A Shared Mailbox is an email address that multiple people can log into and manage. While the mailbox has its own password, users with access to the shared mailbox will log in using their personal credentials.
A Distribution Group is an email address that, when sent to, delivers the message to multiple recipients' inboxes. Distribution groups have no centralized location for mail, but managers of the group can reply to messages as the group’s email address rather than as themselves.
Note: IT will continue to create and centrally manage Distribution Groups, rather than allowing users to create their own at groups.google.com. To modify recipients of a group you manage, IT will grant you access at pages.emerson.edu/myaccount/groupmanagement. Some distribution lists will have restrictions on who can and can't send to them—those who manage that level of access will be the only users of groups.google.com.
If you managed a shared mailbox or distribution list in Exchange we migrated your access. See below for how to access and manage them.
Accessing shared mailboxes
If you have access to a shared mailbox, simply click on your user icon in the top right and you will see it there. Clicking on the email will open it in a new tab.
Adding someone to a shared mailbox
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If you know the password for a shared mailbox and want to add someone to it, first log in to the shared mailbox. Once logged in, open up Settings and go to the Accounts tab.
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Under Accounts within "Grant access to your account" click Add another account.
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In the pop-up window, type in the user's email address and click Next Step.
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The popup will ask for final approval, click Send email to grant access. The user will receive an email where they need to follow the Accept link.
Send as permission
Note: If you are in a distribution group and want "Send As" permission, please put in a ticket at helpdesk@emerson.edu.
If you are a part of a shared mailbox and want "Send As" permission:
- Log in to your account and navigate to the same Accounts tab as above.
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Within "Send mail as" click Add another email address.
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In the pop-up window, add the name you wish to send as for Name and the email address below that. Then click Next Step.
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It will ask you to send a verification message to the "send as" email address. Whoever has access to that email needs to click the Accept link in the email for you to receive "send as" access.
Now that you have the ability to send as a shared mailbox, to actually do so is very easy. When composing a new email, you will see a dropdown box where you can choose to send as yourself or the shared mailbox.
Sending to a distribution group
Sending to a distribution group in Gmail is super simple! Just type the email of the group in the To field and Gmail will send it to every member of the group.
Adding a shared calendar
If you previously accessed a shared calendar, it should appear automatically. However if not, follow these steps to add it.
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Navigate to your calendar.
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On the left-hand side, you will see space under Other Calendars to type in a calendar to add.
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If you have access to the calendar and can see the events, you are all set. However, if you can only see "busy" for events, you will need to request access.
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If you have the password for the shared mailbox, log in to the mailbox and navigate to the calendar (as previously mentioned). Then in the dropdown box next to the name of the calendar, click Calendar settings.
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Under the Share This Calendar tab, you will see "Share with specific people." Type in the email address of the person you want to add and choose the permissions you want to give them in the dropdown menu to the right of their name. Don't forget to Save!
Now you should see the shared calendar.
Contact delegation permissions
The Google Learning Center has a great guide on delegating contacts. Learn more here.