Use this article to connect your organisation's shared inbox (such as support@youradvice.co.nz or info@youradvice.co.nz) to Trail, so client emails sync automatically and file against the right client profiles. You will also find which address Trail sends from when no email integration is connected, what the shared inbox cannot do, and how to fix errors when emails will not send.
You need to be a Trail admin to connect an organisation shared inbox.
What is an organisation shared inbox in Trail?
An organisation shared inbox is a team mailbox, such as support@youradvice.co.nz or info@youradvice.co.nz, that you connect to Trail at the organisation level instead of connecting it to one person's account. Once the organisation shared inbox is connected:
Trail sends client emails from the shared inbox for any user who has not connected their own personal email integration
Emails sent to and received from clients through the shared inbox are synced into Trail automatically
Those emails are filed against the matching client profiles, keeping your records complete for compliance
Trail supports email integration at two levels: a personal level (one user's own mailbox) and an organisation level (the shared inbox). This article covers the organisation shared inbox only. For how email integration works in general, see How Trail's Email Integration Works.
Which email providers can I connect as an organisation shared inbox?
You can connect an organisation shared inbox with any of these three options:
Gmail / Google Workspace
Outlook / Microsoft Office 365
Other Provider, using IMAP and SMTP, if your organisation's shared mailbox is hosted somewhere other than Google or Microsoft
The Other Provider option works the same way for an organisation shared inbox as it does for a personal mailbox. For the IMAP and SMTP settings you will need, see How do I connect my email integration if I am not with Gmail/Outlook?
Who can connect and see the organisation shared inbox?
Only a Trail admin can connect the organisation shared inbox, because the Organisation Settings page is available to admins only. Once the shared inbox is connected, though, most users can see the emails it syncs.
The table below shows who can connect, view, and send from the organisation shared inbox in Trail:
Action | Who can do it |
Connect or disconnect the organisation shared inbox | Trail admins only |
Open the shared inbox on the Mailbox screen | Trail admins only. On the Mailbox screen, an admin switches between their personal inbox and the organisation shared inbox. |
See shared-inbox emails on a client profile's timeline | Any user whose own settings allow them to see other users' emails, which is the default for most users |
Send client emails from the shared inbox address | Any user who has not connected a personal email integration |
How do I connect my organisation's shared inbox to Trail?
To connect your organisation's shared inbox you need to be a Trail admin. You also need to be able to sign in to the shared mailbox with Google or Microsoft, or, if you are using the Other Provider option, to have the shared mailbox's IMAP and SMTP settings to hand.
Log in to Trail as an admin
Go to Organisation Settings, then Organisation Email Integration
Click Shared Inbox Link. This tells Trail you are connecting an organisation shared inbox rather than a personal mailbox
Choose the option that matches where your shared mailbox is hosted: Gmail, Outlook / Microsoft Office 365, or Other Provider for any other host
Complete the steps in the matching guide. The steps are the same as a personal email integration: for Gmail or Outlook, sign in to the shared mailbox and grant Trail permission to sync emails, and for Other Provider, enter the shared mailbox's IMAP and SMTP settings
Check that the Organisation Email Integration page now shows the shared inbox as connected. The page changes from a not-connected state to showing the connected shared inbox address along with the permissions you granted
After the organisation shared inbox is connected, Trail scans it for new emails about every 45 minutes and files matching emails against client profiles. On the first connection, Trail also runs a 7-year historic scan of the shared mailbox, so existing client emails from the past 7 years are filed against client profiles for record-keeping. Depending on the size of the mailbox, that first scan can take a long time to finish.
If the Organisation Email Integration page still shows the shared inbox as not connected, repeat steps 3 to 5. If it still will not connect, contact support@gettrail.com.
Which email address does Trail send from if no email integration is connected?
If a user has not connected a personal email integration, Trail sends that user's client emails from one of two addresses:
Your organisation's shared inbox, if an organisation shared inbox is connected
adviser@gettrail.com, if no organisation shared inbox is connected
Client replies still reach you in both cases. Emails sent from adviser@gettrail.com, however, are not branded with your organisation's own address and are not tracked as reliably as emails sent from a connected mailbox.
Current limitations of the organisation shared inbox
The organisation shared inbox has three known limitations:
A user with a personal email integration cannot send from the shared inbox. Once a user connects their own personal email integration, Trail always sends that user's client emails from their personal address. The shared inbox is used as the sending address only for users who have no personal email integration connected.
Only one shared inbox per organisation. Trail supports a single connected shared inbox per organisation, so choose the address the whole team should send from.
The same address cannot be used twice. You cannot connect one email address as both a personal email integration and the organisation shared inbox.
Why do I get an error when sending emails from Trail?
If your organisation shared inbox is connected but you see an error when sending an email from Trail, the cause is usually a permission or provider issue with the shared mailbox rather than a fault in Trail. Follow the fixes in Sending an email from Trail causing an error message.
Can a user send from their own email address instead of the organisation shared inbox?
Yes. Any user can connect their own personal email integration even when your organisation shared inbox is already connected. Once a user connects a personal email integration, Trail sends that user's client emails from their personal address rather than from the organisation shared inbox. Users who have not connected a personal email integration continue to send from the shared inbox.
Note that you cannot connect the same email address as both a personal email integration and the organisation shared inbox.