Understanding Alias and Group Email

Article by Domain Support
Many of our clients have signed up their domain mail with G Suite since Connectech is a G Suite Reseller. Some need to understand the difference between an alias (nickname) address and a group email address so this post is to help you understand the difference and may save you some money!

Google assumes that a user account is a human, an individual, not a generic email address such as info@your_domain.com or sales@your-domain.com.  [1] However, some organizations want to have a generic user account such as generic@your_organization.com that several individuals access and use as a team. Of course, if that is how your organization does business, you can continue to do this with Google Apps for Work but if you understand how Google does this you may be able to save money, depending on your particular business practices.

First understand what an alias (nickname) email address is with Google.  An alias email address is simply a nickname or other email address that goes to an individual (human) user account. [2] So if you need a generic email address (info@your_company.com) sent to just one individual (human) you simply set up an alias address for this one individual and all email using this generic email address will end up in this user account’s primary inbox.

Second, what is a group email address?  As the name implies, a group generic email address (team@your_company.com) can go to a group of individual user accounts (humans). The number in the group can be the entire organization or you simply select who in your organization receives this email in their inbox (usually at least two in the group). The same group email is sent to everyone in the group (humans) into their primary inbox. Google also lets individual users (humans) create their own group email addresses using G Suite. [3]

The best part about using alias or group email addresses is they are included for free and there is basically no limit on the number of email addresses you may need or want for your organization which can possibly save you money since user accounts (humans) cost at the minimum $50/year with G Suite.

So you may wonder if you can SEND an alias or group email address from your primary user account and the answer is YES!  The instructions are here:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/22370?hl=en

We have a post to help you understand Gmail Groups. Also this post:

Understand Google Apps Licenses to be Frugal

Of course, if you need assistance on any of the above, contact us and we will be happy to help.

Notes

[1] “Before people on your team can sign in and access your Google for Work services, they need a user account.” Source

[2] What’s an email alias?
“An email alias is an alternate address that points to a user’s existing Gmail account. Mail sent to the user’s primary address (the one you created for their Google Apps account) and any email aliases you add, all appear in the user’s same Gmail inbox.” Source

[3] Understanding Group Email Addresses

We also have a post about Groups to assist you.