How is a shared inbox different from a group mailbox?

A group mailbox shows the same messages to everyone but tracks nothing. A shared inbox assigns ownership, prevents duplicate replies, and keeps status, notes, and SLA timers on each ticket.

Can agents reply from their own email address?

Replies send from the connected support address by default, which keeps the customer thread consistent. Per-agent signatures are supported, and outbound display settings follow your mail provider configuration.

Do we need to change our DNS records?

Not for email. Connecting through OAuth or forwarding works without DNS changes. A custom portal domain requires the CNAME record described in workspace settings.

Can we connect more than one support address?

Yes. Multiple inboxes can each have their own routing, business hours, and SLA policy. Channel connection limits depend on your plan, with ten connections on Professional.

What happens when two agents open the same ticket?

Collision detection shows an active reply by a teammate before you start typing. Notes let you coordinate without sending the customer two different answers.

Are internal notes visible to customers?

No. Notes stay internal to the workspace and appear in the agent timeline only. Anything written in a public reply is what the customer receives.

Which plans include the shared inbox?

The shared inbox is part of every plan, including Starter. Plan differences are agent seats, monthly ticket volume, storage, and channel connections.

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Shared Inbox

Shared inbox software

One shared inbox for your whole support team Email, chat, and portal in one place

Stop juggling personal inboxes and forwarded threads. Helpefi gives every agent a unified shared inbox with assignment, collision detection, and full conversation history.

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Last updated on 2026-07-08 Written by Malik S Reviewed by Gandral V

Collision detection

See when a teammate is already replying so customers never get two answers.

Assignment and queues

Route tickets by skill, brand, or workload instead of whoever checks first.

Full conversation history

Every reply, internal note, and status change stays attached to the ticket.

Overview

A shared inbox replaces the support@ mailbox that three people answer from, often with duplicates. Every agent works from the same queue, sees who is already replying, and leaves a record of what changed. Helpefi runs email, live chat, and portal requests through that single inbox, so a customer who emails on Monday and chats on Tuesday is one history, not two.

How assignment and collision detection work

Unassigned tickets land in a queue rather than someone's personal inbox. Rules can assign by keyword, channel, customer tier, or team skill, and agents can claim from the queue when capacity allows. Collision detection shows an open reply by a teammate before you type, which removes the most common shared-mailbox failure: two agents answering the same question with different information. Assignment history stays on the ticket, so handoffs do not depend on a Slack message that scrolls away.

Queues, views, and workload balance

Views filter the inbox by owner, status, priority, age, or tag. A triage view for unassigned tickets, a personal view for my open work, and a breach-risk view for anything approaching its SLA answer most daily questions. Managers can see per-agent open counts and reassign before one person becomes the bottleneck. Because views are saved rather than rebuilt, a new agent starts with the same working set as the rest of the team.

Multi-brand and multi-inbox setups

Agencies and multi-product companies often run several addresses under one roof. Each inbox can carry its own signature, business hours, and SLA policy while agents share a single window and switch with a brand filter. Permissions decide who sees which brand, so a contractor on one client account cannot read another client's tickets. Separate workspaces remain the right choice when data boundaries must be absolute, for example across regulated contracts.

Internal notes and cross-team handoffs

Notes are internal by default and never reach the customer. Mentions pull a teammate or a specialist group into a thread without reassigning ownership, which suits escalations to billing, engineering, or a product team that should advise but not own the ticket. Internal threads keep the customer-facing reply clean while the reasoning stays visible. When a ticket does change hands, the new owner sees the full note history instead of a summary written under time pressure.

Moving off a shared mailbox without changing addresses

Keep support@ exactly as customers know it. Connect Gmail, Microsoft 365, or Zoho Mail through OAuth, or forward from any provider that supports forwarding, and Helpefi begins threading new mail into tickets. Historic mail stays in the original mailbox for reference. Teams typically run both for a week, watch for forwarding gaps, then stop replying from the old inbox. No DNS change is required unless you want a custom portal domain.

Use case: A team leaving a shared mailbox

Three to five agents stop replying from one Gmail account and work a queue with assignment rules and duplicate prevention.

Use case: Multi-product support

One workspace holds separate inboxes per product, each with its own hours and SLA, while agents switch with a brand filter.

Use case: Agency client support

Each client address carries its own signature and routing, with permissions that keep client data separated.

Use case: Support with an internal escalation path

Agents pull engineering or billing into a thread using notes and mentions, without transferring ownership of the ticket.

Use case: Seasonal hiring

New agents inherit saved views and routing rules, so peak-season cover does not require rebuilding the working set.

One queue, one history, fewer duplicates

A shared inbox fixes the coordination problem before it fixes the reporting problem. Route work to the right queue, show agents who is replying, and keep notes beside the conversation. Add AI, SLA policies, and analytics once the queue itself is trustworthy.

Frequently asked questions

How is a shared inbox different from a group mailbox?: A group mailbox shows the same messages to everyone but tracks nothing. A shared inbox assigns ownership, prevents duplicate replies, and keeps status, notes, and SLA timers on each ticket.
Can agents reply from their own email address?: Replies send from the connected support address by default, which keeps the customer thread consistent. Per-agent signatures are supported, and outbound display settings follow your mail provider configuration.
Do we need to change our DNS records?: Not for email. Connecting through OAuth or forwarding works without DNS changes. A custom portal domain requires the CNAME record described in workspace settings.
Can we connect more than one support address?: Yes. Multiple inboxes can each have their own routing, business hours, and SLA policy. Channel connection limits depend on your plan, with ten connections on Professional.
What happens when two agents open the same ticket?: Collision detection shows an active reply by a teammate before you start typing. Notes let you coordinate without sending the customer two different answers.
Are internal notes visible to customers?: No. Notes stay internal to the workspace and appear in the agent timeline only. Anything written in a public reply is what the customer receives.
Which plans include the shared inbox?: The shared inbox is part of every plan, including Starter. Plan differences are agent seats, monthly ticket volume, storage, and channel connections.

References & sources

Helpefi on G2 →
User reviews and ratings for Helpefi on G2.

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