We’ve upgraded the EmailAnalytics integration for Outlook shared mailboxes. You can now see which team member answered each email sent from a Microsoft 365 shared mailbox like support@, sales@ or info@, plus each agent’s reply count and average response time.
Here’s what changed, how it works, and how to turn it on.
The problem with shared mailboxes
Shared mailboxes are the easiest way to give a team one address. They’re also a reporting blind spot. Every reply goes out as support@, so Outlook can tell you what’s in the mailbox but not who answered it. You can’t see who is carrying the load, who is slow to reply, or which emails sat too long. Microsoft 365 doesn’t include a report for this.
What the upgraded integration shows
- Replies per agent. Every email sent from the shared mailbox is credited to the person who wrote it.
- Response time per agent. Average and individual response times for each team member working the mailbox.
- Response time for the whole mailbox. How quickly customers who email your team address get an answer.
- Automatic discovery. EmailAnalytics finds the shared mailboxes in your Microsoft 365 tenant, and you choose which ones to track and which agents work each one.
Your team doesn’t install anything or change how they work. They keep answering email in Outlook, Outlook on the web or the Outlook mobile app.
How EmailAnalytics knows who replied
When an agent sends an email from a shared mailbox, Outlook saves a copy in that agent’s own Sent Items folder by default. EmailAnalytics matches each email sent from the shared mailbox against those Sent Items, which is how it credits the reply to the right person even though the customer only sees support@.
If an agent’s shared mailbox emails aren’t showing up in their own Sent Items, this guide explains the two common causes and how to fix them.
How to set it up
- Connect Microsoft 365. Sign in to EmailAnalytics with Microsoft and add the shared mailbox and each agent’s mailbox. Agents need Full Access and Send As permissions on the shared mailbox.
- Discover your shared mailboxes. Open the Shared Mailbox settings, click Configure, then click Discover. EmailAnalytics scans your tenant for shared mailboxes.
- Choose what to track. Select the shared mailboxes to onboard and assign the agents who work each one.
Your data syncs in 1 to 10 minutes, with up to two years of email history. The full setup guide walks through each step.
Try it on your shared mailbox
You can try EmailAnalytics free for 14 days. For the full overview, including how it compares with help desk software, see Outlook shared mailbox analytics, or start your free trial.
Jayson is a long-time columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur, BusinessInsider, Inc.com, and various other major media publications, where he has authored over 1,000 articles since 2012, covering technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship. He keynoted the 2013 MarketingProfs University, and won the “Entrepreneur Blogger of the Year” award in 2015 from the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. In 2010, he founded a marketing agency that appeared on the Inc. 5000 before selling it in January of 2019, and he is now the CEO of EmailAnalytics and OutreachBloom.
