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Version: 5.7

Editing shared mailboxes

Shared mailboxes in BlueMind 5.5 and later are mailboxes that function just like individual user accounts: they have their own calendars, address books, and to-do lists. Thus, shared mailbox calendars can organize meetings with guests, or be invited to meetings organized by third parties.

These boxes have no username, so it is not possible to log into BlueMind on their behalf or to create an account in a thick client: rights (read, write on their behalf, etc.) must be given to users who can then use them in BlueMind or in client software.

Compatible with Outlook, users can consult, use and manage all the elements of the mailbox: calendars, address books, categories, filters, etc.

Share reading status

The read status of a message is specific to the mailbox. Therefore, users share the read status of messages in a shared mailbox: when one of the users reads a message, it is marked as "read" for all other users.

For example, if an email is still marked "unread", this means that no one has read it yet, or that a user has read it and then deliberately set it back to "unread".

Creating​

To create a new shared mailbox:

  1. From the Directories home page, click "Create a shared mailbox" or from the list of directory entries use the button New > Shared mailbox:
  2. Enter the mailbox name in the popup that opens:
    • Name: this is the mailbox's username, and must not contain capital letters or spaces.
      Note: Once the mailbox has been created, the display name can be customized in the "Information" tab to include these characters.
    • Full name: this is generated automatically when you enter your first and last names, and cannot be modified.

    • Hide BlueMind address lists: the mailbox exists but is not visible in autocompletion (webmail dialer or calendar) or in the directory. Its address can still be used by administrators or those who know it.

  3. Click on "Create" for a simple and direct creation or click on "Create & edit" to create the shared mailbox and access the configuration options.

Administration​

General​

This tab shows the mailbox's main parameters:

Account information​

  • Name: the name of the mailbox is assigned when it is created.
    This name can be changed: if changed, the mailbox’s old email address is retained and a new alias is created with the new name (see the Settings section for more information on managing aliases).
    Note: as with its creation, this name must not contain any capital letters or spaces.
  • Delegation: the organizational unit to which the mailbox belongs. For further information see the page Organizational Units and Delegated Administration.
  • Group: like users, shared mailboxes can belong to groups.

    By clicking on the "Modify group membership" link, a popup window allows you to view and modify the groups to which the mailbox belongs:

    To delete a group, click on the corresponding cross; to add one, enter the first letters and validate a choice of those proposed by autocomplete.

General​

Configuration options: language, time zone, date formats, etc.

Information about the shared mailbox​

This tab shows the information that will be displayed on the directory entry for the shared mailbox.

Signature placement

These data can also be used to implement Corporate Signatures.

Here, the administrator can enter information such as telephone numbers and postal addresses, or assign a photo to be used throughout BlueMind (contact sheet, event invitation, etc.).

Who can modify the information?

Contact details belong to the BlueMind internal directory and can be accessed by all users of the solution. For this reason, only an administrator with the appropriate role can modify this information: users, even with full sharing right on the box, cannot modify it.

Settings​

This tab allows you to:

E-mail addresses​

  • Quota: the maximum size the mailbox can reach.
    The space used is indicated by a progress bar. For further information see Managing storage capacity (quota).

  • Hide BlueMind address lists: the mailbox exists but is not visible in autocompletion (webmail dialer or calendar) or in the directory. Its address can still be used by administrators or those who know it.

  • Mail addresses and aliases: the shared mailbox can have as many mail aliases as you like, on any or all of the available domain aliases.

Sharing and delegating​

This section allows you to designate the users or groups who can use the shared mailbox and grant them access rights to all of its applications. In fact, adding a sharing right triggers the same level of access by default for all items in the shared mailbox: the mail app, the "Contacts" and "Collected Contacts" address books, the calendar, and the task list.

This section also allows you to assign delegation rights to specific users or groups.

Add or edit a sharing​
the shared mailbox has full sharing rights and delegation rights over their own mailbox, which cannot be edited or deleted.

Enter the desired user or group, then set:

  1. The sharing right on the mailbox :

    • Can see my mailbox (inactive in Outlook): the designated user or group can view emails, events, contacts and tasks.

    • Can update my mailbox (disabled in Outlook): the designated user or group can add, delete or move emails, events, contacts and tasks.

    • Can update my mailbox and manage sharing: in addition to update right, the designated user or group can manage the sharing rights for applications within the shared mailbox.

    • All rights on the shared mailbox: full sharing with complete delegation; the designated user or group has full rights to edit and share the applications in the shared mailbox and can send emails using the ‘Send as’ option.

      ℹ️ When the 'All rights on the shared mailbox' sharing level is selected, the 'Full delegation right applied' level is automatically enabled and cannot be changed.

