How to Assign a Signature for Google Group Send-As Aliases

This guide explains how to assign a unique email signature to a Google Group (or CloudM Smart Team) email address. 

Emails sent to a group address (e.g., support@yourcompany.com) are delivered to each group member's Google Workspace mailbox. This CloudM Signatures feature allows a signature to be automatically applied when a group member uses the group's address as a "send-as" alias to reply. EG: all members of a technical support team can have a dedicated "Technical Support" signature applied when they reply from the support@yourcompany.com group address..

1. What is a Google Group Signature?

A Google Group Signature is a dedicated email signature for a Google Group or CloudM Smart Team (A CloudM Smart Team is a CloudM-specific entity that, at its core, acts as a Google Group) send-as alias address (not a personal alias).

• Primary Signature: This is the default signature assigned to a user's primary/main email address (e.g., jane.doe@yourcompany.com).
• Google Group Signature: This is a separate signature that is dynamically applied by CloudM Signatures when a user replies from a specific Google Group or Smart Team email address. This is ideal for shared roles or departments.

For instance, when a user who is part of the support@yourcompany.com group replies to an email, this feature ensures the "Technical Support" signature is automatically used instead of their personal one.

2. Prerequisites for Assigning Group Signatures

Before assigning a signature, ensure you have completed the following steps in your Google Workspace or CloudM environment:

1. Create a Target Group: Choose an existing or create a new Google Group or a CloudM Smart Team that includes the users you want to assign the signature to. (A CloudM Smart Team is a CloudM-specific entity that, at its core, acts as a Google Group.)
2. Create a Send-As Alias: For each group member user, ensure the group address is configured as a "Send mail as" alias in their Gmail Accounts and Import settings. This Google article explains how to configure the Google Group to allow send-as functionality: Add a group as an email address in Gmail.
   
   • It's important to note that Google Group settings are controlled via the Google Groups UI (https://groups.google.com)
   • It's possible to access a Google Group's settings via CloudM by selecting the Group or Smart Team and going to Actions > Advanced Settings

   • The Group settings under Group settings > Posting policies: Allow Email Posting and Who can post as group should be considered:
     
     

     and:

     

3. Assigning Group Signatures

Follow these steps to configure both a default (primary) and a group signature within the CloudM Signature Management tool.

3.1. Configure the Primary Signature

1. Navigate to Signatures > Email signature library and create your default signature(s).
2. Go to Signatures > Email signature management and select the organizational unit (OU) or Smart Team of the users.
3. Uncheck the "Inherit signature from X-OU" option.
4. Select "Signature Sync Active" to enable the feature for this OU.
5. From the Domain dropdown, select the primary email address you wish to use.
6. Choose a signature from the library and click Add.
7. Click Save changes.

3.2. Configure a Group Alias Signature

1. Navigate to Signatures > Email signature management and select the OU or Smart Team of the group member users.
2. Navigate to the Alias Signature tab.
   
3. Search for the Google Group or CloudM Smart Team's email address.
4. Select the signature you want to associate with this group and click Add.
5. Click Save changes. You should see a confirmation message: "Email signature configuration saved successfully."

3.3. Sync and Verify Signatures

Although through recent improvements CloudM Signatures sync almost immediately (within minutes), there may, on rare occasions, be a requirement for manual intervention. Here's how you can manually force-sync you email signatures for an OU or Smart Team.

1. Navigate to Directory > Org Units or Directory > Smart Teams and select the required entity.
2. Click Actions and select Sync Email Signatures.
3. Once the sync is complete, ask a user from the chosen OU to log into their Gmail account and verify that both signatures (primary and the group alias) are available when composing an email.