Connect a company mailbox (IMAP / SMTP)
Turn a company mailbox into a shared inbox channel: enable IMAP at your mail provider, generate an app password, fill the connection form, then verify with a real email in both directions.
- Who uses it
- Administrators
- Guide depth
- 5 steps
- Content reviewed
- 2026-07-22
What this helps you achieve
The practical result of following this guide, with the current product boundaries kept visible.
Enable IMAP at your mail provider and generate an app password
You hold an app password or authorization code, not your web login password.
Open Channels → Email and start the binding
The connection form opens with your provider selected and its own setup hint shown.
Check the servers and ports, then test the connection
The connection test passes and the dialog moves on instead of showing an error.
Name the account, pick the team and assign an agent
Incoming mail lands with a named owner instead of sitting unclaimed.
Read the self-check, then send a real test email
A message travels in and a reply travels back out through the shared inbox.
Before you start
- Administrator access to AllOne Sales and the mailbox account you want to connect
- The mailbox provider allows IMAP and SMTP access (most business mailboxes require switching it on first)
- At least one team and one agent exist, because the channel must be assigned to a responsible agent before it can be saved
Steps
Enable IMAP at your mail provider and generate an app password
Sign in to the mailbox on its own website, open the account or security settings, switch on IMAP/SMTP access, then generate an app password (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) or an authorization code (QQ Mail, Tencent Exmail, NetEase 163/126). Copy that generated string somewhere safe — it is shown once. This generated string is the value AllOne Sales needs — not your normal web login password, which these providers reject.
Expected result: You hold an app password or authorization code, not your web login password.
Open Channels → Email and start the binding
In AllOne Sales open Channels → Email and start a new binding. The dialog runs three steps: connect the account, assign an agent, then a completion self-check. In the first step choose your mailbox type from the presets — Gmail / Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 / Outlook, QQ Mail, Tencent Exmail, NetEase 163 / 126, Yahoo Mail, or Other company mailbox.
Expected result: The connection form opens with your provider selected and its own setup hint shown.
Check the servers and ports, then test the connection
Choosing a preset fills the IMAP and SMTP servers and ports for you; leave them as they are unless your mail administrator gave you different values. For "Other company mailbox" ask your mail administrator for the IMAP host, SMTP host and their SSL ports. Enter the mailbox address, paste the app password or authorization code into the password field, then select "Test connection, next". The test is a real login against your mail server, not a format check.
Expected result: The connection test passes and the dialog moves on instead of showing an error.
Name the account, pick the team and assign an agent
In the second step give the account a display name your colleagues will recognise, choose the owning team, then search for and select the agent responsible for first response. The agent is required — the dialog will not let you finish without one. If no team exists yet, create one in team management first and come back.
Expected result: Incoming mail lands with a named owner instead of sitting unclaimed.
Read the self-check, then send a real test email
The last step runs a self-check against the backend and lists what is actually wired up, so a binding that saved but is not really working shows up here rather than a week later. After it passes, send an email from an outside address to the connected mailbox, find it in the shared inbox, and reply from there. Only when the customer receives that reply is the channel genuinely live.
Expected result: A message travels in and a reply travels back out through the shared inbox.