Team inbox: unifying communication and collaboration

Transforming team communication in 2023: Discover seamless messaging, task management, and project management with our team inbox solution.

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What’s a team inbox?

A team inbox, also known as a shared inbox, is a game-changing collaborative email management system designed to empower your team. With team inboxes, your team members can seamlessly manage and respond to incoming emails.

Unlike traditional email setups where each message is confined to a single recipient, our shared inbox solution grants access to multiple team members within your organization, fostering an environment of efficiency and cooperation.

Use Freshworks team inbox to collaborate and improve team collaboration -

  • Email accounts

  • Gmail or Google groups

  • Automation of repetitive tasks

  • CRM Integration

  • Custom APIs

  • WhatsApp

  • Outlook

  • Distribution lists

  • SMS

  • Live chat

  • Knowledge base

  • Ticketing system

  • Analytics

  • Messenger

A workspace that makes your agents want to come to work

Customer support can be stressful, whether from home or office. Team Inbox makes an agent's workday easier with an intuitive interface with well-thought-out features.

Features of team inbox

An agent’s workspace is a big part of their workday. So we’ve built Team Inbox keeping them in mind, packed with features that seem small but make a big difference to their efficiency and productivity.

Prioritize quickly

Filter messages based on the response time due on them.

Collaborate with ease

Bring in a teammate better suited to answer a customer problem. Assign one conversation at a time or do it in bulk.

Move faster

Save time and respond faster with pre-saved replies.

Save more time

Assign, respond, and resolve conversations in one shot.

Make it your own

Localize your Team Inbox to a language that you are comfortable with.

It’s so good we use it too!

Freshworks supports thousands of businesses from the same Team Inbox they use.

Setting up of team inbox

Setting up a team inbox involves several steps to ensure efficient email management and collaboration among team members. Here’s a simple process to set up your shared inbox -

Choose an email management tool

Pick an email management tool that supports team inboxes, such as Gmail or Google Workspace, Freshdesk, Outlook, Hiver, or a specialized collaborative inbox that fits within your budget.

Easy access to your shared inbox

Set access permissions for all your team members to access the shared mailbox easily. The team inbox is just a click away in your email tool's side panel, where you can find all your business emails, SMS, and customer conversations awaiting a response.

Manage messages effortlessly

Take control of your communications. Respond directly to customer queries or messages, assign them to yourself or colleagues, or even re-route them to a different team if needed. It's all at your fingertips. Our system ensures that assigned team members receive timely notifications and stay on top of their inboxes to prioritize conversations. Messages that need no further action can be archived, marked as spam, or moved to the bin.

Swift closure

When your response is ready, a simple click on the 'Send & Close' button delivers the email to the customer and neatly wraps up the assignment.

Stay in the loop

Even after closure, our system keeps you updated. If a new reply comes in, and the conversation reappears in the assigned team member's inbox, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. Don't worry; only the assigned team member(s) receive notifications for new replies.

Multiple channels. One inbox.

Manage and reply to conversations from one workspace, regardless of the channel, including social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat, Slack, LINE, website, mobile app, and more.

No alt-tabbing. Just dabbing.

Stop switching between screens to get information about the customer. Team Inbox empowers agents with all the context they need in one place using native and third-party app integrations.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a team inbox?

A team inbox is a shared email address that is used by a group of people to collaborate on tasks and communicate with customers or clients. It is a central location where all emails sent to the address are received and can be viewed and responded to by any member of the team.

2. How do I create a team inbox?

Creating a shared inbox is simple -

-Choose the right tool: Select an email management tool or software that supports team inboxes. Examples include Google Workspace, Outlook, Hiver, or specialized shared inbox software.

-Create or configure: Within your chosen tool, create a shared mailbox or a team-specific email account, or designate an existing one as your team inbox. Set access permissions for team members.

-Define roles: Assign roles within your team, such as inbox manager, responders, and reviewers, to ensure smooth coordination.

-Set up routing: Configure email routing rules to direct relevant emails to your team inbox based on criteria like keywords, sender addresses, or specific addresses.

-Customize and automate: Implement tagging or labeling for the organization and create automation rules to streamline tasks like assigning emails and sending automated responses.

3. How do you manage a team inbox effectively?

There are a few things you can do to manage a shared inbox effectively -

-Create clear guidelines for how the team inbox should be used. This includes things like who is responsible for responding to emails, how emails should be prioritized, and how long it should take to respond to emails.

-Use a team inbox management tool. This type of tool can help you assign emails to team members, track the status of emails, and generate reports on team performance.

-Set up rules and filters to automate tasks. For example, you can set up a rule to automatically move all emails from a particular customer to a specific folder from your help desk.

-Regularly monitor the team inbox and make adjustments as needed. For example, if you notice that a lot of emails are going unanswered, you may need to adjust your team's workflow or add more team members.

4. What is the purpose of a team mailbox?

The purpose of a team mailbox is to improve communication and collaboration within a team. By having a shared email address, team members can easily communicate with each other and with customers or clients. This can help to speed up response times and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

5. What are the pros and cons of team inbox?

Here are some of the pros and cons of team inboxes -

Pros:

-Improved communication and collaboration

-Increased efficiency and productivity

-Better customer service

-More transparency and accountability

-Easier to track and manage email conversations

Cons:

-Difficult to manage if the team is large or if there is a high volume of email traffic

-Lead to information overload if team members are not careful

-Difficult to maintain privacy and confidentiality

6. What is the difference between a team inbox and a personal inbox?

A team inbox is a shared email address that is used by a group of people, while a personal inbox is an email address that is used by one person. Team inboxes are typically used for work-related communication via shared inbox tools, while personal inboxes are used for personal communication.

7. What are the benefits of using a team inbox?

There are many benefits to using a team inbox, including -

-Improved communication and collaboration: Team inboxes make it easy for team members to communicate with each other and with customers or clients.

-Increased efficiency and productivity: Team inboxes can help streamline workflows and make it easier for team members to manage their email.

-Better customer service: Team inboxes can help to improve customer service by ensuring that all customer emails are responded to promptly.

-More transparency and accountability: Team inboxes make it easier to track who is responsible for responding to emails and to ensure that all emails are responded to.

-Easier to track and manage email conversations: Team inboxes make it easier to track and manage email conversations, especially those that involve multiple team members.

8. What are some of the features of the team inbox?

Some of the features of team inboxes include -

-Shared email address: Team inboxes have a shared email address that can be used by all team members.

-Email assignment: Team inboxes allow team members to assign emails to each other.

-Email tracking: Team inboxes allow team members to track the status of emails, such as whether they have been opened, read, or responded to.

-Email reporting: Team inboxes can generate reports on team performance, such as the average response time to emails.

-Collaboration tools: Some shared inbox software tools also include collaboration tools, such as the ability to add comments and notes to emails.

9. What are some advantages of a team inbox?

-Efficient collaboration: Team members can collaborate effectively on emails, preventing communication silos.

-Enhanced productivity: Centralized email management reduces response times and prevents duplicated efforts.

-Clear accountability: Assign emails to team members, ensuring clear ownership and timely follow-up.

-Streamlined organization: Categorize and prioritize emails for easy access and task management.

-Automation for efficiency: Automate repetitive tasks, like email routing and responses, to save time.

-Integration and insights: Seamlessly integrate with other tools and gain valuable analytics for improved decision-making.

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