Separate inboxes for individual staff members?

[BLyons]

Hi all! 

A quick organizational question.

Is it typical for each staff member at an organization to have a separate, individual inbox - as well as be a member of a shared inbox for a team?

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @BLyons,

Generally the conversations inboxes are meant to be shared channels and not a replication of an individual's inbox, see here: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/connected-email/choose-an-inbox-connection

Individual inboxes would be connected via Settings > General > Email, while conversations inboxes are meant for team email addresses.

Or to phrase it differently, HubSpot wants individuals to connect and use their usual email client (Gmail, Outlook, Office365).

Also keep in mind that an email that is connected as a personal inbox cannot be used in a conversations inbox. HubSpot does not allow it. You can of course set up alias email addresses for your team members and have them connect these aliases as a conversations inbox.

If you're planning to use these staff member inboxes as shared inboxes, then I'd say go ahead. If you want them to be replacement for an email client, I wouldn't do it. The conversations inbox is designed for anothe purpose (collaboratively working on incoming messages) and lacking some essential features of a personal inbox that Outlook, Gmail and Office365 have, especially when it comes to search, filtering, attachments etc.

Hope this helps!