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

Follow these instructions to add your Exchange Server User Mailbox to your individual workspace in Front.

• You need to have Microsoft Exchange admin permissions to complete the setup.

• 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, then select personal settings in the left sidebar. Admins can also access user settings by following these steps.

Step 2

Click Inboxes in the left menu and create a new individual inbox.

Step 3

Click Channels in 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 Individual 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.

Now that we have verified that your new emails will flow into Front, we need to set up a custom SMTP to ensure the emails you send through Front are delivered through your Exchange servers.

Step 9

To do this, you’ll want to go back into your Exchange Admin Console. Go to Recipients and then Groups and find the Distribution Group you just connected to Front.

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 User Mailbox that was connected. Once done, click Save.

Alternative to Steps 9-12

Instead of setting up custom SMTP to send messages through your own server, you can also send emails through Front's server, SendGrid, instead. After custom SMTP is configured for your user mailbox, messages sent from Front will be delivered through your Exchange Server, however, the email will not show up in the user's Sent Folder.

If you would like to send messages through Front's server you will need to configure SPF/DKIM records for your channel by following the steps here.

This feature is available on all plans.

• How to add an Exchange Distribution Group

• How to add an Exchange Server Shared Mailboxes