needs, a ticketing solution will be more appropriate.

Create My Infomaniak Mail Account