| Will my customers know that OpenSRS is hosting the service and not me? |
| Which email clients can be used with the OpenSRS Email Service? |
| What messages should I use when communicating the service to customers? |
| What marketing materials are available? |
| MX records point to Tucows but I can't get to any mailboxes on the domain |
| What is an email client? |
| What is IMAP? Who would use IMAP? When should I suggest this to a customer? |
| What if an entry error is made during the sign-up process? |
| What does the Email service cost? |
| What Name Server and DNS modifications are required for email? |
| What is the maximum message size, including attachments? |
| What happens when an end user reaches their storage capacity? |
| Is there a maximum amount of storage that can be added? |
| Is there a maximum number of recipients per message? |
| Are there any mailboxes that are automatically created with an order? |
| How does an Email Administrator send a blanket message to all |
| How are Email customers supported? |
| What features are available as part of an Email upgrade? |
| What is the policy on bulk emails? |
| What browsers support WebMail? |
| What is the purpose of the emailadmin@domainname.tld address? |
| How are system upgrades and outages completed and communicated? |
| How should any email abuse be reported? |
| Why doesn't my custom Webmail logo show up properly in my Email account? |
| How are passwords recovered, if there is no recovery email address specified? |
| How do I configure webmail DNS on domains that use managed DNS? |
| How can my customer add additional services? |
| What is the policy on SPAM? How is it managed? |
| Where are the email services hosted? |
| What is SMTP? |
| What happens if there is a problem delivering outbound email? |
| How do I access the Email Administrator functionality? |
| What functionality is available via WebMail? |
| What is POP? How is it used? |
| How do I set-up POP? |
| How do I set-up IMAP? |
Q:What messages should I use when communicating the service to customers?
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A:The key messages are: - Domain email allows the end user to extend their brand or personal identity - Flexible email access using POP and WebMail, with IMAP also available - Advanced virus protection - 250MB storage per box with additional storage available to up to 5 GB - WebMail access allows the end user to access their mailbox from any computer, any place in the world - Advertisement free - Attachments up to 25 MB can be sent and received - On-line management tools for additional control over your mail - Configurable service which will scale to your needs (extra storage and functionality) - Stable, reliable service |
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Q:Will my customers know that OpenSRS is hosting the service and not me? |
A:No. OpenSRS will remain invisible to your customer base. |
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Q:What marketing materials are available? |
A:Tucows will continually develop marketing materials to assist you in marketing the service. Marketing materials include: - Banner ad templates - Web copy templates - Email copy templates - FAQs - POP client set up instructions for all popular email clients These and more resources can be accessed at: http://rrc.tucows.com/wholesale_services/email and http://rrc.tucows.com/wholesale_services/email/saleskit_email |
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Q:MX records point to tucows but I can't get to any mailboxes on the domain |
A:Although you may have set your MX record correctly, email will not be immediately active for the domain. There are a couple of reasons this occurs. First, hanging the MX record on your account will take as long as your TTL is set in your zone file to take effect. Secondly, after the MX record does take effect, it may take up to 60 minutes afterwards before the email account becomes live in our email system. Mailboxes are not made live until the Tucows email system can confirm that the MX record is properly set. The reason that mailboxes are not immediately activated when ordered is for the following reasons. Tucows needs to ensure the integrity of the mail server is at a high level. When an email message is sent through to the SMTP server, the mail server's first function is to check if the account exists locally before going to the outside world. If a message sent to user@webmaillogin.com, the function of the mail server