Tag: spam

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

One way of avoiding your sent messages being put into spam folders is by “signing” your messages as being genuinely from your domain (not just sent by a random stranger) using a mechanism called DKIM.

There are two elements to DKIM – a record held with your domain records and a signature put into a message. When a message is received supposedly from your domain containing a signature this is validated against the actual record held by your domain. DKIM is a powerful mechanism to ensure messages are genuine but requires some setup and careful management especially if you have complicated email setups.

Currently Verrotech are offering DKIM on a trial basis with limited support to customers. To qualify for the trial DKIM service you must:

  1. Have Verrotech manage the DNS for your domain (if you don’t know what this is, then don’t worry – we do!)
  2. Send messages through Verrotech directly (i.e. not have your email hosted on Google or Office 365 or another provider)
  3. Do not take part in bulk mailing or marketing emails (though we will be trialling per-domain DKIM for such users)

If you meet the above criteria and would like to try DKIM (maybe you’re having more mail go into spam) then contact support.

 

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a way to try and combat junk (spam) email on the Internet by defining who is allowed to send mail on behalf of a domain.

If you have a domain hosted with Verrotech you may want to use SPF in one of two ways.

1 – Use a Third-Party Email Provider (gSuite, Office 365, etc)

If you use a third-party email provider to send and receive your email then we can configure your domain to make them a “trusted sender”. You can find the settings yourself and let us know, or just tell us which provider you’re with. Either way just contact support.

2 – Use Verrotech to Send and Receive Email

If you use the Verrotech mail system to send mail then we may have already configured SPF. If you’re not sure or need to ensure it’s enabled then contact support.

Note: If you send through Verrotech but we don’t manage your domain (the DNS) then you’ll need to add Verrotech to any SPF record you have. You can do this by including _spf.verrotech.com in your SPF directive.

Don’t Forget…

You may well actually send mail from a few different places – do you for example use MailChimp or a similar bulk sending service? Have a website form that sends mail or a notification system? Ideally all these will be listed in the SPF.