| How do I modify the MX record to accommodate Email Forwarding? |
| Do I have to sign a contract? |
| How does pro-rating work? |
| What are the key features of Email Forwarding? |
| Will API calls be available? |
| Is there documentation for Email Forwarding? |
| How does billing work for this service? |
Q:What are the key features of Email Forwarding? |
A:Email forwarding allows end users to forward email from one email address to another email address. For example, a person would purchase a domain and email forward (i.e., tom@mydomain.com) and have it forwarded to a mailbox that is not on his domain (i.e., tom@afreemailbox.com). Email forwarding addresses include virus protection and email catch-all options. Flexible Provisioning and Management Options: Reseller Web Interface Provisioning and management will be available through the Reseller Web Interface (RWI). Resellers will be able to define email forward addresses and forward to addresses at the time of purchase or afterwards. Resellers can also set permissions allowing their customers to be an email administrator, which allows them to manage their own email forward addresses for the domain. API Full provisioning and management will be available through the API. Resellers may use the API to integrate provisioning and management for email forwarding into a Reseller's control panel or web interface. Resellers will be able to define email forward addresses and forward to addresses at the time of purchase or afterwards. Email Administrator Web Interface Through the Email Administrator Web Interface (EAWI), Resellers can extend end user management directly to their customer. This interface allows Email Administrators to manage email forwarding addresses and email administrator passwords. If the domain also uses Tucows Email Service, they will be able to manage mailbox and domain related settings such as aliases, passwords and catch all options. The help information included in this interface will also be updated to reflect new features. This interface is available at: https://mailadmin.webmaillogin.com |
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Q:How do I modify the MX record to accommodate Email Forwarding? |
A:Setting the MX Record After provisioning the first email forward or mailbox for a domain, the Reseller will need to modify the domain's MX Record to point the domain's mail to Tucows. This MX record is the same for the email forwarding and mailboxes. The MX record must be pointed to: inbound.domainname.tld.emailmx.com * Where domainname.tld is your domain name, e.g., ispabc.com Note, Tucows validates that this MX record exists in the domain's zone. This MX record should be the only MX record for the Tucows Email Service, although this is not a requirement for the following reason. If the domain currently has email with another provider besides Tucows, it is recommended that the domain maintain two MX records (i.e., the old MX record and the Tucows Email Service MX record) until Tucows Email Service is fully setup. Setup will take less than 1 hour as we run an MX record check against the authoritative name server for the zone every 10 minutes. After the email service is setup, the old MX record should be deleted to ensure mail flow is directed at the Tucows Email Service. As a reminder, it still may take 24-48 hours for this new MX record to propagate through the Internet. The reason Tucows validates that the MX record points to Tucows for mailboxes and email forwarding is to ensure that the person who purchased the mailbox or email forward for the domain has the right to do so. If we did not do this, the email would be setup for the domain and any mail sent to the domain from an email address also using the Tucows Email Service would be sent locally and the person, who had illegitimately purchased email for the domain, would be able to see and respond to this mail. |
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Q:Will API calls be available? |
A:Email Service APIs will be available for provisioning mailboxes and email forwards, plus the functionality accessible in the Email Administrator Web Interface. The API document has also been updated to include more examples and the new APIs. These APIs will allow Resellers to integrate functionality into their own control panel or web interface. A sample of the API calls available include: * Create, modify, delete mailbox * Create, modify, delete email forward addresses * Activating auto responder for a mailbox * Create, modify, delete aliases * Activate, deactivate catch-all setting * Modify mailbox password Version 2.8.3 of the Email Service API document will be available for download from the RRC on 6 May. Documentation can be downloaded 6 May at Reseller Resource Center (RRC) at: https://rrc.tucows.com/documentation |
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Q:Is there documentation for Email Forwarding? |
A:There is new documentation for the Email Service that covers both mailboxes and email forwards. Version 2.8.3 of the Email Service RWI 2 User Guide will be available for download from the RRC 6 May. It describes the provisioning and management components of the Email Service. |
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Q:Do I have to sign a contract? |
A:Sign only one contract and offer Tucows Email Service. If you are a current Email Reseller, please sign the new contract to sell Email Forwarding. Contracts are currently available on the RRC at: https://rrc.tucows.com/contracts#email |
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Q:How does billing work for this service? |
A:Email Forwarding will be provisioned through OpenSRS and will be billed monthly to the Reseller's account. Detailed below is an overview of monthly billing. Please note that monthly services are billed in advance. For example, this means that the Reseller is billed on 1 March for the March service. 1. Initial Month: For the initial month that a service is purchased, a pro-rated amount will be withdrawn from the Reseller's account when the order is processed. Pro-rating is based on the number of days in the month to a minimum of $0.01. 2. Subsequent Month: For subsequent months, the full monthly service fee will be withdrawn from the Reseller's account on the first day of the month. This monthly service fee will continue to be withdrawn until the service is cancelled. 3. Cancellation Month: When the service is cancelled, the Reseller will receive a credit for the unused portion of the month using the same pro-rated formula (e.g., 5 days left in the month will provide a credit for those 5 days). Cancellation can occur at any time. Insufficient Funds For Monthly Renewal If there are insufficient funds in the Reseller's account, Tucows will send a notification to the Reseller's billing contact. Tucows will attempt to withdraw funds on a daily basis for five (5) days. Each day the Reseller's billing contact will receive an email notification indicating the funds required and the items that could not be processed. If after five (5) days, sufficient funds are not available, the services that could not be processed will be suspended. To reactivate the service, the Reseller must select the services sold item that references that domain and reactivate the service. Upon doing this, the system will take the balance owing at that time. If there are sufficient funds in the Reseller account, the service will be reactivated and taken out of suspension mode. If the service is not reactivated prior to the next billing cycle, the domain's service will be deleted from the system. Insufficient Funds For New Orders Following current practice, if there are insufficient funds in the Reseller's account for a new order, the order will not be processed and will be placed in a pending state. The Reseller will need to process the order for it to be processed, as this will not be automatic. There are no changes to how this process is currently implemented. Process For Processing Monthly Payments Monthly payments are processed in the order that they were purchased with the oldest accounts being processed first (e.g., Email Forwarding that were purchased 1 January 2004 would be processed before services purchased 1 May 2004). Upcoming Withdrawal of Funds Information Upcoming withdrawal information will be available through two mechanisms. Three (3) days in advance of the first day of the month, the Reseller will receive an email notification indicating the approximate value of funds that will be withdrawn from their account on the first day of the month. This estimate will be based on the current pricing and number of domains with the service. The Reseller may access information about upcoming withdrawals in the upcoming payment view in the RWI. Monthly Statements The monthly financial statements will provide a summary and detailed view of transactions on their account broken into initial month purchases and recurring monthly purchases. |
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Q:How does pro-rating work? |
A:Because the price of email forwards is $0.02 per month per email forward, rounding rules need to be considered to understand the your monthly bill. For purchases, if the email forward is purchased from 1st to 8th day of a month, the price is $0.02 while buying it after 8th of a month will have a price of $0.01. For cancellations, the following logic applies. If the email forward is cancelled from the 1st to 8th day of a month, the refund is $0.02. Cancelling the email forward between the 9th and the 23rd of the month results in a $0.01 refund. Cancelling after the 23rd of the month will not provide a refund. |
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