is to see if webmaillogin.com exists locally. If it does, it will deliver the message without doing any DNS queries. If a domain is activated on our mail server and the MX record does NOT point to webmaillogin.com, the mail server will try delivering to the local account on our server if the user exists. If the user does not exist, the message will get rejected. Think now if someone purchased user@hotmail.com. Since with Tucows Email you are allowed to purchase on domains you don't own, the actually order would go through and be populated on our mail server. Now if someone tries to send mail to john@hotmail.com, our mail server will recognize that the domain is local, but john does not exist, causing the message to be rejected. Even worse now, all mail to that domain will be rejected if sent from someone using Tucows Email. |
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Q:What functionality is available via WebMail? |
A:For a list of WebMail functionality, please refer to http://rrc.tucows.com/wholesale_services/email |
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Q:What is an email client? |
A:An email client is an application that resides on your computer (it's called a client because it's an application on your computer) that allows you to use send and receive email using the POP or IMAP protocols, as an alternative to using WebMail as your means of accessing email. Examples of email clients include Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook, and Netscape Mail. |
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Q:Which email clients can be used with the OpenSRS Email Service? |
A:o PC: Netscape, Mozilla, Eudora, Outlook, Outlook Express, PC Pine, Pegasus, Opera, PC Pine o Apple: Apple Mail, Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape, Mozilla o Unix: Netscape, Pine, MH, Emacs Mail To learn how to set-up your email client for POP or IMAP, go to: http://help.webmaillogin.com. Full instructions are provided for many of the most popular email clients listed above. |
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Q:What is POP? How is it used? |
A:Mail is collected from a mail server using the Post Office Protocol (POP), which is currently at version 3. A mailbox is sometimes referred to as a POP3 mailbox, which simply refers to the method of how mail can be collected. It can be used to collect mail from any mail server that can be contacted from the client email application. POP3, which initiates the connection to the mail server and therefore can be used from any address, can be used to collect mail over part time links, and through any connection to the Internet. Older methods, such as POP2, are still in existence, but are disappearing. Note that some email clients refer to POP3 simply as POP, and that a POP3 mailbox may be referred to as a POP account. |
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Q:How do I set-up POP? |
A:To learn how to set-up POP for Tucows Email, go to http://help.webmaillogin.com. Full instructions are provided for many of the most popular email clients. |
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Q:What is IMAP? Who would use IMAP? When should I suggest this to a customer? |
A:IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. It is a method of accessing email or bulletin board messages that are kept on a (possibly shared) mail server, such as the Tucows Email server. In other words, it permits a "client" email program (e.g., Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, etc.) to access remote message stores as if they were local. For example, email stored on an IMAP server can be manipulated from a desktop computer at home, a workstation at the office, and a notebook computer while traveling, without the need to transfer messages or files back and forth between these computers. IMAP access is particularly handy for mobile professionals or individuals who have need to access their email from various locations and various computers. IMAP users will have to pay particular attention to their storage limits. If they do not actively clean and maintain their mailboxes, they run the risk of filling up their box. |
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Q:How do I set-up IMAP? |
A:To learn how to set-up IMAP for Tucows Email, go to http://help.webmaillogin.com. Full instructions are provided for many of the most popular email clients. |
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Q:How can my customer add additional services?
