TAMU Exchange - Shared Mailbox Creation and Update Tool

Overview

Texas A&M Exchange administrators are able to create and claim Exchange Shared Mailboxes and Special Purpose Mailboxes using the Shared Mailbox beta Creation Tool available at https://gateway.tamu.edu/settings/proxy/exchange/.

Creating a new shared mailbox

1. Go to https://gateway.tamu.edu/settings/proxy/exchange/. You will log in with your NetID and password if prompted.
2. Click on Shared Mailbox beta next to the business unit you are creating the mailbox for.
3. Click on New Shared Mailbox.
4. Enter a Mailbox Identifier. This will be the local part, or username, of the shared mailbox. This is limited to 20 characters.
5. Enter an Account Display Name. This will be the name of the account that is displayed in the Exchange system.
6. Enter a Public Directory Department Name. This will be the department name displayed in the public directory.
7. Click the check box next to "Do not publish on directory.tamu.edu", if you do not want this shared mailbox to be included in the public directory.
8. Click Create Shared Mailbox.

It can take up to an hour before the shared mailbox will be accessible for use. The from address, display name, boutique addresses, and other user object data for the shared mailbox are able to be edited within minutes of creation.

Special Purpose Mailboxes

When creating a Shared Mailbox as a Special Purpose Mailbox for use by student employees, additional consideration should be given to the Mailbox Identifier and Account Display Name. The naming schemes described here are intended to enable easy identification of special purpose mailboxes in the Global Address List.

• Mailbox Identifier - The mailbox identifier should be in the format netid-department-role. Mailbox Identifier part in bold below.
  • Example Shared Mailbox Address: janeaggie-math-sw@tamu.edu
  • Example Shared Mailbox Address: johnaggie-viz-gant@tamu.edu
• Account Display Name - The account display name should be in the format LastName, FirstName - Dept - Role.
  • Example: Doe, Jane - Division of IT - Student Worker
  • Example: Doe, John - Visualization - Student Worker

Viewing an existing shared mailbox's properties

1. Go to https://gateway.tamu.edu/settings/proxy/exchange/. You will log in with your NetID and password if prompted.
2. Click on Shared Mailbox beta next to the business unit you are creating the mailbox for.

You will see a list of all shared mailboxes for the business unit. There are three columns of information displayed:

• Alias - This is the Mailbox Identifier, or local part, of the shared mailbox email address.
• Display Name - This is the name of the account that is displayed in the Exchange System.
• Type - There are two types of shared mailboxes displayed:
  • Remote Shared Mailbox - These are shared mailboxes that exist in the Texas A&M Exchange Azure cloud environment. The majority of shared mailboxes will be this type of mailbox.
  • Shared Mailbox - These are shared mailboxes that exist in the Technology Services on-premise Exchange environment. They have not been migrated to the Texas A&M Exchange Azure Cloud environment.

3. Click the Alias or the Display name of the shared mailbox you want to view.

Editing an existing shared mailbox

While viewing a shared mailbox, click the Edit button next to Mailbox Details. This will present three sections of information that can be edited.

If you do not see the Edit button, click on the Manage button then click Manage this account on the following screen.

Mailbox Settings

These mailbox setting can be changed by a departmental Exchange administrator. Click Save after changing any of the mailbox settings.

• Account Display Name. This will be the name of the account that is displayed in the Exchange system.
• Public Directory Department Name. This will be the department name displayed in the public directory.
  • You can also choose to not have the mailbox listed in the public directory by selecting the check box next to "Do not publish on directory.tamu.edu."
• From address - You can choose what email address the mailbox uses as the From address. The choices are the default @tamu.edu address, any of the mailbox's external addresses, or any of the @tamu.edu aliases that have been configured for the shared mailbox.

External Addresses

External address are also referred to as Boutique addresses. You can only assign an external address that is available to your business unit. Any existing external addresses will be listed in this section. You can delete an external address by clicking the Delete button to the right of the external address.

1. Click on Add External Address.
2. Enter a mailbox identifier, or local part, name before the @ symbol.
3. Select the boutique email domain to use for this external address.
4. Click the check mark next to Use this as the user's from address to make this external address the default From address. This can also be changed later in the Mailbox Settings.
5. Click Add.

@tamu.edu Aliases

An @tamu.edu alias is another email address that will function identically to the shared mailbox's default mail identifier. Most often, an alias can be used for branding purposes when a shared mailbox is used for multiple initiatives. For example, Project1@tamu.edu and Project2@tamu.edu may both be aliases of the shared mailbox important-projects@tamu.edu. Each of the aliases can be used in material relating to their specific project while allowing email to be consolidated in a common shared mailbox. An @tamu.edu alias can be chosen as the default From address in the Mailbox Settings. You can delete an @tamu.edu alias by clicking the Delete button to the right of the @tamu.edu alias.

1. Click on Add Alias.
2. Enter the desired alias to the left of the @ symbol.
3. Click Add Alias. You will be returned to the shared mailbox details page.
   1. If the alias you entered is already in use, the alias will not be listed in the Additional Aliases section of the mailbox details.
   2. If the alias was created successfully, it will be displayed in the Additional Aliases section of the mailbox details.

Proxy management and shared mailboxes

When you use the Shared Mailbox beta Creation Tool to create a shared mailbox, or when you click Manage on a shared mailbox that was not previously created in the tool, all proxy owners will be removed from the Shared Forwarding Address of the shared mailbox. This is done intentionally to prevent changes to the mailbox from being made outside of the Shared Mailbox beta Creation Tool. Changes made in other tools, such as the Gateway Proxy Edit tool, can introduce discrepancies between the configuration of the shared forwarding address and the shared mailbox.