Mailboxes, aliases, shared mailboxes and groups

On Hosted, every person gets a 50 GB mailbox that counts as a seat; aliases, shared mailboxes, distribution groups and resource calendars are free objects you attach to those people, and all four are created from Console → Users & devices.

Before you start

Admin or Owner role in the console.
Domain verified, with MX pointing to PXCMail (see DNS setup). Until MX is live, mailboxes exist but receive nothing from outside.
A list of the addresses your office already uses (front desk, billing, a departed employee’s address).

Steps

Console → Users & devices → Add users. Choose directory sync or add by hand. Each user gets a 50 GB mailbox, a welcome email and MFA enrollment. A user is a seat.
Aliases. Select the user → Aliases → add, for example, drsmith@ or bookkeeping@. Mail to an alias lands in the same mailbox, and the user can pick it as a “from” address in Outlook or webmail. Aliases are not seats.
Shared mailboxes. Users & devices → Shared mailboxes → New. Give it a name and address (frontdesk@), then add members with one of three permissions: Read, Send as (the recipient sees the shared address) or Send on behalf (the recipient sees “Maria on behalf of frontdesk@”). Members see it in Outlook and webmail without a second password. Not a seat.
Groups. Users & devices → Groups → New distribution group, for example clinicians@. Choose members and who may send to it: members only, anyone in the organization, or external senders.
Resources. Users & devices → Resources → New room or equipment. Set auto-accept and who may book; it appears in everyone’s calendar picker.

Verify

Each object appears in the directory with its type (user, alias, shared, group, resource). Send a test from the shared mailbox: the recipient sees frontdesk@, while Console → Archive & audit records the real person who pressed send.

Troubleshooting

A user cannot see the shared mailbox. Cause: Outlook caches the folder list. Fix: restart Outlook; webmail shows it immediately.
“Send as” is rejected with a permission error. Cause: the member was added with Read only. Fix: edit the member’s permission to Send as or Send on behalf; it applies within minutes.
Mail to the group bounces for outside senders. Cause: external senders are off by default. Fix: open the group and allow external senders, or keep it off if the group is internal (clinicians, partners).
Seat count looks too high. Cause: a former employee’s address was kept as a user instead of an alias. Fix: offboard the user and add the address as an alias on the person who took over (see Offboard a user).

Example

Lakeside Family Dental has 12 people. The office manager creates 12 users, then frontdesk@ as a shared mailbox with the three front-desk staff on Send as, and insurance@ with the two billing coordinators on Send on behalf, so insurers see which coordinator answered. A clinicians@ group reaches the dentists and hygienists, external senders off. The departed associate’s address becomes an alias on the lead dentist. Result: 12 seats, five extra addresses at no cost, and every pre-authorization from insurance@ tied to a named person.

FAQ

Do shared mailboxes and groups cost a seat?

No. Only users with their own 50 GB mailbox are seats. Shared mailboxes, aliases, groups and resources carry no charge.

Are shared mailboxes archived and covered by policy?

Yes. Mail sent from or received by a shared mailbox is journaled to the archive and passes through the same detection packs and locked delivery as personal mail.

Can a shared mailbox have its own password for a scanner or practice software?

Not a password shared among people. For devices that must send, create an app password on a dedicated user, scoped to mail and revocable one by one.

Still stuck? A human answers within 15 minutes on chat, 1 hour by email during business hours (24/7 for outages).

Create mailboxes, aliases, shared mailboxes and groups