Email, Mailing Lists, Distribution Groups, Group Email accounts and Unit Aliases
Information on various group email options.
What's the difference between a mailing list, a group email account, and a group or unit alias?
A mailing list is a system that distributes email to a range of subscribers. Email sent to a mailing list address can be controlled and verified in various ways before it's distributed to the subscribers' personal email addresses. A mailing list is not associated with any Illinois Directory information, such as telephone or fax numbers or street addresses. Searching for a mailing list's email address in the directory is unlikely to return results.
A group email account is a single email account that can be accessed by a range of people. A group (or unit) alias is an entry in the Illinois Directory with a range of information about a particular group (or unit). A group or unit alias can have telephone number, fax number, street address, email address, web, and other information associated with it.
A group or unit alias can have only one email address associated with it. That associated email address can belong to an individual, to a mailing list, or to an email account that a group accesses. However, a group alias cannot directly handle email distribution services to a range of people.