Essentially, it’s an email folder you can invite multiple people to use. If your team is using Outlook and needs basic shared inbox functionality, creating a shared mailbox in Outlook may be a good choice. Help Scoutīest shared inbox for providing customer support.īest for very small teams that are already using Outlook. If it’s time for your team to upgrade to a shared inbox, start your search by comparing the seven shared inbox tools below. The first time any of these situations arise, it may be time to start looking at shared inbox options. These are all meaningful clues that your team is in need of a better solution. There is no easy way to assign things to specific users or add notes and comments without forwarding emails to different teammates. You’re struggling to create a schedule for your team because you have no reporting insights into the volume of emails you receive, how fast your team responds, who’s responding to what, or how happy your customers are with the responses they’re reading.Your customers regularly send follow-up emails to ask about questions/requests they sent in that didn’t receive a response after a few days.You don’t know who handled a customer support issue, and it takes some digging to identify the person and the solution they offered.Team members have replied to the same customer email with duplicate or contradictory input.There are several signs that it’s time to consider adopting a shared inbox tool:

If you’re running into issues with efficiency, working over each other when trying to collaborate, or need more sophisticated reporting tools, it’s probably time to upgrade to a shared inbox. The Pros and Cons of Free Help Desks + 5 Options to Consider The 7 best shared inbox tools There are several different types of tools that allow multiple members of a team to access and manage email sent to a single email address, such as Each tool has its own set of features and, in some cases, limitations: The different types of shared email tools Instead of forcing your email into a role it was never designed for, consider the benefits of a shared inbox tool - software deliberately created to enable great customer service. As your company and support volume grow, they often create more problems than they solve, leaving employees frustrated and customers itching for a better experience. However, it’s important to remember that distribution lists and shared mailboxes aren’t built for customer service.

After all, it’s simple - everyone knows how to use email - and it’s inexpensive. When your business is small and you have a low volume of support requests, using a distribution list or shared Gmail or Outlook mailbox may be an effective way to handle customer service.

What is a shared mailbox