Sender Verification
Background: Spam and Phishing
Most people don’t realize that email and disco are about the same age. That’s right. Email is almost a half century old now. The way email is created and sent was designed to be as simple as writing a letter to someone else. This also had the side effect that it’s as easy to spoof the sender of an email, as it is to write someone else’s name at the bottom of a letter.
So, for the past couple of decades, email providers have been working on ways to prove that the person sending an email is who they claim to be. In the last few years, they have really started enforcing the rules, and rejecting email that they don’t believe were sent with the authority of the person they claim to be from.
Effect on emails sent from rezStream Cloud
We send emails from our system on your behalf. This means that you must show email providers that we have your permission to do so.
The rules for proving authorization are centered around the domain the email is sent from (the part after the @ symbol). Because of this, the email address that you use for sending letters from the PMS must be from a domain that you own in order to ensure deliverability. Ideally, the email will come from the same domain as your website.
To get a little technical, you will need to add some information to your domain name service provider, such as GoDaddy or NameCheap. Without this proof in place, there is a good chance that your emails will either go to the spam folder or be rejected entirely.
Potential loss of the account
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Email Addresses
If you pay for internet access you probably have an email address provided to you by your internet provider. It’s right there, you don’t need to set anything else up, and it’s free. So why not use it to communicate with your customers?
Frankly that email address isn’t yours. You don’t own it. At best you are leasing that address with your subscription to your internet access. And unlike a phone number, you can’t transfer it if you want to change providers.
Even if you have no intention of ever changing who provides your internet access, that does not mean that you will be able to keep that email address. If your ISP changes names or merges with another company, you may be forced into a new address. It is also not uncommon for ISP’s to setup an old address on a new account, often when it is no longer in use, but sometimes while you are still using it. This can be a very dangerous thing if you have stuff like bank or social media information tied to that email address.
Major Third-Party Email Providers
While not as volatile as an address from your ISP, using an email address with an @gmail.com, @outlook.com, etc. could still be problematic if the provider you are using decides they don’t want to provide that service any longer.
Marketing and Professionalism
Unbranded Emails Can Actually Harm How Others View Your Business
Imagine hiring a plumber and them showing up in a van with a piece of cardboard duct taped to the side with just the word PLUMBER written in marker. You might have a second thought about using their service, the same can be said about using an email address that doesn’t match your website. Not using an email address from your own domain conveys a message that your business is perhaps only temporary. Some people may even have a concern that it is not even real.