How to add an Exchange Server Shared Mailbox and set up Custom SMTP (on-prem)
Overview
Follow these instructions to add your Exchange Server Shared Mailbox to your team workspace in Front.
Prerequisites
- 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.
Helpful information before you get started
- 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.
Instructions
Receive emails with forwarding
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 Add a shared inbox.
Step 3
Fill out the name and description of your inbox. Click Create.
Step 4
Choose Microsoft from the list, choose On-premise solution (Exchange server), and select Shared mailbox. Click Continue.
Step 5
Follow the steps on the screen to complete setting up the forwarding in your Exchange Admin Center (EAC).
Step 6
Navigate back to Front and click Test connection to validate the forwarding is set up correctly. If you have trouble validating, please contact us for assistance.
Send emails with custom SMTP
Step 7
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 8
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 9
Go back into the inbox in Front and enable the custom SMTP settings by clicking the dropdown next to the email address if the menu is not already expanded. Scroll down and expand the Custom SMTP submenu, and enable the toggle.
Step 10
For the host and port, this information is specific to your hosted exchange set up so you'll want to reach out to your Exchange administrator for this information. The email address and password will match that of the user mailbox that was connected. Once done, click Continue.
Alternative to Steps 7-10
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.
Step 11
Choose the teammate access for this inbox, and whether you'd like to add this inbox to teammates' sidebars.
Step 12
Complete the remainder of the inbox settings, and click Finish.
FAQ
Where do sent messages show up in Outlook after custom SMTP is configured?
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.
Pricing
All plans have access to this feature.