Your office manager is going on leave. Someone else can see incoming messages, but can they reply from the right address? Will the next person be able to tell which requests already received an answer?
Before coverage starts, check the complete shared-inbox workflow: the right people can open it through their own accounts, send with the intended identity, find the team's replies and hand off unfinished work. Have your authorized email administrator confirm the setup, then test it with harmless messages.
This guide uses a Microsoft 365 shared mailbox as its technical example. Other email systems, groups and ticket queues have different controls. Confirm which service your office actually uses before applying the example.
First, identify what “the shared inbox” actually is
A familiar address can hide different arrangements. Ask your administrator whether it is a shared mailbox, a distribution list, an alias on one person's account or a mailbox used by an application. Write down the answer and its business owner.
Do not start the handoff by passing around someone's password. Microsoft's shared-mailbox guidance says delegates should access it through their own licensed mailboxes, and the shared mailbox's associated account should remain blocked from direct sign-in. Ask your administrator to review the appropriate access for each person.
For a Bay Area professional office or dental reception team, the planning question is the same: who is responsible for the incoming work while the usual owner is away? The answer should name a person for each coverage period, rather than depend on everyone occasionally checking.
Opening the mailbox and sending from it are separate checks
In Exchange Online, Microsoft distinguishes Full Access from sending permissions. Full Access lets a delegate open and manage the mailbox; it does not by itself grant permission to send from it. Send As presents the mailbox as the sender. Send on Behalf identifies the delegate acting on the mailbox's behalf.
Agree which identity the business intends to show, then have the authorized administrator confirm the suitable permissions. This is a review request, not an instruction to grant everyone broad access. Your approved users, licenses, email client and configuration determine the actual arrangement.
Test with a message containing no confidential information. The covering employee should use their own approved sign-in, open the correct mailbox, read the test message and send the agreed reply. Have the recipient confirm the displayed sender and reply destination. Check the application and device the employee will actually use during coverage.
Make the replies visible to the next person
A conversation can look unanswered if the team's sent reply is elsewhere. Microsoft's configuration guidance explains that, by default, shared-mailbox replies are stored in the sender's Sent Items rather than the shared mailbox's Sent Items. An administrator can configure shared copies.
Ask the administrator what your current setup does, then verify where the harmless test reply appears. Do not assume a second employee can find it simply because the first employee sent it. If your team relies on a different approved record of replies, check that handoff instead.
Agree a simple method for unfinished work as well. It might be an existing approved task system or a documented folder or category convention. Define what “needs action,” “waiting for someone else” and “finished” mean to your team. Check that the chosen method is available to the people covering the inbox.
Run one short coverage rehearsal
Use this checklist before the absence begins. Record the person checking each item and the actual result.
- Open: each approved covering employee can reach the intended mailbox using their own account.
- Receive: the harmless test request appears where the team expects to work.
- Reply: the recipient sees the agreed sender identity and can reply to the intended address.
- Find the response: the next covering employee can locate the team's sent reply or approved response record.
- Hand off: an unfinished test request has a clear owner, next action and escalation route.
- Review after leave: temporary access and coverage arrangements have a named review owner.
A hypothetical reception team might pass the first three checks and discover that the next person cannot find the sent response. That is a specific configuration or workflow question to resolve before leave, rather than a reason to share a password or duplicate every message into personal inboxes.
Keep coverage inside the business's approved boundaries
Do not set up personal-email forwarding as an improvised shortcut. Have the responsible administrator and business owner review any routing change, the information involved and the applicable policies. For sensitive patient, client or financial information, use the organization's approved communication and record-handling process. This checklist is not a compliance determination.
Agree what an automatic reply should say, who may approve exceptions and where urgent requests should go. Avoid promising a response time the covering team has not accepted. If the rehearsal fails, record the exact blocked step and responsible contact, then resolve or communicate the limitation before coverage begins.
Turn the absence into a clearer handoff
VFIX's cloud services and migration page describes planning for data, access and users. Book a consultation to discuss your email environment, coverage workflow and a suitable support scope. Confirm mailbox administration, licensing and any configuration work for your particular service.
When shared files also need a handoff, read Before moving the shared drive: map who needs which files. Mailbox access and file access should each have a clear owner.
Sources checked October 28, 2026, Pacific time. Product-specific permissions and client behavior should be confirmed for the organization's actual environment.