What is a shared mailbox?
What is a shared mailbox?
A shared mailbox is a generic @utoronto.ca email account that can be accessed by multiple people. It includes a standard UTmail+ inbox (50 GB capacity) with calendar, autoreply, and message forwarding capabilities. Shared mailboxes are not licensed for direct access to the Office suite or cloud-based Microsoft apps like Teams or SharePoint.
Shared mailbox email accounts are typically role-based or project-based. They are recommended in cases where:
- Multiple people need full access at or around the same time
- Account content should be transferable to successive users
- Account content needs to remain in control of the department at all times (e.g. sensitive information an individual should no longer possess after leaving the department)
Alternative options to a shared mailbox
While anyone can send email to a shared mailbox, the inbox is accessible to authorized UTmail+ account holders (U of T staff, faculty, and students) only. External (non-U of T) individuals should not be representing themselves as members of the University by communicating through an @utoronto.ca address.
Cases where a shared mailbox is not recommended include:
- Managing a departmental calendar for a room, piece of equipment, or scheduling such as a vacation tracker. A standalone calendar (called a shared resource calendar) should be used instead.
- Group file storage. For long-term group or departmental file storage, use a SharePoint site instead. SharePoint sites also provide sophisticated access management and file organization tools.
- Bulk mailing (newsletters and other mass communications). UTmail+ shared mailboxes are subject to the standard sending limit of 10,000 total messages in 24 hours. If this limit is too low, consider using the University’s ListServ mailing list service (UTORlist) or a third-party mailer instead. UTmail+ does not yet support distribution lists.
- Personal calendar or inbox sharing. An individual’s personal UTmail+ account can be configured to grant delegate access to colleagues for viewing or managing their calendar or inbox. Delegate permissions can be highly customized and self-managed.
- Personal file storage. Individuals are automatically issued a OneDrive space connected to their personal UTmail+ account for storing personal files. OneDrive files can be shared with others without using up inbox capacity.
- Personal email overflow. If you have reached the capacity of your mailbox, do not request a second mailbox for more space. Instead, UTmail+ offers a mail archiving feature (In-Place Archiving) that frees up space in your personal mailbox while still providing access to older messages.
- Internal collaboration. You may find that a Microsoft Teams space is better suited for real-time communication with its chat, meeting, and filesharing tools.
- Student clubs and organizations. Student groups should contact Ulife to discuss the communication tools available to them.
IT professionals who need to configure an @utoronto.ca email address for a service agent such as a standalone device (e.g. photocopier) or software application (e.g. ticketing system) should contact the Digital Workplace team through ESC to request a service account.