JJane Chojane@kitepoint.example10:42
Hi team,
We'd love to talk about an integration between our products. Could we set up a call with your team next week?
Team discussion
Discuss a customer email with your team before replying
Keep the talk with the email, where only your team sees it. In Inbox Works, comments sit right beside the email, so whoever replies reads the discussion first.
How it works
Write to your team under the email. Only your team sees comments; the customer never does.
A comment that names a teammate and asks them something moves the email to Done until they answer.
Kei’s answer brings the email back to the Inbox, with the talk beside it for whoever replies.
Why it happens
- No place for notes.1
Teams on an Outlook shared mailbox find no way to comment on an email, and Share to Teams doesn’t support shared mailboxes. So emails get forwarded back and forth.
- The talk moves to another app.2
Questions about an email go to a team chat. The answer stays there, away from the email it is about.
- Some teams switch tools for it.3
Teams describe moving to a paid shared inbox mainly to talk beside each email, where the customer can’t see it.
What you can do with your current tools
| What happens | |
|---|---|
| Forward it to a colleague | It works for a quick question. The answer arrives as another email, apart from the customer’s. |
| Paste it into your team chat | The discussion leaves the inbox, so whoever replies has to look in two places. |
| Google Keep beside Gmail4 | Open Keep from Gmail’s side panel, write a note about the email, and share it with teammates or a Google Group. Google’s help doesn’t describe the note staying with the email. |
| Inbox Works | Comments sit beside the email, and an email you asked a teammate about waits in Done until they answer. |
Limits and sources
Limits
- A comment doesn’t decide who answers. To give the email to one person, add Hand off.
- If the teammate hasn’t answered by the next morning, the email comes back to the Inbox anyway.
- The email shows who is commenting, not what they are typing. A comment is seen once it is posted.
- Google Workspace, in early access by approval: forward your shared address to Inbox Works, and replies go out from your own Google account. Microsoft 365, in early access by approval: sign in once to connect your shared address, and replies go out from it.
Sources
- No place for notes. r/Office365 · Microsoft docs
- The talk moves to another app. r/sysadmin · Hacker News
- Some teams switch tools for it. r/sysadmin
- Google Keep beside Gmail. Gmail Help · Keep Help
Summaries of the linked threads and help pages, read 12, 13 and 30 October 2026.
Related Add-on
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Hand off
Assign an email to a teammate
Once the team agrees who answers, give the email to that person. It stays with them, even when someone else replies.
Questions
Can the customer ever see a comment?
No. Comments are for your team only. They are never sent with a reply.
Can we use it with our own email now?
On Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, yes, by approval: early access is open, so ask for it and we write when your team can start. The demo, with sample email, is open now.
Talk it over.
The demo opens this scenario with a sample team and points to each step.