Office 365 combines a number of services including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business and more. One of the biggest advantages of the platform is the integration of these services in an easy to configure manner so they can readily share information. This means that you can use services other than Exchange Online to collaborate with emails.
One feature, for example, that SharePoint Online provides is the ability to create a Site Mailbox for every SharePoint Online Team Site. This shared mailbox can receive and send email directly while be accessed by all team members both from their desktop and on the web.
To set up a SharePoint Online Team Site Mailbox firstly navigate to the Team Site you wish to email enable. Once there, select the option to view the Site Contents. You will of course need the appropriate rights to make any changes within the Team Site.
At the Site Contents page select the option to add an app.
You will then be presented will an extensive list of applications that you can incorporate into a SharePoint Online Team Site. Within that list locate the Site Mailbox
The Site Mailbox will take a few moments to provision. When it is complete, the creator will receive a message in their inbox indicating that the Site Mailbox completion process is complete. It will also provide details of the default email address that can be used to send messages directly to the site. Users of the Team Site will now be able to access the Site Mailbox directly from a web link within the Team Site. They will also see it appear in their desktop Outlook after a short while just like any other Shared Mailbox in Office 365.
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A SharePoint Online Site Mailbox is actually a special sort of Exchange Online Shared Mailbox. The trouble is that its properties cannot normally be viewed in the same manner as a traditional Shared Mailbox. The way to navigate to the administration of the Site Mailbox is to open Outlook on the desktop and right click the user name at the top of the list of inbox. Then from the menu that is displayed select Manage All Site Mailboxes.
This will then open a browser window (to which you maybe prompted to login to Office 365) and navigate to:
https://outlook.office365.com/ecp/teammailbox/teammailbox.slab
Which will display a list of any Site Mailboxes. You can then select a listed Site Mailbox and edit its properties. You can of course also navigate directly to the above URL to manage the Site Mailboxes.
SharePoint Online is a tool within Office 365 that is designed for teams to collaborate with on shared information. Each Team Site within SharePoint Online can support a single Site Mailbox that allows emails to be sent and viewed by any member of the team with access to the site. This Site Mailbox can be accessed via both the web or from the desktop.
Utilising a Site Mailbox is a method of reducing the effect of information siloing within a business. It is a way to ensure that all the information, including emails, is located together in a single location. A Site Mailbox is easy to setup and administer and gives your organisation a lot of flexibility, especially when it comes to working within a team. If you haven't looked into what a Site Mailbox can do then you should as they are free with every SharePoint Online subscription.