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A:As a reseller, you can add additional services including IMAP or additional storage on behalf of your customers through the Reseller Web interface. To upgrade services, follow this process: a. Go to the Reseller Web Interface b. Select Email from the toolbar c. Go to Search Live Email Accounts and enter any search info and perform search d. A list of active email addresses will appear. If the available 'Action' reads 'Upgrade', the mailbox is eligible for an upgrade. Select 'Upgrade' to purchase additional services. e. Indicate what upgrades you would like to purchase and select 'Upgrade Account' Your customers will be able to do it for themselves on your web site if you have written an interface to the email system using APIs provided. |
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Q:What if an entry error is made during the sign-up process? |
A:Depending on the error that is made, you may or may not have to reverse and re-purchase the order. If you have simply misspelled the mailbox name, this can be modified via the Reseller Web Interface by performing the following steps: a. Go to the Reseller Web Interface b. Select Email from the toolbar c. Go to Search Email Services Sold and enter any search info and perform search d. Select the account name of the mailbox that you would like to modify e. Change the email address to the new name and select 'Update' Incorrect typing of the domain name will require order reversal and re-purchase. |
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Q:What is the policy on SPAM? How is it managed? |
A:Tucows forbids the use of any Tucows Email for the purpose of SPAM or any other email abuse. Abuse includes the following: a. Sending a chain letter or letters that market a product or service to recipients who have not expressly agreed to receive these messages b. Sending any unsolicited emailings exceeding (25) email recipients c. Using the service in any manner so as to harass, threaten, abuse, embarrass, or cause distress, unwanted attention or discomfort to any person or entity d. Using the service in violation of the law, in aid of any unlawful act or to interfere with the use and operation of our network In the event of a SPAM event or complaint, Tucows will suspend the offending email account and notify the Reseller. In the event, a second SPAM event or complaint occurs within a period of 30 days after the initial complaint, email on the entire domain will be suspended and the Reseller will be notified. |
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Q:What happens if there is a problem delivering outbound email? |
A:If there is a delivery problem when email users send messages to external addresses, the email server will keep trying to resend the message for three days in three-hour intervals. |
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Q:Where are the email services hosted? |
A:Tucows Email service is collocated at IBM Canada's Data Center. For more information on the redundancy and services available at that center, please visit: http://www-3.ibm.com/services/e-business/hosting/index.html |
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Q:What does the Email service cost? |
A:Each mailbox is priced at a low, $0.30 per per month. IMAP is an optional, free upgrade. Additional storage, in 250MB increments, is priced at $0.10 mailbox/per per month. Pricing information for all of our services is located here: http://rrc.tucows.com/wholesale_services |
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Q:What is SMTP? |
A:According to Webopedia.com, SMTP is: Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending email messages between servers. Most email systems that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the messages can then be retrieved with an email client using either POP or IMAP. In addition, SMTP is generally used to send messages from a mail client to a mail server. |
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Q:What Name Server and DNS modifications are required for email? |
A:An MX update to your DNS zone file is required for your email to work. Changing MX (mail exchange) records redirects the mail for the domain or subdomain specified by your customer, to the email mail servers. This must be done by the person who controls the DNS for this domain. To update your DNS file, add the following MX setting to the DNS zone file for yourcustomerdomain.com: inbound.customerdomainname.tld.emailmx.com For example, if your customer (abc.com) wanted to offer email addresses like jdoe@abc.com, you would create the following lines in their DNS file: inbound.abc.com.emailmx.com Any DNS modifications or additions will require 24-48 hours to propagate through the Internet. Your email will not fully work until this propagation occurs. Until DNS is properly configured, users will not be able to login to WebMail or the Email administrator. If DNS is not properly setup 30 days after mailbox purchase, an automatic notification will be sent out. Optional: CNAME entries Making CNAME entries will allow your users to access webmail using the domain name associated with the mailboxes, as opposed to the generic hostname, mail.webmaillogin.com. Doing so, for example, would allow user joe@abc.com to login to mail.abcmaillogin.com instead of mail.webmaillogin.com 1. CNAME entry for email users: If you wish to allow email users to login to the domain name associated with their mailbox then the following CNAME entry will have to be added to your DNS zone file: mail.DomainName.tld (where domainname.tld is your domain name, e.g.: abc.com) Your CNAME entry should point to mail.webmaillogin.com. 2. CNAME entry for email administrators: If you wish to allow email administrators to login to the domain name associated with their mailbox then the following CNAME entry will have to be added to your DNS zone file: emailadmin.yourdomain.tld (where domainname.tld is your domain name, e.g.: abc.com) Your CNAME entry should point to mailadmin.webmaillogin.com. 3. CNAME entry for IMAP Users: If you wish to allow IMAP users to login to the domain name associated with their mailbox, then the following CNAME entry will need to be made to your DNS record: imap.domainname.tld (where domainname.tld is your domain name, e.g.: abc.com) Your CNAME entry should point to imap.domainname.tld.emailmx.com |
