How to add an Exchange Server Shared Mailbox (on-prem)

Follow these instructions to add your Exchange Server Shared Mailbox to a shared inbox in Front. 

• You need to have Microsoft Exchange administrator to complete the setup.

• You need to be a Front administrator to create a shared inbox in Front.

• Front cannot import email history for user inboxes on Exchange Server. You can leverage Front’s API or use 3rd party solutions to port email history into Front. 

• You will have to continue to leverage Outlook for your calendar needs, as Front’s calendar can only connect to Exchange Online/Office 365 user mailboxes.

Step 1

Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and into the Company settings tab.

Step 2

Click on Inboxes on the left menu and create a new shared inbox.

Step 3

Click Channels on the left menu, then click the Connect a channel button.

Step 4

Choose Microsoft from the list, choose On-premise solution (Exchange server), and select Shared mailbox. Click Continue.

Step 5

Enter in the email address to connect as a channel, then click Continue.

Step 6

Select the inbox to connect to your channel, then click Save. All messages from your channel will route to this inbox by default.

Step 7

Copy the Front forwarding address. Set up forwarding in your Exchange Admin Center (EAC).

Step 8

Navigate back to Front and click Send email to validate the forwarding is set up correctly. If you have trouble validating, please contact us for assistance.

Step 9

Now that we have verified emails can flow into Front, we need to set up a custom SMTP to ensure emails are delivered through your Exchange servers. To do this, you’ll want to go back into your Exchange Admin Console > Recipients > Groups and find the Distribution Group you just connected to Front. *Note that this method will not save a copy of the outgoing email in the Sent folder of the custom SMTP inbox.

Step 10

Set up group delegation by selecting an individual from your team or IT. We will be using this individual’s user credentials to set up the custom SMTP.

Step 11

Go back to Front. In the channel Settings page, scroll down to the Custom SMTP setting. Expand the setting and toggle on Enable.

Step 12

Fill out the Host, Port, Login, and Password fields.

The Host and Port are specific to your hosted Exchange setup so you'll want to reach out to your Exchange administrator for this information.

The Login and Password will match that of the mailbox that was connected. Once done, click Save.

Alternative to Steps 9-12

You can always set up SPF/DKIM instead of using a custom SMTP. This means emails will be delivered through Front's 3rd party mail server - SendGrid and you will not retain a record of your outbound emails on your own server. More information about SPF/DKIM can be found here.

Custom SMTP connections are typically configured using a user's credential for on-prem Exchange shared mailboxes. Once configured successfully, emails sent from that shared mailbox will be delivered through your Exchange servers, but not stored or visible in the sent folder. On the recipient's side, emails will appear as expected - sent from the shared mailbox address.

This feature is available on all plans.

• How to add an Exchange Server User Mailbox

• How to add an Exchange Server Distribution Group