A shared address for a team: one shared mailbox, a forwarder or a mailing list

E-mail·· 18 views· 4 min read

The short answer: for an address like sales@ or support@ that several people look after, there are three routes. A shared mailbox (a real e-mail account everyone opens with the same password) is best when you need to know what has already been read and answered. A forwarder to each person’s mailbox is enough when they only need to be told. A mailing list is for a group talking among themselves, not for serving customers.

The options side by side

Option Good for What goes wrong
Shared mailbox (sales@ is an e-mail account) Serving customers as a team: everyone sees what came in, what was read and what was answered, and replies go out from sales@. Everyone uses the same password, which must change when someone leaves. You cannot see who replied unless each person signs with their name.
Forwarder from sales@ to each person’s mailbox A few people who only need to know what arrives. Each one gets a copy and nobody knows whether someone else replied. The reply goes out from the personal address. Forwarding outside the domain can end up in spam: forwarded e-mail lands in spam.
Mailing list A group that talks and where everyone should get everything: mailing lists in cPanel. Not made for serving customers: one reply can go to the whole group.
Shared mailbox plus a forwarder One person handles it, another just follows along. Each message sits in two mailboxes and takes space in both. Whoever only follows along should not reply from their own mailbox.

Setting up a shared mailbox, step by step

1 Create the account sales@ in cPanel, under Email Accounts, with a long password you use nowhere else: how to create an e-mail account in cPanel.
2 Add it as a second account in each person’s mail app (computer and phone), always as IMAP. With POP, the first device to download a message can take it away and the others stop seeing it: POP or IMAP.
3 Agree on one simple rule: whoever replies moves the message to an “Answered” folder, or flags it. With IMAP the folders and flags are the same on every device, so colleagues see it straight away.
4 Sign with your name under the team signature, so the customer and your colleagues know who replied: adding a signature to your e-mails.
5 If someone only needs to be told, add a forwarder from sales@ to that person under Forwarders and agree that they do not reply from there.
6 When someone on the team leaves, change the shared mailbox password that same day and give the new one to those who stay: how to change an e-mail account password.
Do not send the shared mailbox password by e-mail or in a group chat. Whoever has it can get into the mailbox from anywhere. Hand it over in person or through a password manager: a strong password and a password manager.
Replying as sales@ without opening the shared mailbox: in Roundcube webmail you can add an identity with the sales@ address (under Settings > Identities; the menu name changes with the version and language) and pick it when you reply. The reply is kept in your own Sent folder, not the team’s, so the shared mailbox is still the best place to answer customers.

Want help setting up the team address? Tell us the address and who will look after it.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Which e-mail addresses a business should create: role addresses and personal ones

Catch-all, forwarders and aliases: the three that get confused

Mailing lists in cPanel: one address for a whole group

How to create an e-mail account in cPanel?

POP or IMAP: which to choose, and what you lose by picking wrong

Forwarded e-mail lands in spam or bounces: why SPF breaks and what to do

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