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Q:What is the maximum message size, including attachments? |
A:The maximum message size, which includes the message and any attachments, is 25 MB. This limit applies to WebMail and desktop client users. As a note, when using WebMail, you can attach up to 4 files to each message. |
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Q:What happens when an end user reaches their storage capacity? |
A:End-users can keep as many messages and contacts as they want in a mailbox until account size reaches the storage limit, which is 250 MB unless the mailbox has been upgraded. End-users can monitor the amount of storage they have used by going to the 'Folders and Address Books' page in WebMail as this information is provided in the bottom corner. As an important note, both email and contacts count towards storage capacity. Also, the Trash Can mail folder also contributes towards this limit. End users will begin receiving storage limit alerts when the mailbox reaches 80% capacity when they login via WebMail or attempt to access email via the email client. If a person sends an email to a mailbox and the message causes the mailbox to exceed its storage capacity, the sender will receive a bounce back message indicating that the message was not delivered as the mailbox has reached its capacity. Beginning at 80% capacity, the warnings will be delivered as an alert either through the WebMail interface or as error messages that appear when the end-user attempts to send/receive mail in the email client. These alerts will not be delivered as email messages. Alerts will be generated every 10 minutes and will continue until the storage space used is reduced to below 80%. End-users must be logged into WebMail or using their email client in order to receive the alert. If they connect to the mailbox using an email client, the alert is displayed as an error message, and end-users should try to connect again to send/receive mail as the mailbox may not be at 100% capacity. If they do not retry immediately, but make the next send/retrieve attempt more than 10 minutes later, and the mailbox is still over its storage limit, the alert is generated again and the send/receive is refused again. End-users should retry immediately if they see the alert messages. Beginning at 90% capacity, warnings will be delivered to the user's mailbox as an email message instead of an alert. 100% Storage Capacity Reached: Users will continue to receive alerts when your mailbox reaches 100% of the storage capacity. When 100% is reached, the email system will begin permanently rejecting all new messages. The sender of any email to this account will receive an email indicating 'quota exceeded' with a permanent mail delivery failure. Until they delete messages or upgrade the mailbox storage space, mail will continue to be permanently rejected. It is recommended that users delete messages and/or contacts when they begin receiving these alerts to ensure that the mailbox continues to receive messages as expected. Please be aware that file attachments in an email may quickly use up storage space! If end-users receive a message that would cause you to exceed your storage limit, that specific message will be rejected. For example, if 246MB of 250MB storage is used and someone sends a message that is 6MB in size, the message would be rejected. Reducing Mailbox Size or Buying More Storage: Users are required to use the WebMail interface to delete messages, as POP and IMAP access is disabled on accounts that have exceeded their storage limit. Alternatively, end users could look into purchasing more storage space. If they are using POP to access mail through an email client, end users may also wish to not leave mail on the email server, which is an optional setting in email clients. This will ensure that only new mail that you haven't retrieved and contacts count towards the storage limit. |
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Q:Is there a maximum amount of storage that can be added? |
A:The base mailbox includes 250 MB of storage. Additional storage of between 500 MB and 4750 MB is available. Therefore, the maximum mailbox capacity is 5 GB. |
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Q:How are system upgrades and outages completed and communicated? |
A:For all planned outages and upgrades: a. Planned outages for upgrades and maintenance will be conducted during off peak times. b. Notification will be via email to the resellers at least 2 business days before the planned outage. B: For all unplanned and/or emergency outages: a. Notification of an unplanned maintenance window will be made via email to resellers. b. Nofification of a system outage or degradation will be communicated via the System Status email alert, not via Live Reseller Update email (LRU). The System Status page provides details of current system status related issues and can be found at: http://status.tucows.com c. Notification of the resumption of normal service will be communicated via the System Status email alert for unplanned outages. |
