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Teams often need a shared email address (like support@example.com or sales@example.com) to manage communications. The best tool depends on your team's size, required security, and how you need to track responsibility.
1. Departmental Account (Shared & Delegated)
A Departmental Account in this configuration is a standard, full-featured user account primarily used for its shared email address. To address security concerns, it is secured with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and accessed exclusively through delegation to individual user accounts, eliminating password sharing.
⭐ Pros
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High Security: MFA is enforced on the account, and since users access it via delegation, the password is never shared, resolving the primary security risk.
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Full Gmail Functionality: Access to all core Gmail and Google Calendar features under the shared identity.
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Clear Sender Identity: All emails sent using the delegated access will clearly show the shared name (e.g., "HR Team").
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Centralized Archive: Provides a central, comprehensive archive of all communication.
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Easy Access: Delegates can access the shared inbox directly from their personal Gmail account via a simple dropdown menu, without logging in and out.
🛑 Cons
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Licensing Cost: Still requires a paid user license for the departmental account itself, in addition to the licenses for the delegates.
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No Ownership Tracking: It's still difficult to tell who on the team replied to an email or who is responsible for a specific conversation, as the core Gmail interface lacks assignment tools.
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Delegation Limits: Delegation is a one-to-one relationship and must be set up individually for each user, which can be administrative overhead for large teams.
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Delegation Access: Delegates cannot change the shared account's settings, nor can they use the account for Google Chat or other non-email/calendar services.
2. Google Group (Standard List)
A Google Group is essentially a mailing list. An email sent to the Group's address is immediately broadcast to all members listed in the Group. It’s best for one-to-many communication or basic shared information.
⭐ Pros
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Cost-Effective: It is free and does not require a paid user license.
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Simple Setup: Extremely easy and fast to create and manage the membership list.
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Easy Distribution: Ideal for mass communication (e.g., sending updates to all "All-Employees" or "Marketing Team" members).
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Clear Individual Responsibility: When a member replies, the email usually comes from their personal address, providing a clear audit trail of who responded.
🛑 Cons
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No Shared Inbox View: Each email lands in every member's personal inbox, leading to clutter and potential confusion.
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Duplication/Spam: Multiple members might reply to the same email since there's no easy way to track who is handling it.
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Reply Identity Confusion: While replies can be configured to come from the Group's name, the primary workflow is reply-as-self.
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No Ownership/Tracking: Lacks tools to assign conversations or track the status of a request.
3. Collaborative Inbox
A Collaborative Inbox is a special type of Google Group designed specifically for managing team communication and shared tasks. It allows a team to share responsibility for incoming messages and track their progress. It is the recommended solution for shared support, sales, or project-based inboxes where tracking is essential.
⭐ Pros
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Shared Ownership Tracking: Allows members to "Take," "Assign," and "Mark as Complete" messages, ensuring clear accountability.
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Status Tracking: Members can apply a status (e.g., New, In Progress, Complete) to conversations to track the workload.
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Centralized View: All members view the conversations in the same central interface within Google Groups, eliminating personal inbox clutter.
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Cost-Effective: It is free and does not require a paid user license.
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Group Identity: Replies can be configured to consistently come from the Group's name, providing a professional, unified identity.
🛑 Cons
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Interface: The interface is accessed through Google Groups, not the standard Gmail app, which requires a slight adjustment for users.
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No Calendar Integration: Does not come with a shared Google Calendar.
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Complex Permissions: Setting up and managing permissions (e.g., who can view, reply, or assign) is more complex than a standard Google Group.
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History Retention: If a member leaves the group, they no longer have access to the conversation history, which is retained only in the Collaborative Inbox itself.
⚖️ Summary Comparison
| Feature |
Departmental Account (Delegated) |
Google Group (Mailing List) |
Collaborative Inbox |
| Best Use Case |
Needing shared email and a shared calendar with high security.
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Mass, one-way distribution or simple team communication. |
Managing a shared service/support queue and assigning tasks. |
| Cost |
Paid User License
|
Free |
Free |
| Location of Messages |
Centralized Shared Mailbox (via Delegation) |
Members' Individual Inboxes |
Centralized Google Groups Interface |
| Assignment/Tracking |
No built-in tracking.
|
No. |
Yes (Assign, Take, Status tracking). |
| Security |
High (MFA enforced)
|
High (Personal accounts used) |
High (Personal accounts used) |
| Sender Identity |
Shared Account Name
|
Individual's Name (Usually) |
Shared Group Name |