Quick answer: If your team already works in Google Workspace and needs to assign and close incoming conversations, test a Google Groups Collaborative Inbox. If it works in Microsoft 365 and needs a common address that several licensed users can read and reply from, test a shared mailbox. Neither setup makes a lead owner or response deadline appear by itself. Choose the native route that your team can operate, then test the awkward cases.
Scope: This is a source-based workflow comparison for a small service team’s enquiries, not a controlled product test. Features and eligibility depend on your account configuration. Check your administrator settings and current plan before changing a live address.
Decide what the address must do
Write down four requirements before creating another inbox: who receives a new request, who may reply as the business, how another person can tell it has been handled, and what happens when the owner is absent. Also decide where the customer and job record lives. An inbox is a conversation channel; it does not replace a CRM when you need separate opportunities, stages or future tasks.
Compare the two native routes
On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see all columns.
| Decision | Google Groups Collaborative Inbox | Microsoft 365 shared mailbox |
|---|---|---|
| Best starting point | Team already uses Workspace and wants to take, assign and resolve group conversations. | Team already uses Microsoft 365 email and wants several people to monitor and send from one address. |
| Ownership signal | Groups can assign a conversation and mark it complete or no action needed when permissions are set. | Agree on a team convention or companion task record for ownership; mailbox access alone does not define an owner. |
| Access to check | Group membership, conversation history and metadata moderation permissions. | Exchange plan, named member access and Send As or Send on Behalf permission. |
| Before going live | Test who can take, assign and close an external enquiry. | Test who can read, send and see sent replies, including on mobile if used. |
Google documents taking, assigning and marking conversations complete in Collaborative Inbox groups, with appropriate permissions and conversation history enabled. Microsoft documents shared mailboxes for common addresses and separate access and sending permissions. The table describes workflow fit, not measured speed or reliability.
Run one like-for-like enquiry exercise
Illustrative case: A three-person repair company receives requests at hello@example.com. A customer asks about a job outside the usual area. The coordinator is away the next morning. In either system, the team needs to identify the owner, send a useful reply, preserve the conversation and hand the next action to the covering colleague. No real customer message was used for this example.
- Send a clearly marked test request from an external address you control. Confirm the team can see it without forwarding a personal inbox.
- Give the request to one named owner. In Google, test the assignment controls. In Microsoft, use the team’s agreed visible marker or task record and check that all relevant members can see it.
- Reply from the public business address. Check what the recipient sees and whether a colleague can find the sent reply.
- Have the owner step away. Can the covering person tell what was promised, what is still open and where the next action lives?
- Remove the test from the active queue after recording the result. If any step fails, fix access or the operating rule before routing live enquiries there.
Know the limits before you migrate
A Google Group may require an administrator to enable Groups for Business; group owners or managers then configure the inbox and the right moderation permissions. A Microsoft shared mailbox requires a Microsoft 365 business plan with Exchange email. Microsoft says a shared mailbox is for people inside the organisation and is not intended for direct sign-in with its own user account. Give named users the necessary permissions rather than circulating a mailbox password.
For Microsoft, check whether sent copies are visible to the whole team; Microsoft provides a sent-items setting. For Google, test the actual take, assignment and completion states in your group. Do not assume an existing distribution list has those operating states.
Choose the operating rule as well as the tool
Document the public address, backup owner, response window, handoff marker and where the customer/job record is kept. If the work often branches into several jobs per customer, read our shared inbox versus CRM decision guide. If one team’s replies are being lost, use the lead follow-up process to set owners and stop rules before adding more software.
Sources and limits: Google Collaborative Inbox setup, Microsoft shared mailbox overview and settings; checked October 2, 2026. No account-side trial, deliverability test or price comparison was performed.
Useful detail: Look for the reply in the shared Sent Items
Microsoft documents that messages sent as or on behalf of a shared mailbox may be saved in the sender’s own Sent Items instead of the shared mailbox.
Include sent-copy visibility in the pilot. The next colleague needs to see the reply, not just the original incoming email.
Try this:
- Send a clearly marked test reply from the shared identity.
- Ask another authorized colleague to find it in the shared mailbox.
- If it is missing, have the mail administrator review the sent-item-copy configuration and repeat the test.
Source: Microsoft Exchange: shared mailbox sent items. Checked October 3, 2026. The practical check is a PSL suggestion.
