If your team manages a shared email address (such as info@yorkscouts.org.uk, support@yorkscouts.org.uk, or sales@yorkscouts.org.uk), you won't access it via a traditional shared mailbox login. Instead, our organisation uses Google Groups Collaborative Inboxes.

Google Groups provides a central web platform where your entire team can view, track, reply to, and assign incoming emails without stepping on each other's toes.

How to Find Your Shared Inbox

You can access all your shared team mailboxes directly through your internet browser using your regular work credentials.

1. Navigate to groups.google.com.

2. Ensure you are signed in with your corporate work account.

3. Click on My groups on the left-hand navigation menu.

4. Click on the name of the shared mailbox group you want to open (e.g., Customer Support Group).

Quick Guide: How to Use Google Groups as an Inbox

Once you click into your team's group, you will see a dashboard that looks similar to a forum or a shared email queue. Here are the core features you need to know:

1. Assigning Tasks

To prevent two team members from answering the same customer at the same time, you can assign emails to yourself or a colleague.

• Click on an email thread.

• Click the Assign to me button at the top, or click the Assign dropdown to delegate it to a specific team member.

2. Replying to a Sender

When you reply to a message within Google Groups, the response goes back to the external sender using the shared email address—not your personal work email.

• Click Reply all at the bottom of the message thread.

• Type your response and hit Send. The customer will see the email coming from the group address (e.g., info@yorkscouts.org.uk).

3. Resolving and Tracking Conversations

Once an email inquiry has been fully resolved, you can mark it complete to clear it out of the active team queue.

• Click the Mark as resolved button (a small checkmark icon) at the top of the thread.

• You can filter the main queue at any time to show only "Unresolved" messages so your team knows exactly what still needs attention.

Tip for New Users: If you prefer to receive copies of these shared emails directly in your personal Gmail inbox, you can adjust your group subscription settings. On the My groups page, look for the Subscription column next to your group's name and change it to Each email or Digest.