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. 

Summary: 

If you want to distribute email to many people at once, you need a mailing list or distribution group. If you want several people to be able to send and receive email from a single email address, you need a group email account. If you want to create an entry for your group that can be found by searching in the directory, you need a group or unit alias. 

How do I create a mailing list or distribution group? 

See Campus Mailing Lists, Request a new list or Office 365, Email, Exchange, Distribution Groups, How to request a mail-enabled Exchange Distribution group

How do I create a group email account (also known as a resource account)? 

See Office 365, Email, Creating a Resource or Group Mailbox

How do I create a group alias? 

Visit the Group Alias Creation page. Once the alias has been created, you will use the Illinois Directory Editor to add and maintain information in the entry.