Add Shared mailboxes to SharePoint group

Question

Hi.

We created a Document repository on a SharePoint page (new experience), and are creating SharePoint groups to use as distribution groups of the documents, when we have document updates.

Is it possible to add shared mail boxes to the groups instead of only people? This will make it more manageable on a larger scale.

In this case, do we need to make some special setup in the site or in the mail box?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi Laila,

Thanks for your clarification. Now, I understand the situation is:

All departments are using 1 library. Each department may have several shared mailbox (not one shared mailbox for each department). When you want to set up alert for an item, you may need to let several department members to get the notification. However, as one department has several shared mailbox. It’s difficult to add all shared mail box for those departments. You want to create a group which include all shared mailbox in that department. When you create alert, you just need add the group for that department rather than input all shared mailbox one by one.

If the above assumption is correct, the following are my understanding for the scenario:

To let users get the updates notification, we need to set up alert for the item. To set up the alert, we need to use a group which can also be used as mail box. SharePoint Group cannot be used as mail box. We could choose to create Office 365 Group or mail-enabled security group. These two kinds of groups also can add shared mailbox as members. I did a test, added user1 to one shared mailbox, added this shared mailbox to an Office 365 group and mail-enabled security group, set alert for a folder with Office 365 Group and mail-enabled security group, made changes to the folder. However, user 1 didn’t receive any notification for changes in the folder. Then, I set up alert for two files (this is more similar to your requirement), one alert is related to mail-enabled security group. The other is related to Office 365 group. User 1 received the notification which is related to mail-enabled security group.

You may confused, let me explain in this way:

User 1 is a member in a shared mailbox which is called Shared2, Shared 2 is added to an Office 365 group and an mail-enabled security group. Open OWA for user 1 and add Shared2 to folders (open shared mail box). Set up alert for a folder with Office 365 Group and mail-enabled security group. No notifications. Set up alert for two files with these two groups. User 1 can see the notification for the alert related to mail-enabled security group.

So, for your requirement, you could try creating mail-enabled security group in Office 365 admin portal for each department, and then add related shared mailbox as members, set alert for individual files with mail-enabled security groups. Check if users in the department can receive notifications for file changes.

Best regards,

Tim

Answer 2

Hi Laila,

Before giving you some suggestions, could you first let me know more details about your requirement?

1. Is your SharePoint URL like https://domain.sharepoint.com?
2. Do you want to set up alert for that document library, so when documents have changes in it, a shared mail box can receive notification?
3. Do you also want to use this shared mail box to manage members permission in SharePoint Online?

Actually, I will suggest you check Office 365 Group. See if it can achieve your requirement. When we create an Office 365 Group, a related site will be created automatically. Users in this group can collaborate with documents saved in the group site. They also could have conversations with the group email. To learn more, see Learn about Office 365 Groups.

Best regards,

Tim

Answer 3

Hi,

1. Yes.
2. Yes, but the alert has to be on the document level, and to different shared mail boxes, according to the content of the document.

For example, if I have a document about Finance, I need all Finance departments from the company worldwide to receive a notification. We thought of doing it by creating a SharePoint group with the list of shared mail boxes inside. Maybe you have another suggestion.

3. By default all employees have read access to this page, and this is done with an Office 365, I suppose.

The Office 365 group is not applicable for this case. I have a small group that is editing the documents (and this is easy to manage). The problem is to notify the rest of the company about the updates, directing the notifications to the correct groups. 

Regards,

Laila

Answer 4

Hi Laila,

For receive notification part, based on my test, we don't have to add the shared mailbox to a SharePoint group, when you set up alert for a folder/file in the site, just change the Send Alerts To section to that shared mail box. So, changes for the folder/item will send notification to that shared mail box. To learn more, see Create an alert to get notified when a file or folder changes in SharePoint.

Best regards,

Tim

Answer 5

Hi,

yes, this could work in a smaller scale.

The reason I need a group is that I have too many departments that need to be added t receive alerts and in different combinations.

For example, if I have a document of Finance, I will want all people from Finance in each of our Offices and Plants to receive it, which means a lot of shared mail boxes.

If I don't have these mail boxes grouped (e.g. all finance emails, all Master Data, all Manufacturing), and may need to add 15 or 20 different e-mails to each document. Not manageable.

This is why the easiest solution would be to add shared mail boxes to SharePoint groups.

The questions are:

Does SharePoint allow it?

What is the setup to have this work?

Thanks.

Laila