Microsoft 365 Shared Mailbox contacts#
Shared mailboxes are suitable for sharing data between users and assigning authorisations to users or user groups.
As in other mailboxes, contacts can also be stored here. The XPhone Connect Directory offers the option of connecting such contact folders and making them available in the connected client applications/interfaces.
In addition to the shared mailboxes specifically available in Microsoft 365, user mailboxes can also be shared and connected as described here.
Requirements
The XPhone Connect Directory (or Contacts by XPhone) requires Internet access for this data source.
Each mailbox requires a corresponding Microsoft 365 license.
Configuration#
Open the configuration interface of the XPhone Connect Directory.
Click on Add data source.
Select the data source type Microsoft 365 Shared Mailbox.
Click on the Next button.
Carry out the steps in the dialog:
First configure the Basic settings.
Microsoft 365
XPhone Connect Directory accesses the contact data via an interface called Graph API. To do this, an Azure app must be created with the necessary rights. This app is created automatically by the setup wizard:
The generation and authorisations of the application can be controlled via the Microsoft Entra Admin Center (by clicking on the link in the app generation box):
The rights granted are displayed under API permissions:
Attention
This initially gives the data source unrestricted access to all contact data in this mailbox. Restrict the rights as required.
M365 shared folder
Enter the name of the mailbox (e-mail address) and display the existing folders. Select the desired folder. The contents of the folder can be checked via Show entries:
Configure the Phone number conversion
Configure the Authorisations.
Special settings
Under Authorisations, restrict access to the data source according to your needs. As you are using the Microsoft 365 platform, it is recommended that you also control the authorisations via Microsoft 365 groups. Microsoft 365 groups, Teams groups and security groups can be used. Please note that you need to configure this under Cloud Connection/Microsoft 365.
Hint
The so-called MailEnabledSecurityGroups are particularly suitable for access control, as these also regulate access to the shared mailbox in Microsoft 365. This means that the authorisations are always consistent both in Microsoft 365 and in the directory clients.
Please note that users who are to have access to the data source must be Members of the group. The Owner role is not sufficient.
When testing and changing the group configuration, please note that changes to the group membership only take effect when the user’s Entra ID Access Token becomes invalid and must be renewed. This may take some time. Log the user out of all applications in the Teams client so that the access token becomes invalid and the changes take effect immediately. Closing the Teams application has no effect on this.
Configure the Priority.
Configure the Proximity search.
Complete the data source configuration with Overview.
Operating principle#
Once the data source has been set up, the contact data is read into the internal index of the directory. Depending on the number of data records, this can take several hours, as the number of accesses to the Microsoft 365 applications via the API is limited. Images additionally extend the duration of the initial synchronisation. The tooltip in the 
symbol of the data source shows the status. After the complete import, only changes to the contact data are queried.
Technotes#
Set up a shared mailbox in the Exchange admin#
Microsoft clients for accessing contacts in shared mailboxes#
Access is possible via the Outlook desktop application. The web app (including the PWA version) does not provide access to these contact folders.
