Shared mailboxes beat shared passwords

The common setup

A business creates info@ as a normal user account, then gives the password to everyone who needs to read it. It works, but:

• Nobody can use multi-factor authentication properly, because the account belongs to no single person.
• The password never changes, because changing it means telling everyone, including people who have left.
• You cannot tell who did what. Every reply and deletion looks like it came from “info.”

The better way

Microsoft 365 has shared mailboxes. A shared mailbox has an address but no password of its own. Instead, you give specific people access, and it appears in their own Outlook alongside their own mailbox. They sign in as themselves, with their own multi-factor authentication.

When someone leaves, you remove their access. Nothing else changes. Shared mailboxes also do not need a paid license of their own within Microsoft’s size limits.

Good for

• info@, sales@, support@, billing@ and orders@ addresses
• Mailboxes of people who have left, kept for reference
• Team calendars and room bookings