Our company uses resource mailboxes for a variety of purposes other than rooms and equipment. How do we choose between these two mailbox types if, for example, we are creating a shared mailbox for a specific group to use for different purposes?

Hello, for this purpose you probably want to use the "Shared Mailbox" which is also an option.

Thanks, Neil, but my version of the EM Console doesn't offer Shared Mailbox as an option. I do see how to convert the mailbox to Shared after creation - but I'm not at all sure what this extra step would do, other than change the way the mailbox is displayed in the console.

The fundamental difference between a shared mailbox and a normal mailbox is that the shared mailbox is associated with a disabled account, whereas the normal mailbox is not. Creating shared mailboxes isn't available via the EMC, it is only available via the Shell. When creating the mailbox via the new-mailbox command, you just add the parameter -Shared. If you convert after you create a normal mailbox, then it just disables the account. Shared mailboxes allow you to have multiple individuals share a mailbox without the mailbox being associated with an active account. You would grant access to the shared mailbox with the add-mailboxpermission command. So for example, if you have a sales team that wants to share a mailbox called sales@mycompany.com, you would just do as follows: Create the mailbox via the shell (or create a normal mailbox in EMC and convert later) - new-mailbox -Name sales -OrganizationalUnit "mycompany.com/some OU" -MailboxDatabase "database" -UserPrincipalName sales@mycompany.com -Shared Grant permissions on the mailbox for your sales team: add-mailboxpermission sales -User "mycompany\Sales Team" -AccessRights FullAccess They can then add this shared account via Outlook or access it via OWA.

Hi Neil, whilst your answers did clear up some things, it still didn't answer the original question, which is still the answer I'm looking for :). What is the *actual difference* between a room, equipment and a shared (which you added now :)) mailbox? As an unknowing, mainly guessing, user, there is no difference for me. All 3 have a disabled user account associated with them and are used by other users thus by assigning rights to the mailbox. Where do they differ? Reading the help didn't clarify much. As I understand it now, the difference is not with the mailbox, but with the scripts attached to them (if that's technical correct, I'm still guessing how the low technical stuff handles). A room mailbox can 'automatically process incoming requests'. Is the assumption right that exchange just attaches a 'script' to accept incoming invites? That would mean there is no differences in the mailboxes itself, just in the scripts that get attached to the mailbox. TIA

I agree with FreakyNL, the original question was not answered. Can anyone specifically identify the difference(s) between a "Room Mailbox" and an "Equipment Mailbox"? Thanks in advance for the help. Regards, Rob