Contents
Overview of Exchange shared mailboxes
A shared mailbox on Exchange is a mailbox used by more than one person. At UD, these mailboxes are often used for generic addresses for departments, centers, programs, or offices to use in publications, or used so that more than one person may monitor and respond to inquiries. You must use Microsoft Outlook to connect to an Exchange shared mailbox. Microsoft Outlook is available for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android OS, and through a web browser.
It's important for departmental IT staff to understand, however, that Exchange shared mailboxes are really exactly like a user mailbox, only the user object has been disabled.
A full or calendar only Microsoft Exchange account is required to access a shared mailbox on Exchange. This is a Microsoft requirement, not a UD requirement.
When IT creates a shared mailbox (e.g., example-mailbox@udel.edu), they create an Active Directory Security Group for the mailbox (e.g., example-mailbox shared mailbox group). Other users are then added to this group, and the group is granted full access rights to the shared mailbox. Anyone who access a shared mailbox on Exchange should use their own email address and password to access the shared mailbox.
Requesting shared mailboxes
You request a shared mailbox by submitting a request form. When you request a shared mailbox, you must specify the following:
- The desired address for the shared mailbox. Do NOT include "@udel.edu" or a "ud-" preface. The list name must be at least 9 characters or contain a hyphen. Spaces and underscores are not permitted. Examples: HREmployment or housing-info.
- Whether the address is already in use elsewhere (e.g., a Google Group).
- The display name of the mailbox (e.g., "Accounting Department" or "Financial Aid Applications").
- List of people who can approve access changes to the shared mailbox.
- List of people who should have access to them mailbox.
- Purpose of the shared mailbox.
IT Pros should use the IT Pro New SMB Request button on the request form, and will also need to include the OU location for the security group for the shared mailbox.
Access changes may also be requested using the Access Change Request button on the request form.
When you are granted access to an Exchange Online shared mailbox, you can configure it for use in Outlook (Windows, MacOS, and mobile), and you can access it with a web browser.
Shared mailbox for student workers: An example
IT Pros should note that delegating an individual calendar access to a shared mailbox does NOT grant all users of that mailbox access to that calendar. Instead, users have to delegate access to their calendar to a shared mailbox group.
The Department of Wizardry employs several students to work at a reception desk in their front office. The students answer the phones and have access to a departmental events calendar and several meeting room calendars. They make appointments for some of these and only view appointments on others. Additionally, several faculty and professional staff members would like the students working at the front desk to be able to view or edit their personal calendars.
IT would do the following:
- Create a shared mailbox called WZRD-FrontDesk.
- Create a security group called WZRD-FrontDesk Shared Mailbox Group.
- Give the above group access to the above mailbox.
- Add students employees to the group.
When Outlook is configured on the Desktop computer, the profile specifies the shared mailbox, but students log in with their own credentials (UDelNet ID/password). Users can also log in to https://outlook.office.com/mail/WZRD-FrontDesk@udel.edu using their UDelNet ID and password.
Calendar and meeting room permissions specify "WZRD-FrontDesk Shared Mailbox Group" to have read/edit access as appropriate (i.e., NOT the WZRD-FrontDesk mailbox - it must be a group).
Faculty and staff also specify the group when setting permissions on their personal calendars.
Next step: Connecting to Shared Mailboxes