Core Features and Objects of Microsoft 365 Services · Topic 2 of 6
Exchange and Teams Admin Centers
AB-900 Exchange and Teams admin centers: mailbox types, distribution groups and mail flow, plus teams, channels and policies and which object to configure.
- 5 min
- Mailboxes and distribution groups are configured in the Exchange admin center.
- A distribution group is for email only. It does not grant permissions.
- A shared mailbox is used by several people. A room or equipment mailbox is for booking resources.
What it is
Each Microsoft 365 workload has its own admin center, and each one manages its own kinds of objects. The Exchange admin center manages email: mailboxes, groups that receive mail, and how mail flows. The Teams admin center manages Microsoft Teams: teams, channels, and the policies that decide what users may do.
How it works
Exchange admin center
The Exchange admin center is where you configure Exchange Online. Its main areas are Recipients (mailboxes, groups, resources, contacts), Mail flow (rules, accepted domains, message trace) and Migration.
Mailboxes are the container for a person's email, calendar and contacts. There are several types.
| Mailbox type | Used for |
|---|---|
| User mailbox | One person's own email and calendar |
| Shared mailbox | A mailbox several people open together, such as support@ or info@. It has no password of its own, and does not need its own license under the size limit |
| Room and equipment mailbox | Booking a meeting room, a projector or a car through calendar invitations |
Groups are the second main object. The exam expects you to tell them apart.
| Group type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Distribution group | Sends one email to many people. It is only for mail, and cannot be used to assign permissions |
| Mail enabled security group | Receives mail and can also be used to give permissions |
| Dynamic distribution group | Membership is calculated from rules, for example everyone in a department |
| Microsoft 365 group | A shared mailbox, calendar, site and optionally a team for collaboration |
Use a distribution group when the only goal is to email a list of people. Use a Microsoft 365 group when people also need shared files and a shared inbox.
Mail flow settings control how email moves. A mail flow rule, also called a transport rule, can for example add a disclaimer or block messages with certain content. Message trace shows what happened to a message that did not arrive.
Teams admin center
The Teams admin center manages Microsoft Teams. Go to Teams admin center > Teams > Manage teams to see the teams in your organization.
Teams are collaboration spaces for a group of people. Each team is backed by a Microsoft 365 group, so it has a shared mailbox, a calendar and a SharePoint site where its files are stored.
Channels are the topics or workstreams inside a team.
| Channel type | Who can see it |
|---|---|
| Standard | Every member of the team |
| Private | Only selected team members |
| Shared | People in and outside the team, even from other organizations, without becoming team members |
Policies are sets of rules that you assign to users or groups. They control what a user may do in Teams. Common policy types are:
- Messaging policies, for chat features such as deleting sent messages.
- Meeting policies, for features in meetings such as recording and who can present.
- App permission and setup policies, for which apps users may install and which apps are pinned.
- Calling policies, for call features such as call forwarding.
Policies are assigned per user or to a group, and a user gets the global (org wide) default policy when nothing else is assigned.
A worked example
A shop wants one address, orders@contoso.com, that three people read and reply to. The administrator creates a shared mailbox in the Exchange admin center and adds the three people as members. For a monthly staff announcement the shop also builds a distribution group named All Staff. In Teams, the shop creates a team for the stock room with a private channel for managers, and assigns a stricter meeting policy to a test group of users to turn off recording for them.
How the exam asks about this
- "Several employees need to send and read mail from a common address. What do you create?" A shared mailbox.
- "You need to send an email to everyone in a department, with no shared files. What object fits?" A distribution group (or a dynamic distribution group for automatic membership).
- "Which admin center would you use to stop a group of users from recording meetings?" The Teams admin center, with a meeting policy.
What to remember for the exam
- Mailboxes and distribution groups are configured in the Exchange admin center.
- A distribution group is for email only. It does not grant permissions.
- A shared mailbox is used by several people. A room or equipment mailbox is for booking resources.
- Teams, channels and policies are configured in the Teams admin center.
- A team is backed by a Microsoft 365 group, and has a SharePoint site for its files.
A channel is not a team. A private or shared channel limits who sees a topic inside a team. A new team is a new group of people.
Common mistakes
Using a distribution group to grant access to files. It carries email only. Use a security group or a Microsoft 365 group for permissions.
Looking for meeting recording settings in the Exchange admin center. Meeting and messaging rules for Teams live in the Teams admin center as policies.
Believing a shared mailbox is a person. It is a mailbox opened by many users. Nobody signs in to it directly.
Check yourself
Which object lets many people read and send from a common address?
A shared mailbox, created in the Exchange admin center.
What is the difference between a distribution group and a Microsoft 365 group?
A distribution group only sends email to its members. A Microsoft 365 group also gives members a shared mailbox, calendar and SharePoint site, and can be connected to a team.
Where do you create a policy that controls what users can do in Teams meetings?
In the Teams admin center, as a meeting policy assigned to users or groups.
Topic 2 of 6 in Core Features and Objects of Microsoft 365 Services
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