  2. The right to delegate :

    • No Delegation: the designated user or group cannot send emails using the shared mailbox’s email address. An ‘Add delegation’ button is available.
    • Write as me (total impersonation): This is the highest level of delegation.
    • Write from me: This is the default option for delegations.
    • The icon indicates that the delegate receives invitations and can reply to them.
    • The icon indicates that the delegate can view private events.
    • Click to access the delegation editing page.
    • Click to remove the delegation.
Inactive on Outlook

Read and modify rights differ from those given to user mailboxes: in the case of shared mailboxes, these rights will not be taken into account by Outlook, which will not allow you to view or write to the name of the mailbox.

Therefore, only the sharing rights "Can edit my mailbox and manage my shares" or "All rights on the shared mailbox" allow a user or member of a delegated group to access the mailbox.

Add or edit a delegation​

Click ‘Add delegation’ or the icon to open the delegation management window:

  • Delegation rights: choose between Write as me and Write from me
  • Receiving invitations: the delegate receives emails inviting them to events or meetings addressed to the shared mailbox and can reply to them.
    Note: This permission requires at least ‘Can edit’ permission; otherwise, the checkbox cannot be ticked.

    💡 Reminder: sharing rights for a shared mailbox’s calendar are at the same level as those applied to email (‘Can see’, ‘Can update’, etc.) and cannot be separated (see above).

  • View private events: the delegate can view the content of events with a 'Private' privacy setting (see Create an event) in the mailbox’s calendar.
    For further information see Can see my private events
Manage the receipt of invitations​

The "Invitations received by the delegate(s)" section allows you to manage the behaviour for delegates for whom the "Receive invitations" box is ticked (see above):

  • Only the delegate(s) will receive the invitation: the shared mailbox will not receive a copy of the invitation email.
  • Both receive the invitation and can reply to it: the delegates and the shared mailbox each receive a copy of the email and can take action regarding the shared mailbox's attendance at the event.
  • Both receive the invitation, but only the delegate(s) can reply: the delegates and the shared mailbox each receive a copy of the email, but the shared mailbox does not have the action buttons to manage their participation; the management of their appointments is entirely delegated.

For further information see user guide pages :

Automatic message forwarding​

Automatic email forwarding transfers all incoming emails to one or more mail addresses.

It is possible to specify several addresses to which emails can be forwarded.

Check the box to activate the transfer and enter a valid e-mail address:

Validate the autocomplete proposal, even if it is identical to the address entered. It is necessary that the blue cartouche with the deletion cross appears:

External transfer

It is possible to add external addresses manually; these will not be added to the address book collected during transfers.

This type of transfer is subject to authorization by the administrators.
For further information see : Mail roles.

Automatic reply​

This section allows you to enable or disable the automatic responder for the shared mailbox.

Complete the fields:

  • Subject (mandatory): subject of the sent email
  • Message (optional): message body
  • Start and end dates (optional)
    • if no start date is specified, auto-reply is enabled as soon as you save the new settings
    • If no end date is specified, the voicemail system remains active until the out-of-office email is turned off

Then click on "Save".

Saving settings

When the automatic reply is turned off, the most recent settings are saved and will be restored when it is turned back on.

Once the auto-reply is enabled, when an email arrives in the mail app, an email is automatically sent to the sender, based on the time period and settings configured.

frequency of automatic replies

Just one away message is sent in reply to a single sender (email address) for every 3-day period.

If the user disables and then enables auto-reply again during that time without editing the subject or the message content, the senders who have already received an automatic reply will not receive a new one – the countdown for the period starts again where it was left off.

Example:

  • User A activates their out-of-office reply
  • They receive an email from User B on day D; an out-of-office email is sent, and the 3-day countdown begins
  • The user deactivates their out-of-office reply on day D+1
  • They receive a new email from B, no out-of-office email is sent
  • the user reactivates their out-of-office reply with the same settings on day 2
  • they then receive an email from B: the out-of-office reply system still considers it to be day 2, so no out-of-office email is sent.

Filters​

This section lets you create and organize rules that apply to incoming mail to the inbox:

The operating principle is identical to that of user filters (see Applying sorting and action filters), but the interface differs. Unlike the user interface, conditional filters cannot be set here: all the criteria entered must be met by an incoming e-mail for a filter to be applied.

Calendar​

The Calendar tab lets you :

  • to access the shared mailbox calendar settings (working days and hours, items displayed, default reminders, etc.):

    ⇒ These settings are similar to those for users. For further information see Setting Calendar Preferences.
  • to manage external sharing of the shared mailbox’s calendar:

    ⇒ This management process is similar to that for users. For further information see Edit users and Share externally.

Maintenance​

External ID​

The field in this section is populated when the mailbox is synchronized with an AD or LDAP account (For further information see the pages LDAP Synchronization and Active Directory Synchronization).
This field can be filled in or modified to force or correct the corresponding box UID in the AD or LDAP directory.

Validate shared mailbox​

This operation groups together a set of operations which check and, if necessary, correct the integrity of the mailbox and its data in the BlueMind system: checking the mailbox in Cyrus, the IMAP folder hierarchy, mail filters, and so on.

Mailbox indexing​

This operation completes the mailbox's current indexing by indexing only the missing elements.

Find out more​

Related BlueMind documentation pages