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Why using Office 365 group instead of distribution list?

Should I use distribution list instead of Office 365 group when we only want members of a group to receive emails sent to this group by anyone else within the organization? The group is private because we don't allow other users to add themselves to this group. This group has been created for the users who want to send an email to the administration people. We usually create a distribution list for that purpose. But Microsoft suggests to use Office 365 group instead distribution list.

This is the statement published on the Microsoft web site.

Distribution list

It's better to create an Office 365 group than a distribution list. The only reason to create a DL now is if your organization has Groups disabled.

But it looks like if the group is private users who are not members of the group are not allowed to send an email to this group.

Thanks

Edit: I just found out that it's a normal behavior

Office 365 Group member who sends email to the group will not receive that email in their individual inbox
An Office 365 Group member who sends email to the group will no longer receive that email in their individual inbox.Previously, when a member of an Office 365 group that was subscribed to the group - i.e., they receive emails to the group in their individual inbox as well as in the group's shared inbox - sent an email to that group, the member would receive a copy of their email in their individual inbox.
More info
Feature ID: 76175
Tags: O365, Groups

Microsoft says circling back of an email from a group was just leading to confusion. So DL is still required for what we need. If you have any advice or suggestion ou workaround please let me know. I like the concept of O365 group, but those people need to be warned when an email is sent to thi group, they can't spend all their time checking in the group. Thank again

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

ITguy565

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Saad Mardini

What are Office 365 Groups?
When you set up an Office 365 Group in Outlook, you can choose a set of people that you wish to collaborate with and easily set up a collection of resources for those people to share. You don’t have to worry about manually assigning permissions to all those resources because adding members to the group automatically gives them the permissions they need to the tools your group provides.

Those additional resources include:

Shared inbox - Where the conversations you traditionally have in your distribution lists take place. This shared inbox is fully searchable so it creates a living archive of the group's messages. Newcomers to the group can search or scroll back through the history to get up to speed quickly on what's been posted in the group previously. See: Have a group conversation in Outlook.

Tip: If your users still want the group messages to appear in their personal inbox, as they did with the distribution list, all they need to do is subscribe to the group by clicking the Membership button on the ribbon in Outlook.

Shared files library - Your group has a SharePoint files library where your users can store, share and collaborate on documents, workbooks, presentations, images or any other kind of file they need to work on. See: Share group files.

Shared calendar - Your group gets a shared calendar to post events related to the group. Each member who has subscribed to the group is automatically invited to events posted to the calendar so those events can also appear on their personal calendars if they wish. See: Schedule a meeting on a group calendar in Outlook 2016.

Shared OneNote notebook - The group automatically has a shared OneNote notebook where group members can collect and collaborate on information. Many groups use the notebook to create a living wiki with frequently asked questions and other resources. See: Getting Started with OneNote 2016.

Guest access - You could add external contacts to distribution groups before, but all they got was email. With groups you can offer guests access to email conversations, files and even the shared OneNote notebook. See: Guest access in Office 365 Groups.

Content is discoverable - Groups in Outlook are public by default which means that they are easy for other people in your organization to discover and join or review the materials in the group. If the content of the group is more sensitive you can switch the group to private, which hides the contents from non-members and requires the group owner to approve any requests to join.

Self-Service creation - IT doesn't have to get bogged down by requests from users to create groups. Users can create their own groups as needed. If you want to control which users in your organization can create groups see: Guest access in Office 365 Groups.

kt3z

ASKER

Hi Itguy565,

I'm not sure if you sent your comment before or after the edit in my question. I just need to make sure member of this group receive a notification when an email is sent to this group. We just tested it and works.

Office 365 Group member who sends email to the group will not receive that email in their individual inbox An Office 365 Group member who sends email to the group will no longer receive that email in their individual inbox.Previously, when a member of an Office 365 group that was subscribed to the group - i.e., they receive emails to the group in their individual inbox as well as in the group's shared inbox - sent an email to that group, the member would receive a copy of their email in their individual inbox.
More info
Feature ID: 76175
Tags: O365, Groups

Microsoft says circling back of an email from a group was just leading to confusion. So DL is still required for what we need. If you have any advice or suggestion ou workaround please let me know. I like the concept of O365 group, but those people need to be warned when an email is sent to thi group, they can't spend all their time checking in the group. Thank again

ITguy565

I responded to your original question before edits. This is the first time I have seen the edits that you sent.. That is interesting, I was unaware that Microsoft had created that "limitation" on O365 groups.

To answer your question though, I can not provide a workaround for this.

kt3z

ASKER

Ok thanks however the article from codetwo is helpful