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Q:Is there a maximum number of recipients per message? |
A:Yes. End users will be restricted to sending messages to 250 recipients. A distribution list (e.g. with 300 members) sent within the Tucows email service system counts as one recipient. However, the limit of 250 recipients is in effect for distributions lists sent beyond the Tucows system. |
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Q:Are there any mailboxes that are automatically created with an order? |
A:The 'emailadmin' and 'all' addresses are automatically created when an email service is initiated. These addresses are non-billable. emailadmin@domainname.tld is sent to email administrators on the domain and all@domainname.tld is sent to all mailboxes on the domain. |
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Q:What is the purpose of the emailadmin@domainname.tld address? |
A:All domains will automatically have the address emailadmin@domainname.tld activated. Any messages sent to emailadmin@domainname.tld will be redirected to the Email Administrator account for that domain. If there is more than one Email Administrator, each Email administrator will receive a copy. Until the first Email Administrator account is created, the emailadmin@domainname.tld account will not reach a destination successfully. This address is controlled by the reseller or end user. It is determined by the Reseller who controls this. Tucows will use this address if any global system announcements are required. Tucows will also use this address for forwarding SPAM and other abuse related issues, as well as postmaster related issues. |
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Q:How does an Email Administrator send a blanket message to all mailboxes in their domain? |
A:Email Administrators who want to reach all users within a specific domain can send a message to all@domainname.tld and all accounts within that domain will receive the message. |
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Q:How do I access the Email Administrator functionality? |
A:The Email Administrator is accessible at https://mailadmin.webmaillogin.com for those users who have been granted email administrator permissions. The email administrator will allow you to view all configuration details about mailboxes, while also allowing you to manage passwords, auto-reply messages, catch-alls, aliases and misaddressed mail messages. For more information please see http://rrc.tucows.com/wholesale_services/email |
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Q:How are Email customers supported? |
A:It is the reseller's responsibility to provide end user customer support for all email related issues. In order to assist resellers, Tucows provides a series of end-user FAQs and email client set-up tutorials that you may choose to post on your web site. It is our aim to update and issue these frequently in order to reduce the amount of support you're required to provide. The FAQs can be found at http://help.webmaillogin.com. Online support is available to the end customer within the WebMail interface by clicking on the '?' icon located on screen. Help for those using an email client for POP or IMAP is generally available through the email client application. For support services including connectivity and performance, Tucows will attempt to proactively communicate any service issues with directly to the reseller. |
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Q:How do I configure webmail DNS on domains that use managed DNS? |
A:When using the managed DNS Zone configuration, you have to set a CNAME (Alias) for mail.domain.com to mail.domain.com.emailmx.com. |
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Q:How are passwords recovered, if there is no recovery email address specified? |
A:For the Tucows Email Service, if no secondary email address is defined in WebMail, there is no way to recover a password as there is no email address to send it to. The reseller is able to modify the password through the RWI or an email administrator may modify the password through the Email Admin interface (http://mailadmin.webmaillogin.com) |
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Q:Why doesn't my custom Webmail logo show up properly in my Email account? |
A:Please ensure that there is an <img> tag at the beginning (and an </img> at the end) of your custom logo. |
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Q:What is the policy on bulk emails? |
A:Tucows limits the sending of unsolicited emails to 250 email recipients. Additionally, Webmail users may send no more than 10 messages per minute, in order to discourage SPAM. |
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Q:How should any email abuse be reported? |
A:Please forward any email you or your customers consider abusive to abuse@tucows.com to ensure Tucows receives all SPAM/Abuse related complaints within the Tucows Network. |
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Q:What features are available as part of an Email upgrade? |
A:IMAP is available as a free upgrade. In addition you may upgrade your mailbox size in increments of 250 to a maximum of 5 GB. |
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Q:What browsers support WebMail? |
A:The following browser are supported: IE for Windows, Version 6.0 and higher; Firefox 1.0 and higher; Safari 1.0 or higher; Netscape 6.0 or greater. |
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