# Team inboxes

A **Team Inbox** is a shared queue where new messages appear instead of going to individual inboxes. When anyone assigns, archives, or closes a message, it disappears from the team inbox for everyone. This makes it ideal for teams who want a "triage" step that cleans up messages for all coworkers at once.

{% hint style="info" %}
Team inboxes work with email accounts, Google groups, distribution lists, SMS, live chats, custom API accounts, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.
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With team inboxes, everyone is on the same page. No messages get missed and no two people work on the same message at the same time.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Example:** Enable the **Team Inbox** flow for <support@conferencebadge.com> and select the **Support** team. All team members can now see incoming messages in the **Support** team inbox from the left sidebar.
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## How it works

{% stepper %}
{% step %}
**View the team inbox**

Select the team inbox from your sidebar. You will find all the emails, SMS, or other messages that have not been answered or assigned to anyone yet.

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="https://3242897856-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1If7JwIQhfz5wGM9LiIU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8711b73fa1c723ad37f6f1530635eed57e1aa394%2Fguides-team-inbox-sidebar.png?alt=media" alt="Every conversations can be assigned" width="1189"><figcaption><p>If you can't find the team inbox in your sidebar, click the + Pin to sidebar link and open it.</p></figcaption></figure></div>
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{% step %}
**Triage messages**

From the team inbox, you can directly reply to a message and assign it to yourself or assign messages to colleagues. A message can also be transferred to another team if it was addressed by the customer to the wrong one.

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="https://3242897856-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1If7JwIQhfz5wGM9LiIU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4570b30a3579494ff0c6be687435057b380847b3%2Ffeatures-assignment.png?alt=media" alt="Easily assign to the right stakeholders" width="563"><figcaption><p>Easily assign to the right stakeholders.</p></figcaption></figure></div>

Once assigned, assignees get a notification and can find the conversation at the top of their Missive Inbox. If a message does not need to be assigned or replied to (e.g. newsletter) it can be archived, marked as spam or [trashed](https://missiveapp.com/docs/conversations/faq#what-happens-when-i-trash-from-a-team-inbox).
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{% step %}
**Close the conversation**

When the assignee has completed their draft, they can click the **Send & Close** button to deliver the email and close the assignment. If a new reply is received in a closed conversation, the conversation will be moved back into the assignee's Inbox. Only the assignee(s) will receive a notification for this new reply, not all the team members.

<div data-with-frame="true"><figure><img src="https://3242897856-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1If7JwIQhfz5wGM9LiIU%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7e46d90b712e04f6fd60152b8fe1c2288ebf7cab%2Ffeatures-draft.png?alt=media" alt="Send your reply and close the assignment in one click" width="563"><figcaption><p>Send your reply and close the assignment in one click.</p></figcaption></figure></div>
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="info" %}
Need to balance the assigned workload? Missive lets you automatically distribute your team's workload with four distinct [balancing methods](https://missiveapp.com/docs/advanced-features/rules/workload-balancing). You can select one of them by [creating a rule](https://github.com/missive/docs-guides/blob/main/advanced-features/rules/rules-backup/README.md) with the **Assign user(s)** action.
{% endhint %}