Inbox automation for shared mailboxes
Inbox automation reads every email that arrives in a shared mailbox such as info@, enquiries@ or accounts@, works out what it is, and sends it to the right person or system. Enquiries are logged, attachments are filed, standard replies are drafted for someone to check and send, and anything left unanswered gets chased.
Read, sort, route, log, chase
The shared inbox is where new work arrives, and where it most often gets lost.
Usually someone checks info@ first thing, decides what each email is, forwards it on, types the enquiry into a spreadsheet, saves the attachment and sends the same reply they sent yesterday. When they’re off, it waits.
The inbox assistant does that sorting as each email arrives. It reads the email, puts it in one of the categories you’ve chosen (new enquiry, existing client, supplier invoice, complaint, spam or urgent) and follows the rules you’ve agreed for that type: who gets it, where it’s logged, where the attachment goes and what the reply should say.
When it isn’t sure, it doesn’t guess. The email goes to a named person to decide, which is what people mean by keeping a human in the loop.
- 1Email arrives at info@From your website form, or sent direct
- 2AI reads and sorts itNew enquiry, wants a quote, phone number given
- 3Logged and routedAdded to your enquiries list, sent to the right person
- 4Reply draftedWaiting in Outlook to check, edit and send
- 5Chased if it’s missedA reminder if nobody has replied by the next morning
Six jobs the inbox assistant takes off your team
Sorting
Every email labelled as it arrives: new enquiry, existing client, supplier invoice, complaint, spam or urgent. We set the categories to suit your business.
Instead of: someone reading every email to decide what it is
Routing
Each email sent to the right person, team or system. Messages from existing clients go to whoever looks after them; supplier invoices go to accounts, or straight into your invoice processing.
Instead of: forwarding emails and hoping they’re picked up
Logging
New enquiries added to your CRM or a spreadsheet with the name, contact details and what they asked for, so you can see what’s coming in and where from.
Instead of: copying details into a list at the end of the week
Filing attachments
Attachments saved to the right folder in SharePoint or OneDrive, named the same way every time, so they can be found later.
Instead of: “can you resend that?”
Drafted replies
Standard answers drafted in your words, ready for a person to check, change if needed and send. Replies to common questions get quicker and more consistent.
Instead of: typing the same answer for the tenth time
Chasing
Emails nobody has answered after a set time are flagged to the person responsible, then to a manager. Complaints and urgent emails are flagged straight away.
Instead of: finding an unanswered email a week later
Drafts, not sent, unless you say so
By default, every reply the inbox assistant writes is a draft. Someone on your team reads it, changes what needs changing and presses send. Your clients hear from your people, not from a machine.
The one exception is your choice. If you’re comfortable with it, simple acknowledgements (“Thanks for your email, we’ll reply within one working day”) can go automatically. We only switch that on once you’ve agreed the wording.
- Complaints always go to a person, with nothing sent automatically
- Anything about money, contracts or legal matters is routed, not answered
- Emails the assistant can’t place go to a named person to decide
Sometimes Outlook rules are enough
Not every inbox needs AI. We’ll tell you if yours doesn’t.
- Low volume. If one person handles a dozen emails a day without trouble, the time saved may be small.
- Simple sorting. If you only need to file emails by sender or subject, the rules built into Outlook can do that at no extra cost.
- Every email is different. If each needs real judgement, sorting still helps but drafted replies won’t save much.
- Nobody owns the inbox. If it isn’t clear who should handle what, settle that first. Automating confusion only makes it faster. We can help with that in the free automation audit.
Emails are full of personal data. We treat them that way.
Shared mailboxes hold names, addresses, client details and sometimes more sensitive information, so we settle the data-protection side before building anything.
- We build with Anthropic’s Claude through its business service, which doesn’t train on customer data and is covered by a data processing agreement.
- The assistant only has access to the shared mailboxes you choose, not your staff’s own inboxes.
- We agree with you what gets logged, where, and how long it’s kept.
- We never use consumer chatbots with client data.
- For email that shouldn’t leave the building, in-house AI on our own hardware in Cardiff is coming soon.
Built around Microsoft 365
The inbox assistant works with Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes in Outlook, so your team carries on working the way it does now. If your email runs on Google Workspace, we’ll check what’s possible at the audit.
It can log enquiries to most CRMs and business software that accept information from other systems, or to an Excel sheet or SharePoint list if you don’t have a CRM. Alerts go to Outlook or Teams, wherever your team will see them.
It’s a workflow automation like any other, and phone enquiries can be handled in a similar way with AI call analysis.
Included in Monthly AI Support
The inbox assistant is part of the standard pack we set up for every Monthly AI Support client: Essentials at £459 + VAT a month with four hours of work, or Growth at £859 + VAT with eight hours and a quarterly review, on a 12-month minimum term.
Going further, such as connecting the inbox to another system, uses your plan hours. Not on a plan? We can build it as a single project with a fixed quote, based on £145 + VAT an hour, with no minimum term.
Every email counted, none shown
Your AI dashboard shows the inbox assistant running and the time it’s estimated to save. Numbers, never content: “312 emails handled”, not the emails.
Inbox automation questions
Will it send emails without anyone checking?
Not unless you want it to. Replies are drafts by default, waiting in Outlook for a person to check and send. Simple acknowledgements can go automatically once you’ve agreed the wording. Complaints and anything sensitive always go to a person.
Does it work with Outlook shared mailboxes?
Yes. It’s built for Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes such as info@, enquiries@ and accounts@, and your team keeps working in Outlook as normal. If you use Google Workspace, we’ll check what’s possible at the audit.
How does it know who should get each email?
You tell us at set-up. We agree the categories and the rules for each one: which person or team, which system, which folder. Emails from existing clients can be matched against your client list. Anything that doesn’t fit the rules goes to a named person rather than being guessed.
What happens when it sorts an email wrongly?
Someone moves it to the right place, and we use those corrections to adjust the rules. We test on a sample of your real emails before anything goes live, and we keep an eye on it afterwards.
Is it safe to let AI read our emails?
It can be, with the right set-up. We use Anthropic’s Claude through its business service, which doesn’t train on your data and is covered by a data processing agreement, and the assistant only sees the mailboxes you choose. In-house AI on our own hardware in Cardiff is coming soon for email that shouldn’t leave the building.
How is this different from Copilot in Outlook?
Copilot in Outlook helps a person when they ask it to, for example by summarising a long thread or drafting a reply. The inbox assistant works on its own, on every email that arrives in a shared mailbox, sorting and routing it before anyone opens it. The two work side by side: see our guide to getting real work out of Copilot.
Want Microsoft 365 locked down properly?
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Who sorts your shared inbox every morning?
Tell us in a free automation audit. We’ll look at what arrives, where it should go, and how much of the sorting could happen on its own.
Book a Free Audit →