How to connect a Microsoft 365 Groups email

Follow these instructions to add a Microsoft 365 Groups email to Front. This process differs from the steps to add a distribution list/group. Microsoft 365 groups allow companies to easily distribute mail sent to a single address to a group or team of people, and includes a shared inbox where users can view all messages posted to the group.

To add an Office 365 Shared Mailbox to Front instead, see this article.

• The person who adds the Microsoft 365 Groups email needs to be a Front admin

• You must have Microsoft Exchange administrator access to complete the setup

Step 1

In your Exchange admin center, navigate to the Microsoft 365 group you’d like to add to Front.

Step 2

Navigate to the Members tab, then select View all and manage owners.

Step 3

Check to ensure the admin adding the Microsoft 365 group to Front is listed as an owner. If not, use Add owners to add them.

Step 4

In the Settings tab, ensure these general settings are enabled:

• Allow external senders to email this group

• Send copies of group conversations and events to group members

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 whether you are using Office 365 or On-premise Exchange server, then select Distribution Group or Microsoft 365 Group.

Step 5

Enter the email address you want to connect as a channel (e.g. support@acme.com), then click Continue. 

In your Exchange admin center, this is the Primary email address for the Microsoft 365 Group.

Step 6

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

Step 7

Copy the Front forwarding address that's generated.

Step 8

In your Outlook web app, navigate to your group and click on the title of the group to open it.

Step 9

Click the Add members icon.

Step 10

In the pop-up, add the Front forwarding address as a guest.

Step 1

Now that emails can flow into Front, you can set up an outbound mail server via OAuth to ensure emails are delivered through your Exchange servers. 

Step 2

In Front, navigate the Microsoft 365 Groups channel you just created.

Step 3

Navigate to the Settings tab, then click Modify next to Send Outbound Messages.

Step 4

Under the Office 365 OAuth2 option, click the Sign in to Microsoft button, then log in to Microsoft using your admin login credentials (you must have Microsoft Exchange administrator access).

Step 5

Click Save when finished.

Alternate option: Send emails with SendGrid

As an alternative to the OAuth steps in Part 3, you can always send email through Front's third party mail server, SendGrid, and you will not retain a record of your outbound emails on your own server. You will need to:

• Select Front Default instead of Office 365 OAuth2 in your Send Outbound Messages setting.

• Set up SPF/DKIM records. See this article to learn more.

Once all users from the Microsoft 365 group are in Front, remove those users from the group in your Exchange settings. This will ensure emails sent to the Microsoft 365 group no longer go to each user's individual inbox, instead will be routed into a single shared inbox in Front.

This feature is available on all plans.

• How to add an Exchange Online User Mailbox

• How to add an Exchange Online Shared Mailbox