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Once your inboxes are connected, the Shared Inbox gives your team one view of every conversation — with AI assistance built in.

Reading and Replying

When you open the Shared Inbox, you’ll see a list of threaded conversations showing the sender, subject, participant count, a message preview, and timestamp. Unread threads are highlighted with a blue dot and bold text.

Replying to a Thread

1

Open the Thread

Click any conversation to open the full message history in a side panel.
2

Review the Conversation

Scroll through the complete thread, including any attachments.
3

Compose Your Reply

Type your response in the composer at the bottom of the panel. Add CC/BCC recipients and file attachments as needed.
4

Send

Click Send. Your reply is sent from whichever inbox you currently have selected.
If you’re viewing the shared sales@ mailbox, your reply comes from that address — not your personal account. Switch inboxes using the inbox switcher to control which address you send from.

Other Actions

ActionDescription
StarMark important conversations to find them later
Mark as readClear the unread indicator
SearchFind threads by subject, sender name, or email address
RefreshPull in the latest messages on demand

AI-Powered Drafting

Instead of writing every response from scratch, let your AI agent draft a reply for you.

Generating a Reply

1

Open a Conversation

Click into any email thread.
2

Click Generate Reply

The AI agent reads the full thread and drafts a contextual response.
3

Review and Edit

The draft appears in the composer. Make any changes you’d like.
4

Send

Click Send when the reply looks right.
The AI agent can draw on:
  • Your knowledge base — product docs, FAQs, pricing, and any other files you’ve uploaded
  • Conversation history — previous inbox threads for context on the relationship

Auto-Response Modes

Configure how involved AI is on each inbox under AI Settings:
ModeBehavior
DisabledNo AI involvement — you write every reply manually
Auto-DraftAI generates a draft, but you review and approve before it sends
Auto-ReplyAI sends responses automatically with no manual review
Start with Auto-Draft so you can build confidence in how your agent responds before enabling fully autonomous replies.

Choosing an Agent

Each inbox can be assigned a specific AI agent. This means your support@ inbox can use a support-trained agent while your sales@ inbox uses a sales-focused one — each with its own tone, knowledge base, and instructions. To assign an agent, go to EmailInboxes, select an inbox, and choose the agent under AI Settings.

Team Collaboration

Shared Visibility

When an inbox is set to Organization visibility (or is a Microsoft 365 shared mailbox), every team member sees the same thread list:
  • No blind spots — if someone is out, others can pick up conversations
  • No double-replies — everyone sees what’s already been sent
  • Consistent voice — replies from shared inboxes come from the team address, not personal accounts

Personal Inboxes

Inboxes connected with Only Me visibility remain private. This is useful for personal prospecting or executive accounts where you don’t need team access.

Email and Lead Sync

Emanate automatically syncs email conversations to your lead records. When your team emails a prospect from a connected inbox, that conversation history appears under the lead’s Email tab — giving anyone on the team full context before their next touchpoint. This sync runs in the background, so there’s nothing to configure. Just connect your inboxes and the history flows to the right lead records automatically.

Troubleshooting

  • Verify your inbox is still connected under EmailInboxes
  • Check that the email provider hasn’t revoked permissions (re-authenticate if needed)
  • Use the Refresh button to trigger a manual sync
  • Upload more relevant documents to your Knowledge Base
  • Check that the correct agent is assigned to the inbox under AI Settings
  • Review the agent’s system prompt for gaps in instructions
  • Confirm you have Full Access or delegate permissions on the shared mailbox
  • Ask your IT admin to verify there are no mail forwarding or connection restrictions
  • Ensure the lead’s email address matches the conversation participant
  • Check that the inbox is connected and syncing

Next Steps

Knowledge Base

Upload documents to improve AI reply quality

Lead Management

Manage and enrich your lead pipeline

Agent Inboxes

Set up autonomous agent email handling

CRM Sync

Push synced conversations to your CRM