How to Create a Collaborative Inbox in Gmail

A collaborative inbox in Gmail lets multiple team members send emails from the same address using ContactMonkey. Since ContactMonkey licenses are assigned to individual mailboxes (not collaborative inboxes), you'll need to set up a Google Group with collaborative inbox features enabled.

Prerequisites

• Google Workspace account with group creation permissions
• Group Owner or Manager role to assign permissions

Create Your Google Group

1. Sign in to Google Groups
2. Click Create group in the top left corner
3. Enter your group information:
   • Group name (e.g., "Sales Team")
   • Group email address (e.g., sales@yourcompany.com)
   • Group description
4. Select your privacy settings:
   • Public: Anyone can find and join
   • Team: Only organization members can find and join
   • Announcement-only: Members can view but not post
   • Restricted: Only invited members can join
5. Add group members by entering their email addresses
6. Assign roles (Owner, Manager, or Member) to each person
7. Click Create group

You'll receive an email confirmation when Google activates your group (usually within a few minutes).

Enable Collaborative Inbox Features

Collaborative inbox features require conversation history to be enabled.

1. In Google Groups, click your group's name from the list
2. Click Group settings in the left sidebar
3. Scroll to Enable additional Google Groups features
4. Check the box for Collaborative Inbox
5. Click Save changes

Assign Member Permissions

Group members need specific permissions to send emails and use ContactMonkey features from the collaborative inbox.

1. In Google Groups, click your group's name from the list
2. Click Group settings in the left sidebar
3. Configure these settings:
   • Who can view conversations: Set to Group members
   • Who can post: Set to Group members
   • Who can view members: Set to Group members
   • Who can post as group: Set to Group members
4. Click Save changes