A shared inbox (support@, sales@) is a mailbox multiple people work from, with assignment, status, and collision detection so no message is answered twice or not at all.
What good looks like#
- Done: Assign an owner to every incoming thread automatically or by rule.
- Done: Track status: open, waiting, resolved.
- Done: Set response-time targets and alert on breaches.
- Done: Draft replies with AI using the team's past answers as style reference.
What bad looks like#
- Seen in audits: Sharing one login instead of using delegated access.
- Seen in audits: No visibility into who replied.
How to move from bad to good#
Work through the good list in order and re-verify after each change. Most teams find one or two items from the bad list already present; fixing those usually produces the largest improvement.
Frequently asked questions#
Should we use a shared mailbox or a helpdesk?
Under a few hundred messages a week, a well-managed shared inbox works. Beyond that, ticketing adds needed structure.