Connect Microsoft 365

Connect the Microsoft 365 inbox reception already uses. Refera reads new arrivals after connection checks pass; it does not import old mail or send messages through this connection.

Before you start

• Sign in to Refera with your individual work email. Keep the shared referral inbox separate from staff sign-ins.
• Have the primary address of an existing shared or individual Microsoft 365 mailbox. It need not be named referrals@. A group or distribution list is not a mailbox.
• Ask someone who can approve applications for the Microsoft organisation, and someone who can manage Exchange mailbox permissions, to help. The two steps can be completed by the same person or by two different administrators.
• No second mailbox is needed. If the organisation has another user or shared mailbox that Refera is not already authorised to read, Refera checks that it is refused there. If the chosen inbox is the only one, Refera runs a single-mailbox check instead, with no extra step. Adding one unlicensed shared mailbox before connecting is optional and lets Refera use the check on another mailbox.

Permissions and checks for IT

Connect a mailbox

1. Open Connections and choose the existing Microsoft 365 referral inbox. If Microsoft offers a mailbox list, select the actual shared or individual mailbox from it. An alias, missing mailbox or unsupported type does not receive inbox access; confirm the primary address Microsoft returns before retrying.
2. Under Microsoft approval, first choose I have Microsoft admin access or Our admin will approve. Then choose Continue to Microsoft to complete the current step yourself, or Copy secure link to share it with the administrator through your usual trusted channel.
3. A Microsoft administrator first approves Refera for the organisation. Organisation approval grants no Mail.Read and does not let Refera read an inbox. The person who manages Exchange then completes the separate inbox approval. Refera shows the current step and retains a completed organisation step while another administrator finishes the inbox step.
4. Return to Connections and check the saved status. Refera must prove it can read the chosen inbox and that its access stops there. Connections then shows which check ran: a refusal on another mailbox, or a refusal before you granted access followed by a successful read after it. New referrals stay off until the connection and practice checks pass.

When the Exchange step is done, Connections says Microsoft 365 is set up. Microsoft usually takes 30 to 60 minutes to switch on access and can take up to 2 hours. Refera checks quietly in the background and finishes the connection on its own; nobody needs to keep the page open. Mail that arrives meanwhile is collected from the moment you connected. You can close the page.

Made-up example. In the demo practice, Connections shows the Microsoft 365 steps and the checks that keep real referrals off until they pass. Nothing connects in the demo.

Each Microsoft link lasts 30 minutes. Approval opens in the browser; Refera does not send an approval email to the referral inbox. No setup email needs to arrive. A Microsoft success page or a status email is not proof that Refera is connected. Refera may send active workspace owners and admins a connection-status receipt; the receipt is not connection evidence.

If approval does not finish

What happened	What to do
You selected Accept, then saw an error or lost the page	Open the saved connection in Connections. Check which step is recorded and follow its current action. The error alone does not establish that you used the wrong account or that no permission exists.
A link expired or the browser closed	Return to Connections for a fresh link to the unfinished step. Do not keep reopening an old link.
Microsoft cannot find the mailbox or offers a primary address	Ask IT to confirm the mailbox and organisation. Review the Microsoft-provided primary address before continuing.
The current administrator cannot complete the next step	Copy a fresh secure link for the person who can. A completed organisation step need not be repeated.
Microsoft blocks approval under an organisation policy	Ask the Microsoft administrator to review it. Do not bypass the policy.
Setup needs cleanup or removal	Follow the saved IT instructions. Access may already have been assigned; do not start another connection until removal is verified.

If the saved step still fails, contact Refera. Describe the step and visible error without including patient information, Microsoft links or authentication material.

If no suitable inbox exists

Choose Not yet, help me plan it and save the plan. IT can create an inbox, confirm which existing inbox to use, or help plan several inboxes. Refera does not create mailboxes, users or routing rules. New referrals stay off for an unfinished connection.

Manage mailboxes and folders

A workspace can connect several referral inboxes. Connect each separately through Manage connected mailboxes; one approval never connects them all.

Every connection starts with the Inbox and its access proof. Only after that proof connects the mailbox can you keep the Inbox or choose one other folder from Microsoft’s list. This needs no new Microsoft permission or administrator consent. Refera reads one folder per mailbox. Folder selection limits what is captured within the authorised mailbox; it does not create a narrower Microsoft permission.

If Inbox check delayed appears, check that mailbox’s saved status. A healthy second inbox does not prove the delayed one is up to date. Continue using the practice’s usual inbox process while the interruption is investigated.

Disconnecting

An Owner or Admin chooses Stop reading for that mailbox and confirms. Refera must confirm the local stop, then a Microsoft administrator removes its access using the supplied IT instructions. Reconnect stays blocked until Microsoft access denial is verified.

Disconnecting does not delete records already in Refera. Other connected inboxes continue independently. Exporting and leaving is a separate process.

Permissions, checks and removal

Microsoft 365 reference for IT explains exact access, administrator sessions, verification, cleanup and unavailable sending controls.

Related

• Microsoft 365 checklist for IT
• Your first working days
• Sign in or recover access

Administrative process-state only - Refera performs no clinical triage.