Shared Mailbox – General Information, Advantages and Disadvantages of Automapping

• A shared mailbox is the same as a Shared Mailbox (SMB) or delegated mailbox.
• Historically, we still refer to it as a “Funktionspostfach”.
• It is used for collaborative work.
• Personal information is not disclosed to external recipients.

• The shared mailbox is automatically added to your account in Outlook or OWA on the server side.
• It appears in Outlook without needing to be added manually.

• The mailbox appears automatically in Outlook – no manual setup required.
• Users do not need to enter login credentials for the shared mailbox.
• Permission changes take effect immediately.
• Sent messages are sent from your account, and a copy is saved in the SMB.
• Email signatures continue to work.

• Signature cannot be bound to the account – must be selected manually when composing a message.
• Mail merges do not work, as a default account must be selected for them.
• No offline cache.
• Automatic replies cannot be set up (requires opening the mailbox separately in Outlook Web).
• No access to the online archive via Outlook if the mailbox is only added via automapping.
• Search may be slow or incomplete.
• No option for individual authentication or separate audit trails.
• Search function is limited: cannot search in “Current Mailbox”.
• When composing a new email from the shared mailbox, the sender must be selected manually (previously, the mailbox you were in was automatically used as the sender).

SMB Add as Account – Instructions

• Mail merges are possible.
• Signature is automatically selected when composing a message.
• Email throttling.
• Better caching.
• Automatic replies can be set up directly in Outlook.
• Access to the In-Place Archive / Online Archive is possible.
• Separate cache → faster and more complete search.

• Requires manual setup (support effort).