What Are SMTP Gateways?

SMTP gateways are used when you send emails, but you might not know their exact job. Find out all about them in this article.

You may send emails every day, but you probably don’t know how they work. That may be fine in the meantime, but having a basic understanding of its inner workings can help you pick the right email service in the future.

In this article, we explain what SMTP gateways are and how they relate to your emails.

 

First: SMTP Server Explained

SMTP means “Simple Message Transfer Protocol,” which is the digital mail truck your emails are loaded onto. Therefore, the SMTP server is the mailman. The server is responsible for verifying all details concerning your emails, and then sending them to the right inboxes.

 

Next: SMTP Relay Explained

An SMTP server needs to communicate with another SMTP server to get the emails to the correct recipients. The method by which this happens is SMTP relay. Just as with a relay race, SMTP relay passes emails (the digital batons) from one server to another.

An SMTP relay is needed if you’re sending emails from one domain to another, since they’re different. Otherwise, it’s not required if you’re just sending emails to colleagues with the same domain in their email addresses.

 

SMTP Relay Service

The majority of businesses use email marketing, which relies on large numbers of emails being sent out dependably. With your regular email provider, it’s not possible to carry out email campaigns, as you’d need to send out each email one by one. Plus, your IP address and domain name will be flagged as spam.

This is why many organizations subscribe to SMTP relay services. Not only can these providers send bulk and transactional emails, but they can also ensure good deliverability rates. When this occurs, your sender reputation doesn’t get compromised, which means the chances of your emails being marked as spam are lower.

 

SMTP gateway: Office 365

If your workplace uses Office 365, you can set up the SMTP gateway so that whatever device or app you’re using, you can send emails from your Office 365 mailboxes. By setting up the SMTP gateway, Office 365 programs will have more efficient functions.

For example, when you’re scanning a document, you usually have to send it to yourself and then to whoever else you wish. But by using SMTP client submission, you can send scanned documents directly to anyone.

SMTP gateways can also be configured to have your apps send out reminders to yourself and your customers. The applications for SMTP gateways are limitless, as long as you authenticate your devices properly.

 

smtp service

 

Office 365 SMTP settings

If you want to utilize an SMTP gateway, you’ll have to set up the following:

  • Server/smart host
  • Port
  • TLS/StartTLS
  • Username/email address and password

 

Gmail SMTP

Along with your Office 365 subscription, you get a Gmail account. But if you don’t like to use the in-browser email client, you can use the Gmail SMTP to receive emails in the client of your choosing. All you need to do is enter the SMTP settings and you’re set.

 

SMTP Gateway Wiki

If you have any further questions about SMTP gateways, it’s always helpful to look at an SMTP gateway wiki to find out more details. But here, we’ll discuss a common problem you might run into.

 

SMTP Gateway Not Responding

Many people get this error message, so you might come across it as well. Thankfully, it’s easily fixable. If you get the “SMTP gateway not responding” message, check your DNS and gateway settings. If those are correct, then your provider might’ve changed IP addresses, so find out the current one and change the settings.

 

SMTP Gateway Service

While doing research, you may have come across a term called “SMTP gateway service.” You can think of it as being synonymous with “SMTP relay service.”

SMTP relay service is the term providers use in the majority of cases, but there are some that label their services as “gateway” instead of “relay.” To avoid any confusion, think of them all as third-party email senders.

 

SMTP Gateway: Free Service

There are a few platforms that offer SMTP gateway free use. Gmail is one such example that’s reputable. They allow you to send up to 100 emails per day, which is decent for a small business.

If you ever find yourself needing a higher limit, there are plenty of packages out there that are economical, so you don’t have to worry about going over budget.

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